Thoughts
I appreciate the opportunity to serve as an advisor to The Important Gift program. During the last dozen or so years I have become significantly aware of the growing problem of hunger in our country and around the world. I understand the pain caused by hunger and more importantly I know that we can end hunger in our lifetime.
Despite the fact that the countries of the world collectively produce sufficient food for all of its populations, the scourge of hunger is both widespread and persistent. An estimated 852 million people worldwide are chronically or acutely malnourished. That represents 13 percent of the world’s population. Millions more suffer from occasional hunger and under-nutrition (consuming calories, but lacking in essential nutrients) or from food insecurity (not knowing where their next meal will come from), forcing people to make impossible choices: choosing between food and health care, food and shelter, food and clothing, food and utilities, food and survival. In developed countries, hunger is typically measured in terms of “food insecurity.†In the United States for example an estimated 12% of U.S. households experienced food insecurities in 2004. From the richest countries to the poorest, alarming numbers of people are going hungry. Here is the bottom line: nowhere on earth do we provide adequate food and nutrition for all; nowhere is there the full utilization of existing and potential food supplies to meet the basic food needs of people. Hunger is morally unjustifiable, bad for communities, bad for business and bad for peace. Please consider supporting your local Food Bank organizations that are in the front line of this critical work in your community, and your country and around the world. |
