It’s tax day. When it comes to feeding two of America’s most vulnerable populations — children and the poor — are we getting our money’s worth? Today, the House Agriculture Committee and the House Education and Workforce Committee will attempt to answer this question.

As the Chief Program Officer of Feed the Children, one of the largest US-based anti-hunger nonprofits, I believe the federal government and nonprofits can do a better job. Based on my work in 25 countries, there are several lessons I’ve learned from the global war on poverty. Absolute poverty and child deaths have decreased globally by half since 1990, and we can apply the lessons of that fight to improve domestic anti-hunger efforts.