Category Archives: global hunger

September 30, 2013 · 5:05 am

Writing, History and Global Hunger

 

In 1947 Americans fed a "silent guest" during the holidays and this led to a CARE package going overseas to feed the hungry. Credits: CARE

In 1947 Americans fed a “silent guest” during the holidays and this led to a CARE package going overseas to feed the hungry.
Credits:
CARE

Writing is like a bridge to other worlds. It can take you to a land far away. Or it can even take you back in time. All you need is a pen and your imagination.

This combination of writing and history is the best tool I have for taking on one of mankind’s greatest threats: global hunger.

Why study history? Because “I like to” to quote former Harvard Professor Frederick Merk. There are great stories as we uncover the past. It’s inspiring. How well known is it that millions of lives have been saved over the years because both citizens and leaders were committed to fighting hunger. Shouldn’t that be remembered and celebrated?

History can help guide us through the sometimes treacherous waters before us. The famous Marshall Plan that rebuilt Europe after World War II showed how critical food is for rebuilding a society. Once, a young lieutenant after World War I was told that getting food to the hungry trapped in a valley would be impossible. His response was “yes, we can” and his team got it done. That is the spirit that must remain timeless.

My writing adventure against world hunger started when I was finishing a graduate course at the College of Mount St. Joseph. You know a class is going well when the ideas start coming. Sometimes those ideas divert you from the curriculum, but when it comes to education it’s good to deviate. School is about creative thinking and writing.

I was ready to take on a new topic with my writing. However, I did not know much about global hunger at that time. I knew hunger was a crisis both globally and even locally. Today, there are 870 million people worldwide who suffer from hunger. In America there are just over 50 million people who struggle to get food. But quite often it’s not something we see right in front of us and it’s not often covered in the media. These great distances can mean less action.

Hunger can be a silent crisis too. The effects of malnutrition are very damaging, and even deadly, to a society. The impact can takes months or years to unfold, or to be realized. Hunger though has the potential to claim more lives than a war itself.

To get started, I bought a book about Food for Peace by George McGovern written back in the early 1960’s. From that historical starting block I moved into the present day struggle. I made a great contact with Jennifer Parmelee of the UN World Food Programme (WFP). The WFP is the largest food aid organization in the world. Then I got some ideas.

My first article on hunger was published in my hometown newspaper, the Cincinnati Enquirer, on my birthday. I have written hundreds of articles and books about hunger since that time. I even compiled these articles and interviews into several books.

With each story I try to take that trip to a distant land or time. Sometimes I do both. Just within the last year I have written about school meal programs (which Charity Miles supports) and have received comments from people who benefited from U.S. led school feeding in Germany after World War II.

Sometimes I do my writing in between a Charity Miles workout. I will bring a little notebook and stop somewhere and jot a few things down. Last week I took a break at the College of Mount St. Joseph library and found a historical book about the International Red Cross. I read about how they provided school meals to children in Hungary during the 1956 Revolution.

When it comes to fighting hunger you are looking at a crisis so massive, that it takes involvement from so many corners to mount any kind of offensive. This month I reminded a UN Development goals class at Mount St. Joseph of Helen Keller’s quote, “Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.”

A good idea would be if someone could write a paragraph or two about their interests and talents. Afterwards, you would write down how those same parts of your life could be used to help end global hunger. If you use Charity Miles you already have one such idea to write down and develop. The great thing about Charity Miles is that you can fight hunger both at home, by supporting Feeding America, and abroad by helping WFP. On some days I have run or walked for both. You can probably think of many other ways to help these organizations fight hunger. Think of as many as you can. Then you can start turning those ideas into action.

Those words and ideas can lead to many things. I remember a message from an organization called Edesia saying that a newspaper article I wrote led to donations to buy Plumpy’Nut, a life saving food for infants, during the East Africa famine of 2011. You never know what surprises wait around the corner just by writing or diving a bit into the past.

Originally published at Charity Miles.

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September 29, 2013 · 2:39 am

Feed Syria’s Starving War Victims

WFP is trying to feed millions of Syrian war victims (WFP/Marco Frattini)

WFP is trying to feed millions of Syrian war victims (WFP/Marco Frattini)

Where there is war there is hunger. In Syria children have died because of chemical weapons, but also because they could not get enough food. Weakened, illness overtook them.

Isra from Syria says, “This war…is killing people slowly. We used up all our supplies of food – I could only give my children one or two mouthfuls of rice to keep them going. I just cried at night.”

The civil war in Syria has created a new enemy for the people: hunger. Syria’s agriculture has been ruined and many bakeries have been destroyed by shelling. The seeds of war have been planted for famine.

The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) is facing its largest hunger relief mission. WFP is trying to feed three million Syrians this month, but faces extreme difficulty in moving life-saving aid because of the violence.

Many people are blocked off from aid by the Syrian government. Save the Children says the numbers of hungry are likely much higher, possibly 10.5 million Syrians in seven governorates alone. Save the Children warns, “As the destruction continues, these numbers will grow: children who once relied on three healthy meals a day will go to bed hungry, afraid, feeling abandoned by the world outside.”

There are also two million Syrians who have fled to Iraq, Jordan, Turkey, Egypt and Lebanon. They totally depend on international aid.

The World Food Program needs about $ US 30 million a week to provide food aid for Syrian war victims. The UN food agency is also trying to feed millions of hungry in Yemen, Afghanistan, Mali, South Sudan, Darfur, Haiti and other countries leveled by conflict or natural disasters.

As the world tries to negotiate an end to the war, we must also press the Syrian government to allow full access to the hungry. In addition, WFP and other aid agencies must have the funding they need to bring relief.

It’s overwhelming for any individual to look at the size of this crisis. But everyone can have an impact, even some of the simplest measures can help. The free smartphone app Charity Miles raises money for the World Food Program. Just going out for a walk, run or bike can raise funds for WFP, which is an agency that relies entirely on voluntary funding. It’s free for you, the funds are donated from a corporate sponsorship pool.

Using this app I have raised hundreds of meals for WFP just by running or walking. I know it’s a small amount, but it’s better than feeling helpless. Laure Chadraoui, a WFP rep working on Syrian relief, told me “What you do makes us all very proud, we need every penny indeed.”

It’s also important to make an impact statement. That’s what needed to keep the focus of leaders in bringing an end to the war and negotiating agreements on humanitarian access. It can help motivate the Congress to pass key legislation like the Global Food Security Act, so hunger remains a top foreign policy priority.

What happens in communities can have a powerful impact globally. In the fall of 1947 people across the USA donated food for the Friendship Train. This outpouring had a powerful influence on Congress as it debated aid to rebuild war-torn Europe.

Senator Arthur Vandenberg said the Friendship Train, “demonstrates our instinct, our tradition, and our impulse to feed the hungry and to heal the sick; and personifies the friendliness which is the genius of a lasting peace.” That holiday season Americans did not stop either, they fed a “silent guest” at Thanksgiving and Christmas which led to more CARE packages for the hungry. The famous Marshall Plan followed and rebuilt Europe from the ashes of war.

Every generation’s horrors can be overcome by its heroes. During World War I collections were held to provide relief in Belgium and other suffering countries. Even after the war people responded to pleas from Herbert Hoover and General John J. Pershing to feed the “invisible guest”: a hungry child. The Motion Picture Industry even held a major fundraiser at the same time.

As Helen Keller once said, “Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.” Every little bit can go a long way. Understanding this is what makes a leader. Now is the time for action as our generation faces its great challenges in war, humanitarianism and the quest for peace.

Originally published at the Huffington Post.

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September 16, 2013 · 3:28 pm

College Students Hear Message of Hope from UN Chief

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon holding the famous red cup which symbolizes the movement to provide all children worldwide with school meals. Mount St. Joseph students listed to presentations both at the United Nations and on campus about the importance of school meals in ending hunger and poverty (photo courtesy of the UN World Food Program)

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon holding the famous red cup which symbolizes the movement to provide all children worldwide with school meals. Mount St. Joseph students listed to presentations both at the United Nations and on campus about the importance of school meals in ending hunger and poverty (photo courtesy of the UN World Food Program)

Last month College of Mount St. Joseph students traveled to the United Nations in New York. Their mission was to learn about the UN Development goals to end world hunger and poverty.

The students attended a presentation by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. The Secretary General talked about bread and butter. Not the appetizer kind. What he meant was how children around the globe needed food, but also education.

The Secretary General told the story about growing up during the Korean War. Schools were destroyed during the fighting and children attended class outdoors, under shade of trees. When it rained there was no class.

The Secretary General said how he and other children were hungry for food, but also for knowledge. “It’s not only bread and butter” he said, “you need to have knowledge and education.” Getting children an education is a top priority worldwide.

The Mount students, upon returning to campus, learned more about the importance of food and education for children. The story of war-time Korea further illustrated this point as former Cincinnati resident, Major Charles Arnold, led a UN civil assistance team that fed Korean refugee children. Without this food, the children would have suffered severe malnutrition.

The Charity CARE, with support from the U.S. Food for Peace program, provided millions of Korean children with school feeding over the decade following the war. This was a key strategy to fighting malnutrition and boosting school enrollment and learning.

Today, the United Nations World Food Program spearheads a global effort to provide all children with school meals. It’s called The Fill the Red Cup Campaign.

MSJ students received red cups from the World Food Program USA last week as a symbol of this school feeding movement. They also listened to historic messages from General Dwight Eisenhower, who spoke in 1948 at the United Nations Crusade for Children. Ike emphasized how starving children, scrapping for food, could not grow up to be apostles of peace. Food aid is essential now as it was after World War II.

The Mount campus currently fundraises for UN school feeding programs and Feeding America through its Charity Miles team. The UN class is planning to continue to spread Ban Ki-Moon’s message of hope, food and education for all.

article originally published at Cincinnati.com

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August 29, 2013 · 3:18 pm

The World Needs More School Meals

Emergency school feeding in Mali through the World Food Programme. Cuts by Congress to food aid could harm this program. (WFP/Daouda Guirou)

Emergency school feeding in Mali through the World Food Programme. Cuts by Congress to food aid could harm this program. (WFP/Daouda Guirou)

A child in the war-torn African nation of Mali just wrote a letter to the UN World Food Programme (WFP). Emergency school meals are being provided by the WFP in Northern Mali.

“Our parents are poor and tired,” the child wrote. “Thank you WFP who gave us food so we could work hard in school. We always count on God and you. With WFP it’s okay. The school in Barize thanks you.”

This food is nutrition for their mind and body. But also for their spirit and soul. Food is hope. WFP’s plan is to feed children but at the same time get them back in school and learning. It’s a strategy that is proven to work.

They are going full steam ahead at providing these meals through the rest of this year. Right now 120,771 students in Northern Mali get two meals a day: an enriched breakfast and a lunch. Volunteer cooks also receive take home rations.

It’s common sense that school meals are important, especially for a nation trying to find that road to peace after a war. Tragically, that does not always translate into funding for school meals. When international relations is discussed it seldom revolves around humanitarianism, the very thing people around the world need most.

For Syrian refugee children school feeding is one of the few things they can count on during this time of upheaval in the Middle East. The WFP is providing 2,000 children right now with school feeding at refugee camps in Jordan. They hope to expand to 30,000 by the end of the year. In Iraq over 4500 refugee children have received high-energy biscuits at school and summer camps.

WFP needs funding to make sure school meals continue the rest of this year and into next year. The UN food agency relies entirely on voluntary donations. That means budget decisions by the U.S. Congress have a dramatic effect. If funding disappears so too will the school meals. That is a silent tragedy that goes unseen.

In Mali, WFP has a homegrown school feeding project in the Southern part of the country. By helping small farmers become the providers of the meals, it helps build the future of the country, one where they can sustain themselves.

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) also has a school feeding program in Mali which is set to resume in October. Kristina Brayman of CRS reports the program will operate in 310 schools with an end goal of feeding 80,000 children.

The U.S. McGovern-Dole school lunch program supports this CRS initiative in Mali. The Congress will be deciding in the coming weeks how much funding to give McGovern-Dole. This will have a big impact on the future of school meals in U.S. foreign policy.

Some members of Congress want these budgets made responsibly and are desperately trying to get the fight against hunger at the top of the foreign policy agenda. Representative Betty McCollum (MN) recently introduced the Global Food Security Act. This would create a White House level coordinator to improve the U.S. response to world hunger.

The Act quotes a U.S. Intelligence report which states, ”Growing food insecurity in weakly governed countries could lead to political violence and provide opportunities for existing insurgent groups to capitalize on poor conditions, exploit international food aid, and discredit governments for their inability to address basic needs.”

It’s in everyone’s interests that we fight hunger and provide school meals around the world. A child who received school meals in Germany wrote after World War II, “If every people will help the other, like you does, we should have a lasting peace soon.”

That is what the world needs most of all now.

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August 20, 2013 · 10:37 pm

Hunger is not a game for politics

Congress is threatening to cut international food aid.

Congress is threatening to cut international food aid.

The article “Food-stamp cuts might deal heavy blow to region” (July 28) justifiably raises great concern over the repeated attempts by Congress to cut food aid.

Over 50 million Americans suffer from hunger. Food banks are overstretched, and cutting back assistance will be a disaster. The cutting of food stamps will also eliminate hundreds of thousands of free school meals for needy children.

Globally, what could be more important to our foreign policy than fighting hunger. Our Food for Peace and global school-lunch programs save children’s lives, and help the recovery of nations leveled by war, disasters and poverty. This is the great humanitarian tradition of our country, the one that prevented the worst famine in history after World War II.

Today, food will determine whether there is to be peace and recovery in the Middle East and regions where there are massive flows of refugees and agriculture has suffered huge damage. The Syria crisis is alarming, with the UN World Food Program needing around $29 million a week to carry out a relief mission. Conflict and hunger are also ongoing in Mali, South Sudan and Yemen. Haiti needs food support as it tries to build its agriculture after suffering through a series of disasters.

Yet some in Congress seek to reduce funding for international food aid, even though it makes up less than 1⁄10 of 1 percent of the federal budget.

Some House members are trying to change this disconnect. Rep. Betty McCollum of Minnesota introduced the Global Food Security Act to put hunger back at the top of the foreign policy agenda, with a White House level coordinator. Over 30 humanitarian aid groups want this bill passed, and Congress should listen to what they have to say.

Food is the very basis of peace, a functioning economy or education. The idea that this is an area for budget cuts makes little sense, for domestic and foreign policy. It’s time Congress received this memo.

Originally published at the Cincinnati Enquirer.

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July 29, 2013 · 2:50 pm

McCollum Introduces Act to Strengthen U.S. Response to Global Hunger

Humanitarian aid agencies want the U.S. to appoint a leader to direct the fight against global hunger. When you see hunger emergencies the size of the one facing Syria you see exactly what they mean.

The Global Food Security Act (H.R. 2822), introduced Thursday by Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), would appoint a White House Coordinator for Food, Nutrition, and Agricultural Development. It’s a “food ambassador” of sorts. It will be someone who would be in charge of the U.S. response against hunger which is currently spread out among a number of agencies.

Most important though is to bring the issue of hunger to the top of the foreign policy agenda, where it needs to be. Right now food aid programs are something many members of Congress look to cut, showing the disconnect with this issue. That needs to change.

Look at Syria, Afghanistan, Haiti, Yemen, South Sudan, Somalia and other countries facing massive levels of hunger and malnutrition. The Syria emergency is so large it spreads outside its borders to at least five neighboring countries hosting refugees. All these countries need emergency aid but also longer term solutions so they can grow their own food.

McCollum says, “870 million people around the world suffer from chronic food insecurity. This is wrong, and it makes the United States less secure. This bill fights food insecurity by working with the world’s most vulnerable people to enable them to produce their own food and improve their families’ livelihoods.”

Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) adds, “”The United States has a long and proud tradition of supporting global hunger and nutrition programs. That tradition can and must continue. Hunger is a political condition. We have the means to end it; what we need is the political will to make it happen. I am proud to support this important legislation.”

There are 33 humanitarian aid agencies that support this bill including the World Food Program USA, Catholic Relief Services, Church World Service, U.S. Fund for UNICEF and Save the Children.

Aid agencies are telling us this is the right strategy. So does history. After World War II when winning of the peace was crucial, a famine threatened Europe and Asia. Herbert Hoover was appointed by President Truman as the food ambassador. This was essential for coordinating the U.S. and international response to the largest hunger crisis ever at that time. Had the issue of hunger not been made a priority at that time it would have spelt disaster for the recovery of the war devastated nations. Remember the famous Marshall Plan of 1948? Food was the necessary foundation for this plan to succeed.

Hunger exists all over the world, but what limits the response? It’s when the issue of hunger is not given enough attention. It’s when the cries for help are not heard. People who can help are often far away and if they don’t hear about what is going on they won’t respond. Then you have a Congress or White House that won’t give hunger the attention it needs. It’s all about communication.

That communication is needed at all levels. Take for instance the relief operation in Syria where the World Food Programme had been forced recently to reduce the size of rations for war victims. Why? It was because funding was not timely enough to allow the food to reach its destination. A “food ambassador” would be responsible for preventing disasters like this. That can only happen through communication to all levels of the U.S. government, to other governments and to the public.

Then there is the issue of child malnutrition in the first 1000 days of life. A food called plumpy’nut is often used to save children’s lives from this deadly condition. More children could be treated and saved, at less cost, with earlier detection of malnutrition and the use of plumpy’sup or plumpy’doz.

It’s all about efficiency and good foreign policy. As Rep. Schock (R-Ill.) says, “The Global Food Security Act is a comprehensive approach to tackling the food insecurity epidemic that plagues more than 870 million people worldwide by better coordinating U.S. assistance and making accountability a priority to assess progress and the efficient use of foreign aid funding.”

Hunger has traditionally been an area of bipartisan cooperation. In fact, Democrat George McGovern (S.D.) and Republican Bob Dole (Ks.) cooperated for years on fighting hunger both here at home and abroad. We should expect no less now from the current elected officials.

originally published as “We need a leader in global hunger fight” at The Hill

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July 9, 2013 · 12:58 am

In Search of Food and Peace in South Sudan

Clearing land for farming in project supported by UNMISS Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Unit in Pariak, Jonglei State. (UNMISS/Martine Perret)

Clearing land for farming in project supported by UNMISS Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Unit in Pariak, Jonglei State. (UNMISS/Martine Perret)

When Gabriel Gai, a state minister for South Sudan, visited Uror county he was on a mission for peace. There were violence and cattle raiding in the area, things that have been ongoing throughout South Sudan’s Jonglei state for years.

He asked the people to put down their weapons and not to fight. What did the community ask of him? They asked for food.

Hunger has resulted from years of conflict in South Sudan, starting with the war with its northern neighbor Sudan. More recently it has come from the internal conflict that has killed and displaced thousands of people.

The Lou Nuer and Murle tribes have fought vicious battles, each one leading to another conflict. As Confucius once said, “Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.” Such is the story of war in South Sudan.

There is a cycle of hunger, poverty and violence that holds South Sudan back, particularly in Jonglei, the largest state.

Each week reports come in of more violence and suffering among the population. The UN said last week, “The security situation remained tense in Jonglei during the week. Several incidents of armed hostilities between the South Sudan armed forces and non-state armed actors were reported in and around Pibor town.” Thousands of people have been displaced by fighting there this year.

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is on a mission to end hunger and build peace in South Sudan. As an aid agency they know that this puzzle must ultimately be solved by the citizens themselves. That answer lies in producing food, unleashing the potential of the farmlands of South Sudan.

With funding from the U.S. government, CRS started the Jonglei Food Security program. The idea is to develop the power of small farmers and take them through “the process of moving from subsistence farming to harvesting for market.”

The plan is to make South Sudan less dependent on international food aid. This means education and training in agriculture.

Sara Fajardo of CRS listened to what the people had to say. They want to farm. They just need a little help to recover from the ruins of war to get started.

Adhuom Achiek Buol, a farmer, says, “Farming will stop hunger. We, the people of Jonglei, were created to farm. It is in our culture. It is what we were born to do.”

Buoi Machiek, a livestock health worker, stated, “We need peace. People are afraid to walk to town because they might be shot. When we go to the bush to hunt, we get attacked. Insecurity causes hunger. Once we have peace, we can cultivate. This will prevent hunger.”

Mary Ngok, a farmer, says, “Peace among the communities will stop hunger in Jonglei. When other tribes stop raiding our cattle, we will have milk production and cattle to sell.”

Gabriel Kuereng, a CRS field coordinator, explains, “The war left us in bad shape. We still think that this community did this or this community did that. We need the government to intervene and help us forgive each other. We need to build an identity of nationhood where we all say we are South Sudanese -not ‘I am a Dinka or I am Nuer.’ When we reconcile, cattle raiding will stop, because we will not blame others.”

Uror County is one area benefiting from the CRS food security program. Getting people to put down their guns and focus on farming is the key to peace. The United Nations Mission has disarmament programs that also focus on farming to help reintegrate former soldiers and their families back into society. You can’t build a society on guns, but you can with farming and food.

The children are the ones who can then get the basic rights they deserve. The UN heard from 15-year-old Peter Puok Majuc, who said, “It is my right to education. It is my right to be taken care of by my parents…with food and clothes.”

The UN World Food Programme is helping South Sudan build a nationwide school lunch program. What could be better than having South Sudan’s own farms provide the food for these school meals?

The road to peace in South Sudan means people coming together to farm and not to fight. Fajardo writes what one farming group leader, Zakariah, said: “Working together, we’ve realized we produce more as a group. We can produce something that can be taught to many people. We have a saying in Dinka: ‘If you have one stick, it is easy to break. But if you have a bundle of sticks, it is hard to break.’ That means when you bring a group of people together, you become very strong. It is hard to break a group.”

Read more from the voices of South Sudan talking about ending hunger.

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June 27, 2013 · 3:17 am

Summer Meals Should be for all Children

The Dept. of Agriculture is trying to expand summer feeding throughout the country (courtesy USDA)

The Dept. of Agriculture is trying to expand summer feeding throughout the country (courtesy USDA)

Summer is here and time for relaxation. But for millions of needy children across the United States, it is the summer months when they are most vulnerable to hunger.

During the school year children have access to the federal school lunch and breakfast programs. This is a major safety net for families who need a little to help to get by during tough times. When school is out these meals sadly disappear for many.

The Food Research and Action Center states, “for every seven low-income students who depended on the National School Lunch Program during the regular 2011-2012 school year, only one child received summer meals in July 2012.”

Some U.S. counties do not even have a summer feeding site. So there is a huge gap in the U.S. child feeding program that will need innovation from both the public and the government to fix. In Cincinnati, Ohio, for example, public libraries are helping out as locations for distributing summer meals. More summer feeding sites, or other delivery methods, need to be established and there has to be adequate funding.

Summer meals for children are also missing in Haiti, where food is desperately needed. A series of storms and drought have damaged food production in an already impoverished country. The UN World Food Programme, which depends on voluntary funding, did not receive enough to provide summer feeding in Haiti nor a program for take home rations to help needy families.

The U.S. McGovern-Dole global school meals program is helping in Haiti as well as other countries including Mali and Afghanistan, but it needs to be expanded. Unfortunately, funding for McGovern-Dole is at risk as members of Congress are threatening cuts to food aid. This despite the fact that food aid makes up less than one tenth of one percent of the federal budget.

The program was named after the two former senators, George McGovern and Bob Dole, who during World War II witnessed the devastating effect of hunger on children and understood the importance of these initiatives in the global scene.

We should expect our representatives in Congress to make feeding the hungry overseas a top foreign policy priority.

Summer meals, both here at home and abroad, should be for all children. It’s a real test of our character as a society, do we care for the next generation and give them a helping hand.

In the United States you can call 1-866-3-HUNGRY or 1-877-8-HAMBRE (for Spanish speakers) to find the closest summer feeding sites or visit www.whyhunger.org/findfood.

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June 24, 2013 · 2:55 pm

Food Security is Security

School meals are an important part of WFP's emergency response to the conflict in Mali. They give children like these an added reason to attend school while providing them with the calories and nutrition they need to be healthy. (WFP/Daouda Guirou)

School meals are an important part of WFP’s emergency response to the conflict in Mali. They give children like these an added reason to attend school while providing them with the calories and nutrition they need to be healthy. (WFP/Daouda Guirou)

Last week Ertharin Cousin, the director of the UN World Food Programme, said “food security is security.” If you are responsible for food aid budgets, such as our elected officials, these words are what you need to know.

Any country’s well being rests first and foremost on food. Without it you cannot have a functioning economy and your children will be stunted in growth and mind. When hunger escalates, it can lead to violence further setting back the society. Food means peace.

Yet, time and time again members of Congress take to cutting food aid budgets. Some even propose amendments to abolish entire food aid programs. They might as well just eliminate American foreign policy, for you cannot have one unless you fight hunger.

As George Marshall once wrote, “Hunger and insecurity are the worst enemies of peace.” He knew what nations in distress needed as their foundation for recovery and peace. Marshall’s plan was indeed a successful approach. We know that today Afghanistan, Yemen, Haiti, Syria and other nations will not have peace or development without the basics of food.

When Cousin made her statement she was in the Middle East. She added, “Food security is a vital component for sustained peace across the region.” Palestine, Syria, Yemen, Egypt and other parts of the region are facing a severe hunger crisis.

Right now as the Congress considers the Farm Bill they have to think in terms of our foreign policy as a whole. We need a strong Food for Peace program. This initiative is the largest supporter of the World Food Programme, which is the agency on the frontline of hunger everyday.

We need a strong international school lunch program as well. When you can mix food with education it is a powerful tool. Food aid reforms need to pass to improve the efficiency of these programs.

It’s not a matter of political sides either. Democrats, Republicans and Independents can all back the fight against hunger. That is the way it’s been done before. That is how it should be now.

Remember after World War One, what a young lieutenant from the American Relief Administration said after being told a food aid mission was practically impossible. He said, “Yes, we can.” No politics there. He was doing his duty, not just as a soldier but as a human being.

We should expect no less from our elected officials when they are making decisions that impact the lives of millions of people worldwide and our own national security.

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June 18, 2013 · 12:40 am

Where are the School Meals?

Emergency school feeding in Mali through the World Food Programme. Cuts by Congress to food aid could harm this program. (WFP/Daouda Guirou)

Emergency school feeding in Mali through the World Food Programme. Cuts by Congress to food aid could harm this program. (WFP/Daouda Guirou)

We know that globally there is a huge need for school lunch programs to fight child hunger. Yet, it’s the middle of June and there’s still no word on which countries will receive grants from the U.S. McGovern-Dole school lunch program. Last year the announcement took place in April and the previous year in May.

The McGovern-Dole program is run by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA). However, the program is constantly under stress from potential funding cuts by Congress.

Bread for the World reported earlier this year that “234,000 children will have reduced or denied access to school feeding programs under the McGovern-Dole program” as a result of the sequestration cuts. It is believed that the sequestration is causing the delay in the announcement of the school feeding grants. The longer the delay, the longer hungry and malnourished children have to wait for the meals.

Aid groups, including Catholic Relief Services and the World Food Program USA, want funding for McGovern-Dole increased. They see the positive effects this program has in countries that are suffering from disasters, war, or long-standing poverty. This year’s Farm Bill legislation is the perfect opportunity to increase the level of funding and allow for more school meals in Afghanistan, Mali, Haiti and other countries where needs are massive.

WFP USA says it “has included an ask for McGovern-Dole of $300 million for FY14 in our overall global hunger and nutrition recommendations. Providing $300 million a year for McGovern-Dole would allow this program to reach 10% of the hungry school-aged children in need, increasing their nutritional status and increasing school attendance, especially for girls.” Recent funding levels for McGovern-Dole are around the $200 million mark.

Here in the United States the National School Lunch program is meant to fight off child hunger.

But what happens when summer arrives and schools close? The lunches are disappearing for many children. The Food and Research Action Center (FRAC) just released a report showing a huge gap in feeding coverage during the summer months.

The report says, “for every seven low-income students who depended on the National School Lunch Program during the regular 2011-2012 school year, only one child received summer meals in July 2012.”

Tom Vilsack, head of the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA), emphasizes, “We must do all we can to ensure that children get nutritious food year-round, so that they are ready to learn during the school year and have a greater chance to succeed.” Efforts by USDA and the public have slightly improved summer feeding participation but the gap in coverage is still huge.

Jim Weill, the president of FRAC, says, “USDA is providing strong leadership with its emphasis on improving summer meals, but Congress will need to fix some of the underlying problems in the programs in the 2015 Child Nutrition Reauthorization to truly repair the Summer Nutrition Programs. Congress must take a fresh look at the Summer Nutrition Programs and consider ways to improve this faltering program so it more effectively addresses hunger and obesity.”

The struggle to defeat hunger at home and abroad depends on school meals. Leaders, both from the government and the public, need to ensure these vital food programs are strengthened.

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