HUNGER

Today, 40,000 people will die from causes related to hunger. Nearly a billion will not get enough to eat today and countless others will suffer from diseases related to malnutrition. It is hard for those of us living in the midst of such abundance to imagine such suffering.

Since 2004 RWF has been funding aid projects in Haiti. In addition to funding projects focused on earthquake and hurricane recovery efforts, RWF is committed to fight poverty and malnutrition in Haiti. RWF is a primary funder of the Haiti Urban Garden Project in Gonaives. The project helps city dwellers establish and nurture kitchen vegetables gardens. Technical training is provided to the urban farmers on planting techniques and compost preparation. Located in backyards, on rooftops and even front porches, these gardens yield fresh vegetables and fruits and surplus income for project participants. As a result, participating families have better diets, greater income resulting from the sale of vegetables and an improved environmental situation through more robust sanitation efforts. Several hundred families have benefited from this program.

RWF has also funded hunger projects in the United States including providing 1 million pounds of food aid after Hurricane Katrina.

RWF is partnered with CARE in Haiti and Feeding American in the United States.

HUNGER FACTS

When most of us think of hunger, images of famine and starvation come to mind. This is only a part of the problem. Global hunger encompasses famine and malnutrition, the major component of hunger. Famine or starvation, the extreme and general scarcity of food can occur as the result of crop failure or destruction brought on by such causes as drought, flooding or pestilence. For example, severe flooding caused the 1970 Bangladeshi famine that took countless lives. However, the causes of famine are frequently more closely linked to violence, militarism and war such as the continuing strife in Afghanistan, Angola, Burma, Iraq, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan and elsewhere. During armed conflict, food production and marketing are disrupted. Food is seized or blockaded, planting and crop cycles are interrupted, supplies and equipment are destroyed. Starvation itself is being used more and more as a weapon, harming innocent civilians. Even during so-called peacetime, military spending takes priority over food production and social welfare. Poverty, however, is by far the foremost cause of hunger. Though the world produces more than enough food to feed everyone, hundreds of millions lack the purchasing power to afford adequate nutrition. Poverty's powerlessness deprives the poor of access to the political structure necessary to break the vicious cycle in which they are trapped.

Malnutrition, the chronic absence of essential proteins, micronutrients, fatty acids, and adequate caloric intake, affects 800 million people worldwide each day. It is directly linked to infant and childhood mortality, stunted growth, reduced intelligence and increased risk of infection. It is estimated that 250 million children suffer from stunted growth due to malnutrition. Nutritionally depleting diseases also play a major role in malnutrition worldwide, claiming the lives of five million children each year. Women and the elderly are also particularly vulnerable to malnutrition. Chronic hunger has multigenerational effects contributing to a spiral of human suffering. It is a thief that robs people of physical and mental health, education, economic security and the opportunity for a better life.

HUNGER IN AMERICA

When most people think of hunger they picture people struggling to survive in developing nations far from the shores of the United States. In a country that produces enough food to feed all of its people and much of the rest of the world, hunger seems unthinkable. Yet in the United States hunger is a reality for more than 23 million people. In the U.S., hunger primarily comes in the form of food insecurity, meaning that not enough food is available to consistently meet the basic needs of an individual or family.

In 2000 the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported that 12 percent of all American households were food insecure. That same year the USDA reports that nearly 1 in 5 children went hungry. America’s Second Harvest, the nations largest network of food banks, reports that 26 million Americans received food from food banks in 2002. Children are the largest segment of our population suffering the devastating effects of hunger. According to the USDA, 13 million children live in households that do not have an adequate supply of food. The elderly are also particularly vulnerable to food insecurity. The USDA reports that 1.4 million households with elderly members experience food insecurity.

The consequences of hunger in America are staggering and far reaching. Children who do not receive adequate nourishment are impacted physically and intellectually. The insidious effects of hunger start early. Mothers who experience inadequate nutrition have higher infant mortality rates and give birth to babies with lower birth weights. These children suffer two to four times as many health problems as other children. During a child’s development the consequences of hunger, even minor malnutrition, can be devastating. Impaired physical growth, abnormal brain development, shorter attention spans, difficulty concentrating and more school absences can be just the beginning of a cycle of suffering and missed opportunities for these children. As these children grow up, this can lead to a lack of fulfillment of their potential, poor social integration, lower work productivity and poverty. The cost to individual lives and to U.S. society is enormous.

Among the elderly the consequences of inadequate food supply are many. Chronic health problems, increased degenerative disease, poor digestion, higher rates of infection and extended hospital stays are just a few of the health problems linked to hunger among the elderly. Elder food insecurity can also lead to depression, mental deterioration and hastened mortality.