16 October, 2008

Hunger

We're taking a break from trafficking today, because I am feeling a bit boxed in being so focused on one topic.

Yesterday I wrote about poverty - today we are going to tackle hunger (we only cover the important topics here...)

The World Food Program declared today World Food Day.

I for one like the WFP and think they are doing some really amazing things. How can you not like an organization that delivers meals to people every day? The president of WFP was on Letterman recently. It was an amazing interview - I applaud the Late Show for talking about something relevant and real.

World Hunger: 1 in 7 people are not getting adequate nourishment according to WFP. 1 in 7 - that's tragic. 25,000 people die daily from hunger and related diseases according to FAO.

I struggle with how there can be hunger when I can go to COSTCO and see more food than we could ever eat. I struggle with how there can be hunger when I see what we throw out each day, how carelessly we discard food, and act as if there is an endless supply.

They rioted in Haiti and Egypt, Indonesia, and western Africa because there wasn't enough food. The "first world" buys land in Africa, pays Africans to grow, tend and harvest the food and then sends it all back home because it's cheaper to grow it there, and the workers continue to starve. Children attend school hungry, parents choose between medication (that doesn't work) and food. They don't eat so their children can - and yet, we send tons and tons of food to garage heaps every day.

How is this discrepancy possible?

I don't believe that just giving out food is the answer. It needs to be coupled with education,
agricultural development, wells, and other income generating activities - but someone can't work if their hungry, someone can't become create and get inspired to start a business when their children are starving. Feeding someone is step one - teaching them to sustain themselves comes next.

But WFP is that start.

And you can help bring food to one person.

They have a Fill The Cup campaign going on right now. They use the red mug to provide daily food. In it are nutrients, basic hygiene info and other small necessities. They use the cup to symbolize what they do for people around the world. So instead of looking at hunger as this global crisis - see it as providing food for one person for one day.

No child should go to bed hungry. No mother should not eat so her children can. No one should harvest food for the grainhouses of the wealthy while they and their families starve. No one should not eat because of the greed of those of us who have.

No One.

Join with the WFP and others who are working to stop hunger and make sure that none of those things continue to happen.