What Can we do about World Hunger?

Food Firsthttp://www.givegetnation.net/img/scan10004225.jpg

Thoughts about the FutureThe way people think about hunger is the greatest obstacle toward ending it.-- Peter Rosset, Food Firsthttp://www.alertnet.org/thefacts/imagerepository/feedingcentre238.jpghttp://www.policyinnovations.org/innovators/people/data/:v_get/45663/07114/_res/id=sa_Picture

Thoughts about the FutureThe only real risk is the risk of thinking too small.-Frances Moore Lappe

http://www.mediathatmattersfest.org/mtm05/img/frances_moore_lappe.jpghttp://www.gladrags.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/diet-for-a-small-planet.jpg

Thoughts about the FutureThe world has enough for man's need, but not for man's greed.

--Mahatma Ghandi http://www.theprometheusinstitute.org/images/stories/quotes/gandhi.jpg

QuestionsShould we have guilt?We have so much food, wealth!

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QuestionsShould we have fear?We might lose it all!http://www.ecollo.com/image.axd?picture=FoodShortage.jpgFood riot, 2008

QuestionsCan we protect the environment and grow enough food?

http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evosite/relevance/images/pestspray.jpg

QuestionsShould we seek justice?http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl/hi/guides/457000/457022/img/1169457081.gif

QuestionsShould we seek efficiency?

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QuestionsCan we eliminate hunger without losing freedom?

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Five Principles1) Hunger results from human choicesnot inexorable forces of nature. Therefore we can choose to end hunger in the same way we chose to end slavery.http://www.sonofthesouth.net/slavery/abraham-lincoln/pictures/abraham-lincoln-2.jpg

Five Principles2) Economic democracyand the empowerment of women are keys to ending hungerand will also reduce world population growth.Microfinance meeting, Indiahttp://www.andhranews.net/India/2007/July/10-Microfinance-Institution-Bandhan.jpg

Economic DemocracyBecause no human being chooses hunger, hunger is proof that a person has been denied a voice in meeting survival needs. And, since a say in ones future is the very essence of democracy, the existence of hunger belies democracy. -- Frances Moore LappeHunger results from a lack of Economic Democracyhttp://www.organicvalley.coop/img/kickapoo/frances_moore_lappe.jpg

Five Principles3) Ending hunger need not destroy the environment but will require sustainable agriculturethat can be practiced by even the poor.http://www.organicexchange.org/Pictures/book_art.jpg

Five Principles4) Greater fairness can lead to ending hunger if we devise food systems where those that do the work have a greater say and reap a greater reward.Farmers protesting for land reform

Five Principles5) The increased well-being of the poor in the third world can enhance our own well-being we need not fear their advancement.

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What can we do? If change is possible, we must change ourselves.

ISU student in Africa

What can we do?We must examine our everyday choices.

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Personal Choices1) Get alternative information. Mainstream TV, press has a vision clouded by myths.

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Personal Choices2) Educate othersfriendsco-workersfamily. Speak up when others voice self-defeating myths.

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Personal choices3) Choose a job that contributes to the solution rather than to the problem. Is accumulation of material possession the real key to a satisfying life?http://www.gradebook.org/substitutex.jpg

Personal Choices4) Help hungry, homeless people through church, community groups.

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Personal Choices5) Participate in community planningmore and better jobsaffordable housingenvironmental protection.

Habitat for Humanityhttp://www.lmu.edu/Asset2717.aspx

Personal Choices6) Elect officials committed to addressing roots of hunger.http://media.collegepublisher.com/media/paper295/stills/r0eo2e67.jpg

Vote!http://www.polichicksonline.com/Hilla%20American%20Eagle%20vote%20T%20shirt.jpg

Personal Choices7) Spend money on less processed, less packaged foodsfrom co-ops or worker owned stores.

http://www.elysianfarm.com/images/lgCarrboro-Farmers-Market.jpgFarmers market

Personal Choices8) Boycotts have been successful: Nestle stopped marketing baby formula in third worlddivestment helped bring majority rule to South Africa.http://alex.edfac.usyd.edu.au/home/Mercy%20College%20site/untitled/business%20studies/pix/nike-boycott-large.jpg

Personal choices

9) Become an activist. Social movements brought women the votegot civil rights legislationhelped end war in Vietnam.

Civil rights protesthttp://students.spsu.edu/mgarner/US%20History/Civil%20Rights%20Project/march-wash.jpg

Moral CourageCompassion is essentialbut is easy. Harder to achieve is moral courage. It takes courage to cry out "The emperor wears no clothes" In the face of injustice, inequity, malnutrition Nigeriahttp://www.stolenchildhood.net/images/nigerian_children_33.jpg

Moral CourageTakes courage to challenge the status quo, to point out that the world is awash in food and all of the suffering is the result of human decisions. We risk embarrassment, dismissal by friends to speak out about widespread false understandings of the world.

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CompassionThis courage comes from the same place our compassion comes from: our innate moral sensibilities,our deepest emotional intuitions about our connectedness to others' well-being. http://images.rescuegroups.org/rainbowbridge/fullsize/s462r959.jpg

CompassionIronically, the message of compassion and connectedness to others' well-being underlies the dominant western religion, Christianityhttp://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e220/ibrendell/Saints_--_Mother_Teresa_with_Baby.jpg

CompassionBut our culture has elevated economic dogmamarket and property rightsabove the Christian message of love, compassion and connection.

Mall of Americahttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/38/Interior_mall_of_america.jpg/800px-Interior_mall_of_america.jpg

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