HOT TOPIC: World Hunger
Volume 2, Issue 11 - November 13, 2005"As November settles in and summer gives way to winter, our minds are traditionally filled with poetic images of harvests and feasts that celebrate the bounty of the earth. This theme has preoccupied man across cultures and epochs: the fertility of the earth and life-giving sustenance. A parallel theme across the history of mankind has been the concern of hunger and starvation. For all of our advancements in medicine and science, even the modern world has not found a solution to this plague. We have come far enough to realize that it is not simply an issue of growing enough food; that we can do. It is a far more complex issue that includes questions about distribution, equity and politics.
Typically when we think of hunger we think of a famine, such as the one that hit Ethiopia in the early 1990s. However, famine-like conditions is not the major problem in addressing world hunger. The real culprit is chronic, ongoing hunger which is based in poverty and results in suffering and starvation. This distinction is important and is especially necessary for wealthier countries to understand: responding to the emergency of a famine in some region of the world gives immediate satisfaction in being able to help, but it does not address the larger more long-term issue of world hunger.
As we get ready to hunker down for the winter months ahead, awaiting the promise of a warmer, kinder, more bountiful spring, consider this week’s D12 on world hunger and share them with your class. There is a variety of ways to make a difference, and they all begin with education and awareness."
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