Author: Abby J. Leibman

Abby J. Leibman is the president & CEO of MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger and was a co-founder of the California Women’s Law Center. Inspired by Jewish values and ideals, MAZON is a national advocacy organization working to end hunger among people of all faiths and backgrounds in the United States and Israel. Abby has received, among other honors, the California Women Lawyer's Faye Stender Award, Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles' Ernestine Stalhut Award, UCSD's Top 100 Influential Alumni Award, USC Law Center's Public Interest Advocate Award and the So. California Employer Round Table's Carol F. Schiller Award. She has a J.D. from Hastings College of Law and graduated magna cum laude from U.C. San Diego with a B.A. in political science.

Beyond the Federal Budget: Hunger, Misogyny and the Absurdity of it All

Extreme House Republicans have been dangling the threat of a government shutdown for months, playing politics with the lives of real people. In addition to being disruptive, wasteful and unnecessary, a government shutdown would have a deep and scarring impact on those facing food insecurity and poverty. This is not a game.

Resistance to safety net programs like the expanded child tax credit, SNAP and WIC is rooted in racist, misogynistic, tired and offensive stereotypes that blame and shame people, rather than help them when they need it most.

The Next Battlefront in the War Against Women: Fighting for Congress to Fully Fund WIC

Leaders in Congress agreed on a topline figure to fund the government for the next fiscal year. But it is certainly no cause for celebration. The long-overdue agreement will continue most of last year’s levels, while providing enormous boosts for the Pentagon. With rising costs, last year’s funding levels are not enough for federal safety net programs to meet the needs of struggling Americans. Simply put, more people need more help and they will not get it. This is particularly true among single mothers—40 percent of whom needlessly struggle with food insecurity.

It’s all part of Republicans’ plan to both restrict abortion access and cut nutrition assistance from low-income mothers, infants and young children—creating a new wave of the feminization of poverty.

A Government Shutdown Would Be Deadly for Hungry and Food-Insecure Americans

Congress is once again at a complete gridlock, barreling toward a government shutdown. Pundits are placing bets about the length of a potential shutdown, which party will cave first, and which government programs will be brought to a standstill.

But what has been minimized by some as merely a political temper tantrum will also have a deep and scarring impact on the 40 million Americans facing hunger.

Programs like SNAP, WIC and the child tax credit work effectively when they are sufficiently funded. Oh, and every dollar invested in WIC generates about $2.50 in healthcare cost savings. Shouldn’t this be a no-brainer?

Who Was Dealt Out of the Debt Ceiling Deal?

On June 3, President Biden signed the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (FRA) into law, allowing Americans to breathe a sigh of relief that we managed to avoid a catastrophic economic situation. But to agree to this compromise, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) insisted on several detrimental and dangerous changes to anti-poverty programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

Plain and simple, these changes will increase hunger and hardship among the most vulnerable Americans. As usual, their impact will be felt most acutely by women, particularly women of color. The debt ceiling bill was far from perfect, and the fight for justice is far from over.

40 Percent of Single Moms Face Food Insecurity. The Fall of Roe Will Plunge Them Deeper Into Poverty

The landscape of “abortion deserts” in this country now glaringly resembles the map of where we see the highest rates of food insecurity. The people forced to seek abortion care hundreds of miles away from their homes are the same parents skipping meals so their kids can eat, scrambling to fulfill SNAP work requirements and grocery shopping with calculators to stretch their government benefits as much as possible.

Advancing Solutions to End Hunger Among Military Families and Veterans

Advancing Solutions to End Hunger Among Military Families and Veterans

Military families face unique financial challenges and are thus vulnerable to food insecurity. This is felt acutely among women veterans, veterans of color and military spouses, who are typically women.

Not only has hunger among military families and veterans been a problem for years—rising to new heights during the pandemic—policymakers have repeatedly failed to take even the most basic action to respond to it.

Crisis at a Crossroads: Tackling Hunger in America food insecurity

Crisis at a Crossroads: Solutions for Tackling Hunger in America

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Nearly 40 million Americans faced hunger before the pandemic, and millions will surely continue to struggle even as the country begins its recovery. The FEED Act represents the best kind of creative thinking so desperately needed right now, crossing partisan barriers to feed people who are hungry, uplifting struggling businesses and supporting state and local governments that have been hard-hit by the pandemic’s devastating impact on tax revenues.

Working Families Facing Hunger Need Relief, Not More Red Tape

Working Families Facing Hunger Need Relief, Not More Red Tape

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The COVID-19 pandemic has put our country through unprecedented pain. While the federal government has finally begun to respond, with a new stimulus package in sight, we are still facing untold suffering, loss of life and economic distress—including truly shocking levels of hunger in our communities.

At a time when more families than ever are struggling to put food on the table, the federal government’s help has been too little and too late.