“Peace begins when the hungry are fed” is a popular saying that has been printed on many gift items, such as posters, shirts and bumper stickers. American journalist and social activist Dorothy Day (1897-1980) has been credited for the saying (especially on one postcard) since at least 2007, but there’s no evidence that she ever said it.
 
Heifer International has used “peace begins when the hungry are fed” since at least 1981, but no source for the saying is given. “Peace begins when the hungry are fed, and the future begins when the hungry are educated” was credited to Gene White in 2008.
 
 
Peace Resource Project
Peace Begins When The Hungry Are Fed - Dorothy Day - Postcard
 
Google Books
Exchange
Heifer Project International,
Issue 1, Part 120
1981
Pg. ?:
Our basic philosophy is that peace begins when the hungry are fed and that any system of development which neglects people’s felt needs is inherently unsustainable.
 
6 May 1984, Kokomo (IN) Tribune, pg. 10, col. 4:
Heifer Project International
The Heifer Project International has helped starving people in more than 100 countries and 30 states within the United States over the past 40 years. It sponsors 120 life-sharing projects in 30 countries and 12 states. There are six members of the Howard County HPI Committee and 40 local churches and civic organizations who support the effort to meet the organization’s slogan: “Peace Begins When the Hungry are Fed.”
 
23 November 1985, Yuba-Sutter Appeal-Democrat (Marysville-Yuba City, CA), “‘Living gifts’ give hope at Christmas: Heifer Project International an alternative,” Christmas Gift Guide, pg. 6, cols. 4-5:
The first “living gifts” from Heifer Project were 18 heifers which families in Puerto Rico in July, 1944. Because heifers were the first animals to be sent, the organization was named Heifer Project.
 
Heifer Project believes that “peace begins when the hungry are fed.”
 
25 January 1986, Sacramento (CA) Bee, “Don’t just feed the hungry—send livestock, says Heifer Project,” pg. B7:
Heifer Project, according to Miller, believes that ‘peace begins when the hungry are fed.’
 
17 May 1987, Mobile (AL) Press Register,  “Heifer Project Sunday to be observed May 28,” pg. 7-F, col. 3:
Theme of the book (Cooking Is Fun by Tommye Miller—ed.) is “Peace begins when the hungry are fed.”
 
The cookbook may be ordered from Heifer Project International, P. O. Box 808, Little Rock, AR 72203.
 
Google Books
Gathering to Celebrate: (Student Booklet)
By Yvette Nelson
Winona, MN: Saint Mary’s Press
1999
Pg. 10:
Peace begins when the hungry are fed.
(Anonymous)
   
Google Groups: talk.politics.guns
PEACE QUOTES : Breaking the Cycle of Violence Through Circles of Peace
God
8/16/03
(...)
Peace begins when the hungry are fed.
Anonymous
   
Common Dreams
Published on Friday, March 19, 2004 by the Philadelphia Inquirer
Too Great a Toll in Lives with Too Vague a Purpose
by Mary Ellen McNish
(...)
Author and social commentator Jonathan Schell has expressed his vision this way:
 
“It has been said that peace begins when the hungry are fed. It is equally true that the hungry will be fed when peace begins. Equality and nonviolence - peace and justice - are inextricably linked, and neither can flourish in the absence of the other.”
 
Google Books
Chicken Soup for the Soul:
Stories for a Better World
By Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Candice C. Carter, Susanna Palomares, Linda K. Williams and Bradley L. Winch
Deerfield Beach FL: Health Communications
2005
Pg. 13:
When the hungry can feed themselves, peace happens.
Florence Crago, Ph.D.
 
18 December 2005, Daily Herald (Chicago, IL), sec. 1, pg. 17, col. 3:
The bumper sticker on a car parked in 201’s shadow puts it all sharply into focus: “Peace Begins When The Hungry Are Fed.”
Marianne Avery
Wheaton
   
Google Books
Handbook of Peace And Conflict Studies
Edited by Charles P. Webel and Johan Galtung
New York, NY: Routledge
2007
Pg. 346:
‘Peace begins when the hungry are fed’ (Aquinas).
   
Wandering Aimfully
FRIDAY, APRIL 27, 2007
Missoula Peacemaker of the Year
(...)
“Peace begins when the hungry are fed.” ~Dorothy Day
   
South Whidby Record (Coupeville, WA)
Gene White: For I was hungry and you gave me food
JUNE 25, 2008 · UPDATED 9:13 PM
To the hungry, a slice of bread is the face of God says Gene White, this month’s Hometown Hero, citing Gandhi.
 
White believes peace begins when the hungry are fed, and the future begins when the hungry are educated.
 
Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Quotes on Hunger
(...)
COMMENTS
Anonymous June 17, 2009 7:39 AM
“Peace begins when the hungry are fed and the future begins when the hungry are educated.” - Gene White