Whether it’s colleges, churches or community organizations you can do something to bring peace and humanitarian aid for all Syrians. While these battlefields are distant in miles, you can still be close at hand in bringing relief to the suffering.
Read the full article at The Huffington Post.
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The horrific numbers increase daily from the war in Syria. The UN now says that 6.3 million Syrians need life-saving food aid. The UN World Food Programme (WFP) requires $2 billion to feed them in 2014. If this war continues, these numbers will go up again.
“This is the worst humanitarian crisis that we have seen in decades, with every day more vulnerable Syrians pushed into hunger,” says Muhannad Hadi, Syria coordinator for WFP.
The U.S. Congress needs to act and boost our Food for Peace program to meet this Syrian emergency as well as others. As the new year approaches, the Philippines, Central African Republic, Mali, Democratic Republic of Congo, and South Sudan have been struck by conflict or natural disasters.
The Farm Bill legislation, which Congress will take up again in January, is where Food for Peace funding is decided.
WFP depends on Food for Peace as its largest single donor. It’s crucial that Congress support Food for Peace when you consider the ongoing humanitarian emergencies.World Food Day
David Kauck of Save the Children points out that reforms to Food for Peace must also be passed. “These changes would include eliminating restrictions on the use of local and regional food procurement; repealing inefficient shipping requirements; and scaling down food aid monetization over a period of time, accompanied by an equivalent increase in development assistance.”
When a disaster occurs, such as the typhoon in the Philippines, aid groups can sometimes use local food sources to feed those in need. Aid groups must have no restrictions on using this option.
Kauck adds, “Early research shows that the reforms could provide considerable cost savings resulting in more aid to more children, greater flexibility to use the most appropriate approach available to assist people in need, and faster humanitarian response times.”
The Farm Bill impacts both our domestic and foreign policies. A strong Farm Bill feeds the hungry both at home and abroad. Only in this way can we be strong as a nation, and also further global peace and stability.
Food aid is the only thing that will save children from damaging and even deadly malnutrition. Food is a force that can help restore peace.
We also know there is enough food on the planet for everyone, and no one, especially children, should be without.
Let’s remember that our decisions on food aid policy can change lives and make or break an entire generation in whole countries and regions. So let’s take the right action on the Farm Bill. Let us choose Food for Peace.
Read the full article at Yahoo! Voices
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Congress is threatening to cut food aid.
Congress can make or break our fight against hunger at home and overseas. Both food stamps, to help impoverished Americans, and the global Food for Peace program are on the line in Farm Bill meetings starting this week.
With over 49 million Americans suffering from hunger, and high unemployment rates, it makes no sense to cut back the food stamp (SNAP) program. Yet on November 1 there will be reductions in SNAP and more may be coming. The House of Representatives is proposing nearly $ 40 billion dollars worth of cuts in SNAP. Their plan also calls for the elimination of free school meals for over 200,000 children.
Where will hungry Americans go for help? They will look to food banks, but these are already overstretched and cannot make up the difference. The economy is suffering and hunger will escalate in America if Congress dismantles food safety nets.
Bob Aiken, the CEO of Feeding America says, “We anticipate that, faced with this sudden drop in their monthly food budget, many people who receive SNAP benefits will seek additional help from our food banks and the agencies they serve. Unfortunately, our food banks across the nation continue to be stretched thin in their efforts to meet sustained high need in the wake of the recession.”
Food stamps have a history of helping Americans living in poverty. In 1939 food stamps were first introduced to help low-income families. Studies showed the needy were getting more nutritious foods as a result. Grocers liked the plan because the stamps were redeemed to buy food at their stores.
As America entered World War II, food stamps were seen as vital for keeping the whole nation strong. In 1943, because Americans were back at work in large part, the need for food stamps ended. Secretary of Agriculture Claude Wickard called the program “an outstanding success.” The U.S. did continue food aid with school lunch programs and relief for the handicapped and elderly during these war years.
Today, Congress wants to roll back food stamps before economic recovery has taken place. Their plan puts more strain on the nation’s hungry and food bank system. Their plan takes away school meals. What they should do is strengthen the food stamp plan and the Federal Emergency Food Assistance (TEFAP) program which supports food banks. When jobs and wages start to return then take up large reductions in food stamps.
The Food for Peace program is also a major part of the Farm Bill. Congress has to decide the level of funding. Food for Peace supports hunger relief in Syria, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Haiti, Mali, Yemen and many other countries. It’s an extension of Wickard’s World War II philosophy that “Food will win the war and write the peace.”
No country or region will have stability if it suffers from malnutrition. That is why Food for Peace, as well as the McGovern-Dole global school lunch plan, need support in Congress. As Dwight Eisenhower said, hungry children scrapping in garbage heaps cannot be expected to become apostles of peace. We need to wage war against hunger and want. Food for Peace is the largest supplier of the UN World Food Programme, the lead hunger fighting organization.
International food aid makes up less than one tenth of one percent of the federal budget. So there is no savings to cost cut here. What cuts would do is sink our foreign policy.
Congress has a lot on its plate as it starts back to work. Decisions in the coming weeks can drastically impact the hungry here at home and abroad. That will be a legacy of this Congress, how it responds to these difficult times.
Americans must continue to give their input as to how to run things. Leadership can come from any corner. Now is the stretch run for the Farm Bill. As Amelia Kegan, a policy analyst for Bread for the World says, “It’ll be an intense period, but as you well know, this is often the most important part of any race.”
Originally published at the Huffington Post
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Fall is here. The cooler air is starting to move in. Thank goodness! This is a great time for running, biking or just taking a stroll. With the coming of autumn you can get some very good scenic workouts. And some Charity Miles!
It was a year ago when I first heard about Charity Miles. Alanna Imbach and Ekaterina Oshepkova of the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) kept tweeting about it. WFP is the largest food aid organization providing relief in Syria, Mali, South Sudan, Afghanistan, Haiti and many other countries.
Alanna and Ekaterina were getting in some great workouts. By doing so they were raising money for WFP. What was this Charity Miles I wondered? I thought maybe I could do this too.
They filled me in on the details. With the Charity Miles app you walk, run or bike and raise funds for WFP and other organizations. All you need is a smartphone. I bought one, downloaded the free app, and followed the easy set up instructions.
And I was off to the races. Well, sort of. I had been doing some walking but I needed to get into shape to do running again too. The chance to actually take a walk or run and raise funds for the World Food Programme and Feeding America, two organizations I write about, is a unique experience.
On Thanksgiving Day I ran over nine miles for the World Food Programme, Feeding America and Stand Up 2 Cancer. You can raise money for multiple organizations in the same day or just pick one. At one point this year Charity Miles told me I was ranked 4th among those raising funds for the World Food Programme.
Once you get started others will see what you are doing. I have talked about Charity Miles at classes and churches. I even talk about it sometimes while in line at the store. Or even just on the street.
While speaking to a College of Mount St. Joseph class in February there was a great surprise. Professor Jeff Hillard added an extra credit component of Charity Miles to his Cincinnati Authors course. And the students started racking up the miles.
Soon I made contact with a group on the Mount St. Joseph campus called the Campus Activities Board. They really took Charity Miles to great heights at the college. There are now runners and walkers at the Mount raising funds for WFP, Feeding America, Autism Speaks, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Stand Up 2 Cancer, Wounded Warrior Project and many other charities.
I would recommend to anyone trying to start Charity Miles at a college to contact the activities board at the campus or any existing hunger fighting organizations. For instance, with Ithaca College they have a great student-led program called Food for Thought. This groups does an annual Walk for Plumpy’Nut, a food that saves the lives of infants. They also meet routinely to learn about hunger issues and have their own FreeRice team. I just proposed they add Charity Miles to Food for Thought’s schedule.
So many of us have the smartphones and do the workouts anyway. Why not be raising money for charity at the same time? Beyond that is the most important of them all: impact. For instance, a group of Charity Milers could raise funds on any given day for the World Food Programme and make an impact statement for Syrian relief. I just proposed this Charity Miles initiative for helping Syria to a U.N. Development Goals class at Mount St. Joseph.
WFP needs about U.S. $30 million a week to provide food to Syrian war victims. As they rely entirely on voluntary contributions, any bit means a lot. Just getting a mile means a couple meals donated.
You can be a sports ambassador for many causes using Charity Miles. So it is the perfect time to be raising funds for the World Food Programme and Feeding America. Globally there are 842 million people who are hungry. Here in the United States 50 million people are considered “food insecure.”
With Charity Miles you can help both WFP and Feeding America. Funds can be raised, but also remember that impact statement. The more knowledge of what you do, the more advocacy that can reach the halls of government where food aid budgets and policy are determined.
So tweet and facebook your results as much as possible. Running and walking may be quiet activities in themselves. With Charity Miles every step speaks loudly. Every step helps someone in need. As fall is here, no better time get started with Charity Miles to end hunger.
Visit Charity Miles to get started!
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Here is a video about Charity Miles for Halloween and below are some instructions on how you can use this tool to help feed the hungry. If you get through Halloween!
Here is a video and some instructions on how to use the free app Charity Miles to help raise funds for the World Food Programme, Feeding America and other charities while you walk, run or bike. (courtesy Ekaterina Oshepkova of the World Food Programme)
How do I use the app Charity Miles?
1. Download the application at charitymiles.org
2. It will ask you to connect via Facebook. Note, without a Facebook account, you will not be able to use the application. Also, your GPS must be on. (most cell phones apparently already have this on)
3. When you are ready to exercise, select the charity in which you will be exercising for. You can do so by sliding the screen until you see WFP, which is the 10th charity.
4. Select, walk, run, or bike. The application will then start & track your distance.
5. When you are finished, or want to take a break, select stop.
6. If you wish to resume, select resume. If you are finished, select finish.
7. When you are finished with your exercise, the application will prompt you to accept sponsorship. Accept Sponsorship. If you do not accept sponsorship and allow a post to your Facebook wall, no money will be donated to the charity.
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In September of 1961 the Archdiocese of Washington held a Crusade of Prayer for Peace. At this time the Cold War was well underway and the Soviet Union had recently tested a massive nuclear weapon. The United States would soon resume its nuclear test explosions as well. The Cuban Missile Crisis would follow in a year.
I found the prayer card in my late mother’s Saint Andrew Daily Missal. She lived in the Washington, DC area at the time of the Prayer for Peace event. To read the prayer click on the card below.
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WFP also hopes to run a Food for Education program to give Yemeni children rations and encourage class attendance. This program has suffered from such a lack of funding that WFP has reduced its planned beneficiaries (photo courtesy Yemen Post)
Hunger and malnutrition is something that you do not hear much about when Yemen is discussed in the news. The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) just released findings from a preliminary survey of hunger and malnutrition (food insecurity) in Yemen. Test your knowledge on the results. You can check your answers at the conclusion of the quiz.
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1.) Hunger and malnutrition in Yemen
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Christmas is coming and all eyes are on the sky for Rudolph, his fellow reindeers and, of course, Santa Claus. Back in 1953 Santa’s sled was extra heavy, with hundreds of thousands of food packages for the hungry worldwide.
That year President Dwight Eisenhower started “Operation Reindeer.” He wanted to build goodwill with Christmas food packages to fight global hunger. Everyone got involved. Charities, the U.S. military and also the public took part in either buying the CARE packages or making the deliveries.
Germany, Japan, Austria, Korea, and Italy were some of the countries that received the Christmas food gifts. All of these nations had recently been scarred by war and were trying to overcome the resulting poverty.
“Operation Reindeer” was an opening chapter in the U.S. Food for Peace era. What better way to build a peaceful world than by ensuring all could have the food and nutrition they needed to survive and develop?
When Eisenhower took office, the United States had a growing surplus of food. Worldwide, though, there were hungry people. It made sense to send this food abroad to the needy.
The food would mean something more too. It would connect Americans to people overseas. Food would form a friendship. Food would unite. Food would be a bridge to peace.
Someone who received an Operation Reindeer package in Germany said, “It reminds us that we have not been forgotten.” One German wrote, “tell Americans that they have admirers in Germany.”
In Austria, a governor said that “his country is very grateful and the only reason that recovery has been so miraculous has been due to U.S. aid and friendship.” Another remarked, “this food package program makes the man on the street in Austria appreciate the friendship of the U.S.”
After Operation Reindeer ended, one of the officials was asked, “Why isn’t such a program wider in scope?” Observers of Operation Reindeer felt that more publicity about the program would have further enhanced this public diplomacy outreach.
Also, it would highlight the needs in these countries. In Italy, Mr. Newton Leonard, sent by the U.S. to observe the aid, wrote, “we wished that the packages weighed a hundred pounds for we realized how quickly the contents of the packages would be consumed by the hungry and ill children and adults.” Leonard recommended a Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program with emphasis on child feeding, including school meals.
Operation Reindeer was only a quick relief program and it was discontinued after 1954 in favor of longer lasting projects. What was needed was steady aid and this is what evolved in the coming years. One reporter remarked they fired Santa for Christmas but instead gave him a year-round job.
What followed in Italy was Food for Peace with school feeding for millions. Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Peru, India and others also received school meals during the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations.
Food for Peace programs, whether school meals or other projects, helped turn many countries from recovery mode to self-sufficiency. They are now donors to hunger fighting programs around the globe.
Today, though, there are still many people around the world suffering from hunger. We still need the Food for Peace spirit that was so strong during the immediate years after World War II.
There are nearly 1 billion people worldwide who suffer from hunger. With that kind of suffering and deprivation, peace and development cannot take hold. In Afghanistan, for instance, over 7 million people are estimated to suffer from hunger and many millions more on the brink of this despair. These statistics were tabulated before the recent drought struck that country, putting millions of others at risk.
Food is the best road to peace in that country for without it people cannot work, cannot grow, cannot learn and cannot thrive. It’s the same story in Sudan, Ivory Coast, Niger, Yemen, Haiti, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and other countries mired in instability and poverty. If we feed their hungry and build their agricultural capacity, it’s our best hope of building stable and prosperous countries, and having them as lasting friends and allies of the United States.
Food is what unites all peoples across the globe, for all people and nations need it to survive and develop. There is no better gift we can give this Christmas or year round than food for the world’s hungry.
Article first published as When Santa, Rudolph, and Eisenhower Took on Global Hunger on Blogcritics.
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One of the guns of Battery D, 105th Field Artillery, showing American flag which was hoisted after the last shot had been fired when the armistice took effect. Etraye, France. 11/11/1918Credits: National Archives
It was just a piece of paper. Yet on the morning of November 11, 1918, it meant peace.
For on that paper was a message from United States General John Pershing, ordering ceasefire on all fronts at 11 a.m. Germany had accepted the armistice. The Great War, or World War I, was over.
While the battlefields were filled with the most devastating firepower ever assembled, it was a small piece of paper that was the most powerful instrument of that day.
The announcing of the armistice on November 11, 1918, was the occasion for a monster celebration in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Thousands massed on all sides of the replica of the Statue of Liberty on Broad Street, and cheered unceasingly. Philadelphia Public Ledger. (National Archives)
Celebrations sprang up across the world. The Cincinnati Enquirer wrote, “It was Victory Day, and all Cincinnati helped celebrate this most momentous event in the history of the world.”
Americans fought and died right up to the armistice. Many who survived lived with the effects of shellshock . A whole world was in fact left shellshocked by the Great War, and millions of people were threatened with starvation and poverty as a result.
“Hunger knows no armistice,” a poster for the Near East Relief Committee stated. To tell the full story of World War I and its aftermath is to tell of hunger and great humanitarians.
The article in the Cincinnati Enquirer made it a point to mention the city’s impressive record providing relief throughout the conflict. In fact, in 1917 the paper printed the appeal of Frederick Chatfield, a leader for Belgium relief, who said one dollar a month would save a Belgian child from starvation and give him the extra food needed to keep him from disease. The newspaper even printed the names of those who sent in donations.
Cincinnati adopted the town of Hastiere in Belgium in order to help it rebuild from wartime destruction. Among the buildings damaged was a little church, built in the eleventh century, that was bombarded by shells.
The men and women who suffered through World War I deserved a lasting peace. However, the world was at war once again just two decades later. The Second World War would bring even more destruction than the first.
But on this Armistice Day, 2011, let’s remember that dream of world peace that should have followed the First World War, and not give up on that dream. The pursuit of world peace is the best memorial we can leave to the generation that sacrificed so much in the horror of the first World War.
Lands struck by war can recover. Interestingly, I recently received two messages from Belgium, one confirming that the country is a donor to the UN World Food Programme to help this agency fight hunger in conflict and disaster zones around the globe. The second message is from Hastiere. All is well there, and the little church is rebuilt-the Great War long in the rearview mirror.
Article first published as Armistice Day, World Peace and Feeding the Hungry on Blogcritics.
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Author William Lambers 