world hunger

Mary Catherine Hinds with family at the Shallotte, N.C., CROP Hunger Walk. Photo via RNS, courtesy Mary Catherine Hinds.

My child ate today. Breakfast was pancakes and sausage.

Walking to school I said, “If you don’t like the leftover hamburger that I put in your lunchbox, just buy something from the cafeteria. You have plenty of money in your account.”

Tonight we will have tacos, but if I am too tired to cook, we will order pizza.

I am grateful that I can feed my child every day.

Brandon Hook 10-16-2012

Most people in Washington know that changing the world is hard. But it's even harder when you're a sweet potato named Claude. 

But Claude is more than just a sweet potato. Claude is a symbol. 

From celebrity chefs and mom bloggers to churchgoers and YouTube stars, ONE campaign members are mobilizing en masse around the country today — World Food Day  to raise awareness of global hunger and malnutrition. These activities are part of a new campaign from ONE that’s calling on world leaders “to make measurable commitments to reduce chronic malnutrition for 25 million kids by 2016 so they can reach their full potential.”

As part of the campaign, supporters around the globe are celebrating the sweet potato, an example of a nutritious crop that can help fight chronic malnutrition. Which is why Claude is a sweet potato and not a french fry.

Every year, malnutrition is the underlying cause of more than 2.4 million child deaths — or more than one third of all deaths of children under the age of five. Chefs Mario BataliJosé AndrésMarcus Samuelsson, Spike Mendelsohn and Hugh Acheson are among dozens of celebrated chefs who will support the campaign by shining a spotlight on the humble sweet potato in the coming months.

James Colten 11-22-2011

 

Bread for the World has many recommendations in the new report, but I’d  like to highlight just one for now: “Farm policies should lean more towards the production of healthy foods.”

Why this one? Most farm subsidies go to (wait for it) the largest, wealthiest producers (shocking, right?). Billions of dollars are spent subsidizing corn, wheat, soybeans, cotton and rice. Small and medium-size producers (many of whom grow vegetables — the foods that are supposed to make up half our dinner plate) receive little, if any, support from the current U.S. farm policy.

Securing affordable, healthy foods for our country’s poorest will in turn help us address other issues such as malnutrition and obesity, immigration, health care, and employment.

Elizabeth Palmberg 6-28-2011
Wall Street may seem far away, but it's actually as near as your gas tank -- and as widespread as global hunger.
Elizabeth Palmberg 2-11-2011
[Editors' note: This post is taken from a letter Sojourners associate editor Elizabeth Palmberg sent to the folks who create National Public Radio's Planet Money podca