EradicatingWorld HungerWhat students can do to help

Table of Contents

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Introduction & BackgroundScope of the ProblemSolution 1Solution 2AppendixAdditional Resources

Introduction & BackgroundWorld hunger is not a new event. Throughout the history of time there have been times of suffering. There are many causes of world-wide hunger including: war, regional changes in economics, cultural changes and change in the weather patterns. All these impact people in all walks of life – people in poor countries and wealthy countries. World hunger is not just something our generation has to endure, but it is some that as far back as there were people on earth there was hunger. Joseph who was sold in to Egypt was able to help his family when they were hungry. The colonial era had issues with hunger due to the change in government and capitalism throughout the new colonies. Increased growth among the people brought new ways of doing business and new ways of keeping and storing grain. It was no longer the small business man that was doing business with in his village, there are now rail ways to take the grain to larger cities for sale. Sale barns or grain elevators are able to collect large amounts of grain and store it and sell it to vendors or buyers. This creation of this large ware house prevents the small vendors from selling grains to their local villages. In a recent interview Brother Patrick Reese for the LDS Humanitarian services in Salt Lake City said, “In India, for example, production is not really the problem anymore, it is distribution that is a problem. In India and many cultural issues that prevent some people getting the water or food from getting down the line. In other countries it is tariffs, government red tape and regulations. It is not just in developing countries, but also here in the United States. If a person living in Salt Lake has an illness and the food bank is 6 blocks away and they don’t have a car. How is it possible for the people get there with no money for a cab? They don’t – so they don’t eat and become sicker.” Another change in the history of world hunger is the result of the increased growth of nations and economies which created agflation. Agflation is inflation in the prices of food. People were no longer selling food on a local level and the prices were fluctuating to meet the demand of the people in big cities and throughout the world. There is a loss of marketing on a local level causing wide spread famine and increased world hunger. Along with the Agflation, speculation became a huge catalyst for market changes. People would speculate (or gamble) the cost of food supplies and the market would react to the speculation which would make the prices of grains and other items go up - thus, causing the poorest people to pay more for their food – which would cause a greater impact on world hunger. There have been times when world hunger has been set aside to deal with other world-wide issues. Issues such as AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis often become what is reported on the news. The problem is that these other

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Introduction & Background

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issues combined do not cause as many deaths as does world hunger and malnutrition. Hunger has become the forgotten disease of the world. There are countries in the world that may have enough food, but the nutritional values are lacking. Brother Reese from the LDS Humanitarian Services talked about nutrition as adding to the problem of hunger. He said, “Nutrition is a problem. Where people are starving and they are not getting enough calories there isn’t really a need to discuss nutrition because they are fulfilling their daily caloric intake. Many people see McDonald’s and Coke a way of life, but they are decreasing the nutritional values of the food that is

being eaten. Not to say that those companies are the only problem- there are many companies that market to the poor without adding to the person nutritional intake.” As more and more people are trying to make their situations better –they are looking for permanent solutions for their hunger problems. One solution that has been explored is changing the farming practices in the area affected. There has been a lot of success with micro farms and hydroponics. This gives the people an opportunity to learn a new skill and then apply it to better their situation. Brother Patrice Reese from the LDS Humanitarian Services talked about the people in different countries becoming more self-reliant reliant by leaning new farming techniques. Brother Reese said this is done by, “Raising small animals – rabbits and such things and also better gardening skills.” This is done in

a ward or stake level in the affected areas to improve the people’s lives. Hydroponics allows the farmers to grow food in containers rather than using the nutrient depleted soils. It also allows the people to set up green houses to grow crops year round in some places. This will allow for more self – sustaining farming. Micro farms allow not only families to succeed in producing produce and becoming self-reliant – but it also allows the micro farmers to help the community. As the produce stays in the community, prices can be set by the micro farmers, which benefit the farmer and the community. This type of empowerment allows for success in fighting world hunger on a local level. As we, as citizens of the world, try our best to take care of each other we will be better suited to help each other when we have knowledge of the problem. Knowledge is power and gives us the power to change the world one person, one farm at a time.

Scope of The Problem

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The scope of world hunger is worldwide. World hunger is a problem that affects the world as a whole. More than three million children died of under nutrition worldwide in 2011, averaging one death every ten seconds. Research published in the Lancet Medical Journal suggests that 45% of global deaths of children under the age of five are due to malnutrition. Many of the children do not actually die from starving, but die from obtaining diseases, such as measles, because they do not receive proper nutrition.

How hunger has affected the U.S.A and the regions that are most affected. Outside of third world countries, world hunger is still a massive problem. In fact, the United States is affected by world hunger. It is estimated that 17 million children In the U.S live in food-insecure households, in which they do not receive proper nourishment. Feeding America is a hunger relief charity in the U.S that has over 200 food banks nationwide. According to Feeding America, New Mexico ranks number one is having the most children who suffer from child hunger in the nation. About 30% of the children in New Mexico suffer from child hunger. Many of the child hunger cases in the Nation are centralized in the South West. For example Los Angeles Country ranks first in counties with the highest child hunger percentage, as 27% of children in this county live in food-insecure situations. With summer vacation starting, these cases of child hunger will be even worse because these children will not receive the discounted or free lunches they received from their schools.The scope of the issue is not just lack of food, it is lack of nutrients. Children that have good nutrition can fight off measles, while children with poor nutrition have weak immune systems, and something like measles can become life threatening. This is a key reason why being properly

Scope of The Problem

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nourished is important for young children. Studies have shown that being poorly nourished more than doubles the likely hood of a child dying.The scope of lack of nutrients is not just directly related to what individuals directly consume. For example the nutrients nursing mothers consume are the same nutrients their babies will consume. Malnourishment in children is not the only cause for young children dying due to world hunger. Malnourishment in pregnant women can cause hemorrhage and high blood pressure, which can lead to death of both the mother and unborn child. In India, this is a very common problem. Many of these deaths can be avoided by women receiving proper medical attention. The reason they do not receive the proper medical attention is because they are uninformed of the issue, and/or because they do not have the financial means to receive the help that is needed. In India alone, about 56,000 die during child birth yearly. This number is 19% of childbirth related deaths worldwide. Many of these deaths stem from being malnourished and not having the resources to receive help. 36% of women in India are malnourished. Lowering this number will help lower the number of childbirth deaths.

The scope of the effects of world hunger goes beyond physical ailments as it can cause a lack in brain development. Besides malnutrition effecting growth and even causing death, the scope of malnutrition goes even further. Malnourished children grow up smaller (stunted growth), and also grow up weaker; in addition to this, children who suffer from malnourishment may not have fully developed brains. Malnutrition is believed to be affecting children in their development in school. A UK charity, Save the Children, states that a quarter of children worldwide are at risk of underperforming at school due to the problem of malnutrition. Reading and writing are believed to be severely affected because of malnutrition. The study performed by Save the Children showed that children eight years old were 19% more likely to make mistakes in reading simple statements such as “the sun is hot” or “I like dogs” when being compared to children who receive a balanced diet. Save the Children believes that malnourished children could earn up to 20% less income during adulthood compared to those who received a balance diet while growing up.

Solution One

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WIC is used throughout the 50 states in the United States of America. It is also available in 34 Tribal Organizations, American Samoa, District of Columbia, Guam, and Commonwealth of the Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. There are 90 WIC state agencies that administer to approximately 1,836 local agencies and 9,000 clinic sites. It stands for the abbreviation of women, infants, and children. This program helps feed local families and gives them access to health care and other needed information that is related to raising children and healthy families. This program is continually getting updated as new needs are discovered and as old ways are reevaluated and taken into consideration for being useful. The program began in about 1968 with a group of physicians noticing that the common thread in their patients that were pregnant. They were lacking nutrition gained by certain foods. The physicians would then prescribe food. The prescriptions would act like a food voucher to obtain the needed foods. In 1974, the first year that WIC was authorized 88 thousand people participated. Laws were passed to help mainstream the idea of helping pregnant and breastfeeding women with their nutritional needs. As the years passed certain guidelines have come into existence. Along with helping feed their children up to five years old and under, WIC is a program geared toward raising healthy families. WIC services can be found online by using a computer that is connected to the internet. A local chapter can usually be found by locating the Health department of your state and county of residence. Around fifty-three percent of the births in America will be aided by this program. Some of the basic details of WIC include: Who is eligible for WIC? Pregnant, breastfeeding women, a woman that has just had a baby, a child less than five and those families that meet income guidelines. (Currently income guidelines are $42,643 for a family of four.) What does WIC provide? Nutrition education, vouchers for food, referrals to health and human services, breast feeding support, and review of immunizations. How many people does WIC serve? During the Fiscal year 2011, the number of women, infants, and children receiving WIC benefits each month were on average 9 million participants per month. Hunger needs in America can also be met by: local donations to area chapter church houses or wards. On donation slips monetary means can be donated. Canned food donations to their local food banks are also another way to donate to help fulfill local area hunger needs.

Solution TwoClarify/ identify the solution: If certain steps are taken such as breast feeding women getting micronutrient supplementation, universal salt iodization, vitamin A supplements for children between the ages of six months and five years, and so forth. If these steps and the many more are taken in 34 countries, almost a million lives could be saved yearly at the cost of $9.6 billion. There are additional steps that will be outlined later.

Key Components: The problem of world hunger stems from a lack of economic growth. The decline in the economy has caused world hunger to increase, as less people are able to afford food that is properly nourished. World hunger is the cause to many children dying from diarrhea, pneumonia, malaria, and measles due to malnutrition. A solution to the problem of world hunger is outlined in studies from the Lancet Medical Journal which highlights a package that could help save almost a million lives a year in 34 countries. The Lancet studies suggest using 10 steps that have been scientifically proven to help with world hunger.

These steps are:1. universal salt iodization2. the promotion of early and exclusive breastfeeding3. micronutrient supplementation for all pregnant women4. calcium supplements for pregnant women who need them5. food supplements for pregnant women who need them6. vitamin A supplements for children between six months and five years old7. zinc supplements for children between one and five years old8. education about appropriate complementary feeding, backed by supplements where needed9. proper management moderate acute malnutrition10. proper management of severe acute malnutritionTo carry out this plan, it would cost about $9.6 billion, but 900,000 lives would be saved in 34 countries. These steps have been taken in small amounts, and it is believed that if these steps are scaled up by 90%, we would see the 900,000 lives being saved.Malnutrition takes place because many children and adults are not receiving the proper nutrients to help keep them healthy. These 10 steps are proposed to be set in place because they would help bring nutrients to those who are in need.

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Wendy Vander Veur is a native of Salt Lake City, Utah. She has grown up as an avid reader. One of her favorite past times is to spend time with family or writing in her journal. She has kept a continuous journal for twenty-five years, and hopes to fill the next many years with many new experiences. Thank you for reading her work on World Hunger.

Lisa Reid is from Escondido, California. She has a rather large family and enjoys the time they spend together. She is known for singing constantly. She is creative and vivacious. She went to San Pasqual High School and then majored in Communication at BYU-Idaho. She is moderately extroverted and is thrilled as she learns new things about life every day.

Jared Crain is from Manchester, New Hampshire. Jared puts his family before anything else and is grateful for their support in his life. In his free time, Jared loves to be involved in the sport of wrestling. He wrestled in High School and before attending BYU-Idaho, he wrestled at Bacone College in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Jared currently coaches wrestling at Madison High School in Rexburg, Idaho.

A p p e n d i xBiographies

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Rachel Brooke is a daughter of Retired LT. Col. Kooyman. Being a LT. Col.’s daughter she has moved around the world. This has sparked a love of travel and a love of trying new things. She also has a love of the outdoors and enjoys camping, hiking and spending time with her 4 children. She is currently with her husband a hobby farmer in Iowa. Thank you for reading her thoughts on world hunger.

Our team selected this issue because as we were deciding on an issue, one member came up with the idea of world hunger. When Jared saw this as a topic suggestion, he whole heartedly agreed with it because the scope of this issue goes worldwide. Not only are we affected by world hunger here at home in America, but the whole world is affected by world hunger in one way or another. Jared believes, when there is an issue of this size, it is very important to be informed of what is going on. He felt that by doing an issue book on this topic, he would become much more informed about world hunger.

Wendy chose this topic because of her love of service and travel. She wanted to do a topic on an issue that would affect people in her community. One in which they could reach out and help. World Hunger is a worldwide concern, found in the community.

Selection of Issue

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Jared contributed to the issue book by discussing the scope of the issue of world hunger. When discussing the scope of the issue, there were many different angles to take when viewing the problem. These angles include:

The scope of world hunger is worldwide.How hunger has affected the U.S.A. and the regions that are most affected.The scope of the issue is not just lack of food, it is lack of nutrients.The scope of lack of nutrients is not just directly related to what individuals directly consume. For example the nutrients nursing mothers consume are the same nutrients their babies will consume.The scope of the effects of world hunger goes beyond physical ailments as it can cause a lack in brain development.

Wendy contributed the portion of the book about the ramifications of the problem. The six ramifications that were shown in the book include:

Hunger knows no boundariesChildren are the ones most affected by hungerThe undernourished usually live in the underdeveloped countriesSelf-sustaining skills can be taught to those suffering from hungerWIC is a federally funded answer to hunger needs in AmericaStop world hunger by donations of money, food, and time

Lisa was the editor, she compiled all of the information, corrected for errors in syntax and made it aesthetically pleasing. She located images that coneyed the message of the book without being overly grim. She organized the sources into the works cited section alphabetically. During the process she reviewed team members work and gave tips on how to improve it and make it more professional. She edited the biography photos to match in format. One of the difficulties was just figuring out what text was meant to go where.

Team Member Tasks

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Wendy’s personal journey with helping to solve the world hunger issue is one that has taken her to a new realm of understanding of this global topic. Food security in America is an object of conversation that may be overlooked in the land of plenty. Researching world hunger has given valuable information in a cause that at first to some might have seemed hopeless. Again, thank you for taking the time to read this book. Wendy desires as you read her work on world hunger; it brings interesting knowledge to you and helps calm your heart. You can make a difference in this world. You are a child of God. Wendy’s work was written in aspiration of helping you to discover that there are many ways out there that you can aid in ending the tragedy of world hunger. As we strive to become united in the cause, in your community, in your state, in America, and in the world we can make a difference.

While doing the issue book, Jared felt his emotions get pulled into his work. Jared grew up in a house hold where he did not need to worry about where his next meal was going to come from, or if he was going to be properly nourished. Working on this subject for the issue book really opened Jared’s eyes to how big of an issue world hunger is. Jared always knew that world hunger was an issue, especially in third world countries. He also knew there were problems within the United States as well. While studying this topic, Jared interviewed a local kindergarten teacher. While conducting this interview he realized just how big of an issue world hunger is. In his local community there are, to the naked eye, no signs of world hunger. Despite this, the teacher informed him of the students she personally knows who suffer from hunger and lack of nutrients. She also discussed how the school goes about helping these kids in need. Doing the issue book on this topic made Jared realize how issues of world hunger are not always able to be seen. Previously, when thinking of world hunger, he would think of homeless people or little starving kids in Africa. Though, the truth of the matter is that the family next door could be suffering from hunger.

While preparing this book, Rachel was able to remember the times in her life where she was surrounded by hunger. During Rachel’s interview she was able to see the greater importance of helping people in poor countries improve their farming techniques. This and other items in this book gave her further reflection on what she can do further to help in this cause. Rachel was also able to have a greater understanding of the lack of nurturance in the ground –where people struggling with world hunger are trying to grow food. The change in farming practices are something that will benefit so many people and are something – as Rachel learned – that is possible to help teach.

In creating this book Lisa came to understand why textbooks are the way they are. They may have valid information, but for years she had wondered why they have so much fluff in editing the book she realized just how much extra work would be put in if the writers of text books tried to take all the extras out. Each of us has different understandings of similar concepts. In siphoning the pictures she was horrified by some of the effects of hunger which had taken their toll. It reminded her of how blessed she is to have food.

Personal Reflection

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“FAO.org.” Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: The State of Food Insecurity in the World. FAO, 2012. Web. 27 June 2013.“Humanitarian News and Analysis.” IRINnews. Irin, 10 June 2013. Web. 27 June 2013.“Malnutrition Hits School Performance, Warns Save the Children.” BBC News. BBC, 28 May 2013. Web. 27 June 2013.“World Hunger Notes Homepage.” World Hunger Notes Homepage. World Hunger Education Service, 27 June 2013. Web. 27 June 2013.1840s-1890s: The Famine and the Irish Race Leaving Ireland. The New York Public Library. 1898. Pic.Alexander, Ruth. “Does a Child Die of Hunger Every 10 Seconds?” BBC News. BBC, 18 June 2013. Web. 27 June 2013.American Experience: The Great Famine. 2011. Pic.Briggs, Helen. “Nutrition ‘must Be a Global Priority’, Say Researchers.” BBC News. BBC, 06 May 2013. Web. 27 June 2013.Carmcamo, Cindy. “New Mexico Has Highest Rates of Childhood Hunger, Study Says.” Chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune, 11 June 2013. Web. 27 June 2013.Gardner, Mallory. Personal interview. 5 July 2013.Gogoi, Aparajita. “Maternal Health in India: Where We Are Today.” The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 06 June 2013. Web. 27 June 2013.http://www.flickriver.com/photos/tags/makepovertyhistory/interesting/McCarthy, Amy. Study: Hunger Is Affecting Children In The Classroom. Pic.McMichael, Philip. Monthly Review . 7 2009. 1 07 2013.Reese, Patrick. LDS Humanitaruan services worker Rachel Brooke. 3 7 2013.Statistic Brain . World Hunger Statistics . 7 5 2013. 1 7 2013. Wikipedia/food securityWorld Food Programme . WFP.org. 2013. 1 7 2013 .World Health Organization; for tables statistics and examplesWorld Hunger Education Service . World Hunger.org. 21 6 2013. 1 7 2013. www.actionagainsthunger.orgwww.fao.orgwww.feedingamerica.orgwww.hungerproject.infowww.poverty.comwww.shc.eduwww.unicef.orgwww.worldhunger.orgwww.worldvision.org

Additional Information

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