Do We Have an Adequate Supply of Food to End World Hunger?

More than 821 million people face chronic hunger on this planet. This is equivalent to one in nine people. The vast majority of us are able to go to the grocery store to pick from a variety of fresh produce, but this is not the case for others, who scavenge to find food every day, satisfied as to at least only having one meal. When we face hunger we have easy access to food just by the closeness of our fingertips. For others, hunger is defined as a condition in which a person does not meet basic nutritional requirements due to not eating an adequate supply of food. When one faces chronic hunger, the appetite may not be the only thing that can be affected. Aspects such as malnutrition, stunted growth, the risk of babies being born prematurely, and stomach and headaches play major roles in affecting a person’s hunger drastically. People not too far away from us face hunger, such as homelessness along the streets of downtown, but there are also other locations including third world countries. A country such as Sub-Saharan Africa contains 22.7% of the world’s population who face the growing risk of hunger. The Caribbean holds 17.7%, Southern Asia:14.4%, Southeastern Asia: 11.5%, and Western Asia: 10.6%. It is quite clear that we are all aware of this growing problem of world hunger. There have been many organizations that have already raised this concern and have reduced world hunger by a tremendous amount. It has now only come to the question: Do we actually have an adequate supply of food to solve this problem of growing world hunger? 

“We know that a peaceful world cannot long exist, one-third rich and two-thirds hungry.” – Jimmy Carter, 39th president of the United States. With this growing concern of world hunger, organizations have helped to reduce it by 50 percent since 1979. Although the world produces one-half times enough food to feed every individual in this world, many of these people are already in a state of poverty, in which they simply do not have enough money to even purchase it in the first place. They also lack such resources to buy food, and many places lack basic nutrition. There is nowhere for them to process or supply the food that is being made. For example, in India, harsh chemicals such as fertilizers and pesticides are used for farming, which consequentially leads to soil degradation. This slows growth for crops and creates health issues. Which pushes many of these farmers into debt. With this being a concern, it gives emphasis to the fact that although there is a supply of accessible food for the world, the majority of these individuals would just not be able to access it due to geographical locations and poverty issues that ultimately lead to their hunger.

As mentioned before, a vast number of the global organization has helped slow the spread of hunger, one of the largest that have been introduced by the United Nations include World Food Programme(WFP), it has helped over 86.7 million people all across the world who struggle to find an adequate food source. It works to provide aid to over 83 countries around the globe. WFP acts as an emergency responder in which it supplies food with 5600 trucks, 20 ships, and 92 planes. An abundance of organizations helps strive to improve the circumstances of the world including, Bread of the World, a collective Christain organization based in the United States; Care, an organization dedicated to ending poverty and protecting the dignity of people; Action Against Hunger, finds ways to treat hunger and malnutrition all over the world; and more.

In conclusion: “There are genuinely sufficient resources in the world to ensure that no one, nowhere, at no time, should go hungry.” – Ed Asner, actor and social activist. To answer the question: Do We Have an Adequate Supply of Food to End World Hunger? The answer comes down to yes. That there is actually enough food to feed this world, but with the circumstances that some people are put in, they are not able to get access to this food source, which leads to their starvation in the first place. Organizations are ultimately the only way to help stop the growing issue. So the next time that we are quick to throw away a piece of food, we should think back to the people around the world who long to see even a bit of bread.


Bibliography

  1. What Is Food Insecurity in America? hungerandhealth.feedingamerica.org/understand-food-insecurity/.
  2. Polsky, Jane Y., and Heather Gilmour. “This Study Assessed the Association between Household Food Insecurity and Self-Perceived Mental Health Status and Anxiety Symptoms among Canadians in the Early Months of the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Food Insecurity and Mental Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic, Government of Canada, Statistics Canada, 16 Dec. 2020, www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/82-003-x/2020012/article/00001-eng.htm.
  3. “Malnutrition.” Johns Hopkins Medicine, www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/malnutrition#:~:text=Malnutrition%20is%20the%20condition%20that,healthy%20tissues%20and%20organ%20function.
  4. “World Hunger: Key Facts and Statistics 2021.” Action Against Hunger, 7 May 2021, www.actionagainsthunger.org/world-hunger-facts-statistics.
  5. Project, Borgen. “10 Quotes on World Hunger.” The Borgen Project, Borgen Project Https://Borgenproject.org/Wp-Content/Uploads/The_Borgen_Project_Logo_small.Jpg, 15 Apr. 2016, borgenproject.org/10-quotes-world-hunger/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CWe%20know%20that%20a%20peaceful,million%20children%20die%20through%20malnutrition.
  6. Owen, Jasmine. “World Hunger: Facts & How to Help.” World Vision Canada, Organization, 23 July 2020, www.worldvision.ca/stories/food/world-hunger-facts-how-to-help#:~:text=That’s%20one%20in%20every%20nine%20people%20on%20the%20planet.www.worldvision.ca/stories/food/world-hunger-facts-how-to-help#:~:text=That’s%20one%20in%20every%20nine%20people%20on%20the%20planet.
    Featured Image Source: https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/522206519268907149/

 

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *