2002
2003
2004
2005
2008
Childhood Hunger
World
Lesson Plans
- Feeding Minds, Fighting Hunger (Future Harvest)
- Provides lesson plans by grade level to help students understand what is needed to help end world hunger. 10-01
- -Haunting Photo from Niger Wins Award (MSNBC News)
- "A Reuters picture of a mother and child at an emergency feeding center in Niger during the recent famine there won the coveted 2005 World Press Photo of the Year Award, organizers said on Friday." 02-06
- -Study: Over Half of Indians Cannot Afford a Decent Living (World.Time.com)
- "By McKinsey’s count, that group numbers a whopping 680 million. MGI arrived at that figure by a new measure it has dubbed 'the Empowerment Line.' Researchers measured how much it costs an individual to meet a set of basic needs — food, energy, housing, drinking water, sanitation, health care, education and social security — and achieve 'a minimal acceptable standard of living.' Based on that cost, the firm concluded that 56% of Indians can’t afford to meet those needs, which is more than double the number of people the government identifies as living below the poverty line. MGI also concludes some 46% of Indians lack access to basic services from the government, like subsidized food, health care and early education." 02-14
- Editorial: By the Time Famine Is Declared, It's too Late (Time.com)
- "A Reuters picture of a mother and child at an emergency feeding center in Niger during the recent famine there won the coveted 2005 World Press Photo of the Year Award, organizers said on Friday."
"The declaration of famine in parts of South Sudan this week, the first announcement of its kind since 2011, is but the beginning of a cascade of similar pronouncements to come."
"Yemen, northern Nigeria and Somalia are also on the brink of famine, warns the Famine Early Warning Systems network. According to the International Federation of the Red Cross in Africa, another 32 million people in southern Africa face extreme food insecurity. If nothing is done, the World Food Program’s chief economist, Arif Husain, told Reuters, some 20 million people could starve to death during the next six months."
"And that is the least of the devastation. Famine doesn’t just kill; it leaves debilitating scars on a nation’s development that endure for decades, perpetuating a cycle of poverty and aid dependency. Once famine takes root, it’s that much harder to recover. Yet the call to prevent famine is never as widely shouted, or eagerly responded to, as the urgent demands to stop it. It’s time to change the stakes."
"Famine, in technical terms, doesn’t just mean people are going hungry. It means they are already starving to death — two adults or four children a day per every 10,000 people. That means that by the time famine is formally declared, millions have already been suffering for months, or even years: international humanitarian agencies like Oxfam started warning about a looming famine in northern South Sudan back in March 2015." 02-06
- Medika Mamba to Combat Malnutrition (MedsandFoodforKids.org)
- "MFK combats childhood malnutrition using an innovative new approach: Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF). Our product is Medika Mamba, an energy dense peanut butter, significantly fortified with protein and nutritional supplements. The name Medika Mamba means 'peanut butter medicine' in the Haitian Creole language."
"Finally, Medika Mamba is produced in Haiti. We benefit the Haitian economy by employing and purchasing locally, and we work extensively with farmers to improve their agricultural practices." 11-08
- Medika Mamba to Combat Malnutrition (Washington University in St. Louis)
- "The mixture, known to Haitians as "Medika Mamba," or peanut-butter medicine, is a nutrient-rich mixture of peanuts, sugar, oil, vitamins, minerals and powdered milk. It is distributed in plastic containers for families to feed their children at home and can be stored for several months."
"The program stems from one started in 2001 by Mark J. Manary, M.D., professor of pediatrics at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Manary's Project Peanut Butter, which uses the same nutrient-rich mixture, fed 1,000 Malawi children in the first two years, and continues to nourish thousands of starving children in the southeastern African country. Researchers found that the RUTF, also known by its brand name, Plumpy'Nut, significantly reduced childhood mortality rates from malnutrition and related diseases." 11-08
- -09-13-04 World's Malnourished up to 840 Million (CBS News)
- "The number of malnourished people worldwide has grown to 840 million — including 300 million children — even though there are ample supplies to feed them, a United Nations official said Monday."
"World Food Program Director James Morris said the number of malnourished was growing by about 5 million a year, but that there were enough available resources to rid the world of hunger."
" 'If the world would be more thoughtful and just a tiny bit more generous, we can eliminate hunger, especially among children,' Morris said. 'It's the most powerful investment the world can make in its future.' " 9-04
- -Editorial: The Global Crisis of Stunting (Time.com)
- "Stunting, or stunted growth, is the result of chronic nutritional deficiencies. A stunted 5-year-old is four to six inches shorter than a non-stunted peer. But lost height is the least of concerns: a stunted child, for instance, is nearly five times more likely to die from diarrhea than a non-stunted child because of the physiological changes in a stunted body. Stunting is also associated with impaired brain development. A typical stunted brain has fewer cells. The cells themselves are somewhat smaller, and the interconnection between them is more limited. This means lasting impaired functioning, which leads in turn to significantly reduced learning. Considering the severe effects, stunting has received far too little attention for far too long."
"Stunting is so common in some areas that it is sometimes mistaken for a genetic heritage, rather than a preventable condition. Just 21 countries straddling the globe account for more than 80% of the problem around the globe. In six countries — Afghanistan, Burundi, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Timor-Leste and Yemen — 50% or more of all children under age 5 suffer from this condition. In Afghanistan, a staggering 59% of children under age 5 are stunted."
"How can a community, a nation or a continent ever hope to develop to its full capacity if its children cannot? In all conscience, how can those of us in societies not so afflicted withhold our help to combat stunting in the developing world? We know how to address the problem by providing expectant mothers, newborns and very young children nutrients such as proteins, fat and vitamins and minerals such as vitamin A, iron and zinc." 02-12
- -Food Challenge at Worst Since World War II (Huffington Post)
- "The World Food Program is confronting its worst challenge since World War II in trying to tackle five top-level humanitarian crises at the same time, the head of the U.N. agency said Friday.” 02-15
- -Food Stamp Myths (CNN News)
- "The average monthly SNAP benefit per person is $133.85, or less than $1.50 per person per meal. Those benefits are low, and for many families, SNAP benefits don't last the whole month."
"As for food stamps, more than 72% of all SNAP beneficiaries are families with children. Most of the recipients are children (48%), the elderly (8%) and the disabled. Less than 10% of food stamp recipients receive welfare payments."
"The Census Bureau, which gathers statistics house by house, reports that Americans on food stamps are 49% white, 26% African-American and 20% Hispanic. The Pew Research Center, a nonprofit polling firm, found in a July survey that self-identified liberals, moderates and conservatives who receive food stamps are in a statistical tie."
- -Heroes Against Hunger (Christian Science Monitor)
- "Stanley is certainly not the first to attempt to capture wasted food and give it to the hungry. Lovin' Spoonfuls and other food rescue organizations around the country are tapping into a tradition of field gleaning and food rescue that dates back to biblical times, when farmers routinely left part of their harvest in the fields for the poor to collect."
"While the amount of food being saved by food rescue groups like Lovin' Spoonfuls is impressive, USDA and NRDC statistics suggest that food rescue efforts are only scratching the surface. In the past 10 years, the percentage of households reporting insufficient food has increased from 11.2 percent in 2003 to 14.5 percent in 2012." 01-14
- -Living on Nothing But Food Stamps (New York Times)
- "About six million Americans receiving food stamps report they have no other income, according to an analysis of state data collected by The New York Times. In declarations that states verify and the federal government audits, they described themselves as unemployed and receiving no cash aid — no welfare, no unemployment insurance, and no pensions, child support or disability pay.
"Their numbers were rising before the recession as tougher welfare laws made it harder for poor people to get cash aid, but they have soared by about 50 percent over the past two years. About one in 50 Americans now lives in a household with a reported income that consists of nothing but a food-stamp card." 01-10
- Africa Could Almost Feed the World (NewScientist.com)
- "DOOM-MONGERS have got it wrong - there is enough space in the world to produce the extra food needed to feed a growing population. And contrary to expectation, most of it can be grown in Africa, say two international reports published this week." 06-09
- Brazil Reacts to High Food Prices (New York Times)
- "Luciano Alves planted beans, corn and grain on about 7,500 acres of his farm in southern Brazil last year. This year, he is planting 8,600 acres. And he credits Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, with the increase."
" 'The government is helping us finance the purchase of new machinery,' said Mr. Alves. 'They reduced the interest rates we pay and have given us more time to pay off the loans. It’s vital.' " 08-08
- Design for the Other 90 Percent of Us (Business Week)
- Describes innovations that help the 90 percent of the people of the world in developing countries. 05-07
- G8 Summit to Tackle Food Supplies (BBC News)
- "Leaders of developed G8 nations are to unveil new efforts to boost food supplies to the hungry, during the final day of their summit in Italy."
"They are expected to commit as much as $15bn (£9.2bn) to efforts to help poor nations develop their own agriculture."
"On Thursday, the second day of talks, the summit focused on climate change."
"Leaders from both developed and developing nations agreed that global temperatures should not rise more than 2C above 1900 levels."
"That is the level above which, the UN says, the Earth's climate system would become dangerously unstable." 07-09
- Hunger - Fighting Hunger (The Hunger Project)
- Provides information about projects to help end world hunger. 10-01
- Organizations Fighting Hunger Together (Interaction)
- "InterAction is the largest alliance of U.S.-based international development and humanitarian nongovernmental organizations." List key organizations providing assistance in each global campaign. 2-03
- Roots of Hunger (Christian Science Monitor)
- "The solutions to the African hunger crisis are as complicated as the problems themselves. The challenge for the six countries – Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, and Swaziland – is not just to get through the immediate food shortage, but to find ways to keep the problem from happening again next year."
"This is not the same old story. There are deep-rooted problems in the region,' says Tim Osborne, Malawi country director of CARE, an Atlanta-based nongovernmental organization (NGO) that helps fight global poverty. 'Various factors have combined to make the populations so vulnerable that they cannot cope with any new crisis. This is an emergency all right – a long-term emergency.' " 11-04
- Sherrie Gahn: Helping the Hungry in School (ABC News)
- "Principal Sherrie Gahn said she was shocked when she first came to Whitney Elementary School seven years ago."
" 'The kids were eating ketchup packets,' Gahn said. 'I said to one of my teachers, "What on Earth are they doing?" and she said, "That's their dinner." ' "
"Whitney is not alone. A recent survey of elementary school teachers found that two-thirds of teachers reported spending money out of their pockets to help feed hungry students."
"The same survey, conducted by anti-hunger organization Share Our Strength, found that 17 million children in the United States are at risk of going hungry this year." 11-09
- Small Children Die from Poverty (WashTimes.com)
- "The World Health Organization (WHO) says nearly 11 million children under age 5 die each year from easily preventable and cheaply cured diseases — including pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria and complications during the first year of life."
"It costs just 2 cents for a six-month supply of vitamin A supplement, 15 cents for a five-day course of antibiotics to treat pneumonia and $15 to immunize a child against the six main childhood diseases, according to the U.S. Coalition for Child Survival."
"A bed net, treated to kill and repel malarial mosquitoes, costs less than $10."
"The United States spent $1.7 billion on global health, education and population programs in 2001, according to rough calculations based on figures from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. France was the second-biggest spender, with $1.1 billion in aid, followed by Germany at $1 billion and Japan at nearly $800 million." 9-03
- Toxic Cottonseed Becomes Food (Christian Science Monitor)
- "Dr. Rathore and his colleagues have figured out how to make poisonous cottonseeds fit for human consumption. The new, nontoxic seeds could give 500 million people an additional source of high-quality protein, the team estimates, if the genetically engineered plant is approved for cultivation." 11-06
- U.N.: World Can End Poverty by 2025 (MSNBC News)
- "Global poverty can be cut in half by 2015 and eliminated by 2025 if the world’s richest countries including the United States, Japan and Germany more than double aid to the poorest countries, hundreds of development experts concluded in a report Monday."
"At stake is life or death for tens of millions of impoverished people, it said." 1-05
- Wolff: Global Food System Can't Survive (CNN News)
- "As the nation marks World Hunger Relief Week, more people are asking: Why are so many people starving and what, if anything, can be done to eradicate hunger?"
"Wolff thinks hunger can be conquered. Her group produces 'Medika Mamba,' energy dense, peanut butter food that's designed to ensure Haitian children survive childhood. Medika Mamba is easy to make, store, preserve and distribute, she says."
"Patel says '2008 was a record year in terms of harvest. There's more food per person in 2008 than there's ever been in history. The problem is not food, but how we distribute it.' " 11-08
- World Food Program Names Drew Barrymore Ambassador (MSNBC News)
- "“I can’t think of any issue that is more important than working to see that no schoolchild in this world goes hungry,” Barrymore said in a statement Wednesday. 'Feeding a child at school is such a simple thing, but it works miracles. I’ve seen it with my own eyes.' "
"Founded in 1962, WFP provides food aid to an average of 90 million poor people, including 58 million hungry children in at least 80 of the world’s poorest countries. The United States said it provides nearly half the annual contributions to the Rome-based agency, which has an annual budget of just under $3 billion." 05-07
- -Combating Hunger (A Place at the Table)
- "Help end hunger in America by contacting your House and Senate Representatives. Urge them to protect and strengthen SNAP and other nutrition safety net programs and oppose any proposals to weaken them. Congress must ensure that Americans who have fallen on hard times have the resources they need to put food on the table for their families." 02-13
- -Combating Hunger Locally (DrivetoEndHunger.org)
- Provides opportunities to donate or volunteer. 11-12
- -Combating Hunger Locally (Walmart)
- "Every day, across the country, people are struggling to put food on their tables. According to the USDA, at some point during the year, 1 in 6 Americans won’t know where their next meal is coming from. By collaborating with nonprofit partners, communities, associates and customers, Walmart is fighting to end hunger together." 10-12
- Food Donations (Oregon Food Bank )
- Provides the opportunity to make donations to food pantries or volunteer for the hungry. 6-01
- Hunger (thehungersite)
- Provides donations to reduce world hunger by your clicking on the "free donation" button. 7-99
- Hunger - Removing the Roots of Hunger (Share Our Strength)
- Provides opportunities for helping to end hunger and the causes of hunger. 7-00
- No Kid Hungry Project (No Kid Hungry)
- "Since summer 2011, No Kid Hungry efforts have helped bring more than 34 million additional meals to kids who need them. And we’ve found ways to replicate that success across the country. As a national campaign with a local approach, we’re seeing incredible results – in many places, as little as $1 invested can help a child access 10 meals. In other locations, just $46 connects a child to meals all year long, including a year of school breakfast and a summer of lunches."
- Volunteering Opportunities for Kids (PBS - Zoom into Action)
- Provides opportunities for kids to volunteer to help animals, the hungry, the homeless, those who are ill, seniors, the environment, and more. May load slowly. 2-02