Why the World's Poorest Starve in an Age of Plenty
by Terrie & Marie
The problem is that we the people are not paying enough
attention about hunger. We are so busy with ourselves that we become selfish
that we do not know what is going around us.
Before all else, the first thing you have to do is pray for
courage every day to carry the cross the Lord has assigned you. Then let each
of you do your own work really well, the work proper to your state, as God
wants it, and according to your condition, which means according to the Spirit
of the Lord.
Roger Thurow - Hunger: A disease of the soul
In this movie a warning is given that looking in the eyes of someone who is dying of hunger becomes a disease of the soul.
Roger Thurow says, "My diseased soul wouldn’t be satisfied until I wrote a book." (Roger Thurow and Scott Kilman Enough: Why the World's Poorest Starve in an Age of Plenty)
Thurow added, "Still my soul wasn’t satisfied." Thurow has since changed his career and now is working full time with the problem of hunger which he thinks is the overriding issue of our time. Thurow says he wants to outrage and inspire us about the hunger issue.
A more complicated video that is over a hour in length goes over in greater detail why the world's poorest starve in an age of plenty. We highly recommend you watch this video to learn the details of this complex problem. To solve a problem, you have to understand the problem.
Authors@Google: Roger Thurow & Scott Kilman
Enough, a new book by Wall Street Journal reporters Roger Thurow and Scott Kilman, vividly explains how neglect and bad policies have kept more than a billion of the world’s poorest people hungry and calls readers to action in the eradication of this deadly scourge.Thurow and Kilman’s previous reporting on famines in Africa was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.
This new publication by journalists Roger Thurow and Scott Kilman explores why more than a billion people suffer from hunger at the dawn of the 21st century, even though we have the tools and knowledge to end hunger worldwide. For anyone who cares about the issue of hunger, Enough is essential reading.
So the first part of the book–the Outrage part–is a crime story, about the greatest crime of our time: 25,000 people die every day of hunger, malnutrition and related diseases.
Those pursuing a Green Revolution in Africa today seem to be heeding the lessons of Asia, particularly the overuse of fertilizer and the draining of water resources. They also know that Africa’s geography, climate and agriculture history present a unique set of challenges. And they realize that unleashing an agriculture revolution in Africa means more than boosting farm production; it also means developing the infrastructure and the markets to be able to store, transport and sell the greater harvests. These are some of the things that were sorely neglected in the past.
You describe the devastating effects of U.S. agricultural policies on poor farmers around the world. What will it take for policymakers to reform this system?
Awareness and political will.
Awareness by policymakers that their actions have contributed to, and are contributing to, the growing hunger. And awareness that they can do something about it by reforming policies like food aid and farm subsidies that impact farmers in the developing world.
Political will to bring the work of the scientists, researchers and farmers to fruition was vital to the success of the original Green Revolution. Now that will is needed by leaders in both rich and poor countries to reverse the neglect and make agriculture development a top priority.
Policymakers in the rich world also need to be aware that hunger is a global security issue. The unrest in many countries that followed the spike in food prices last year was a harbinger of the tension and turmoil to come as global demand for food increases. So boosting agriculture development and ending hunger isn’t just the right thing to do, it is the smart and strategic thing to do.
We agree with you that ending hunger is entirely possible, and your book does an extraordinary job of outlining solutions. Since solving hunger is do-able, why hasn’t it been done yet?
Good question, particularly since we’ve had the knowledge, tools, resources and experience to do it since the time of the Green Revolution in the 1960s.
Neglect, as we’ve mentioned, is one big reason. Also, until the food crisis of 2008, there was a widespread lack of urgency.
Inertia may also be one reason. We’ve met many people who think the problem of hunger is so big, so overwhelming, that they are seized by a kind of paralysis, wondering where they can start. In the book, we try to break through this inertia by illustrating the work of a number of people and organizations on the front lines of the war on hunger.
Your book was written largely before the global economic recession and the sharp rise in international food prices. How have these events affected our ability to fight hunger? What are their long-term impacts?
Hunger has spread, touching a wider circle of people. During the sharp rise in food prices last year, the World Food Program identified what it called a “new face of hunger.” Before, the hungry people who needed the WFP’s emergency food provisions were mainly those who didn’t have access to food. Now, the high prices have brought hunger to people who couldn’t afford the food that was available. Estimates are that another 100 million people have joined the ranks of the hungry since the price spike.
The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization estimates the total number of hungry is soaring past 1 billion people this year, the highest level since the Green Revolution. And, even more damning, the prevalence of hunger–the portion of the world’s population that is hungry–has grown to 15% from the 13% of just a few years ago. That increase in prevalence–the first since the Green Revolution–indicates the war on hunger is losing ground.
This should have put us all on notice that, at this rate, the long-term outlook is grave. The same factors of growing demand and shrinking stockpiles haven’t vanished in the recession. And when the economy picks up again, the food crisis will only likely get worse.
This has injected a greater sense of urgency into the assault on hunger. Now is the time to say “Enough is enough” to hunger. There’s no time to waste.
Your book describes how even a small amount of money can go a very long way. What can the average person do today to make a difference?
Get involved. Lobby, advocate, donate. Call your member of Congress–over and over again if necessary–and urge action on hunger legislation and on reforming policies that harm farmers in the developing world. Roll up your sleeves and take up the work of organizations like Action Against Hunger. Voice your outrage. Shout from the rooftops, “Enough is enough!”
This is the message of the Inspire part of the book: In the fight against hunger, individuals can make a huge difference.
Summary of BookCauses of World Hunger
by Taylor
To come
to the realization of how many helpless souls die due to being starved is
nothing short of amazing. With the knowledge I have gathered, I would
really like to pursue the solution to the greatest killer the world has
ever known. It's 2012, and we are making an effort, but our efforts are not
enough. Poverty has subdued too many people from having the life that they
deserve. We must not stop until every single human has the knowledge to make a
difference in their life. Also, to infect the ones around them with the key to
salvation. This has to be the number one thing that people seek to end. This
must be solved, we must try. The sooner we start, the sooner this will be
solved. Thus, finally allowing people to truly create their future. The
sooner we get food, and books to everyone, the sooner our Earth will
be envied by distant beings. Beside
the point.
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