The Problem:
There are over 7 billion people in the world. And 795 million of them do not have enough to eat. That’s 1 in 9 if you’re doing the math. (Source) Many of whom are chronically hungry and suffer from malnourishment.
And while most undernourished people live in developing countries, we do not have to look far from home to see problems needing to be remedied. In 2006, the United States Department of Agriculture adopted the term ‘food insecurity’ when speaking about hunger. It’s defined as ‘a lack of access, at times, to enough food for a healthy life and limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate foods.’ In other words, it refers to those who don’t know how they’re going to come by their next meal, or maybe the one after that. And it affects more than 42 million people in this country, including 13 million children. (Source)
You should know: What was formerly known as food stamps, is now the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP. This federal program provides low-income families with additional resources to purchase food each month.
Not so fun fact: More than 70 billion pounds of food from manufacturers, growers and retailers goes to waste each year — enough food to feed our hungry citizens. (Source)
HERE’S YOUR 2 MINUTE ACTION PLAN:
The good news is that there is plenty we can do to help those who are hungry! (We’re going to start local, but don’t hesitate to reach out to groups helping the global food crisis.)
Be a Giving Host/Hostess. Next time you entertain, tell your guests to skip the hostess gifts and instead bring a nonperishable food item to donate to your local pantry or soup kitchen. It’s such an easy lifestyle change, but those items could add up to healthy meals for those in need.
Bonus: Practice your vocabulary! Visit www.freerice.com and for each answer you get right, they will donate 10 grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Program. It’s fun and the bowl of rice fills up quickly! Great activity for kids, too.
