The Power of Youth and the Winnable Battle Against Global Hunger
On Monday night I had the opportunity to share a stage with the great Arianna Huffington and the always inspirational, Josette Sheeran. I was so grateful to spend time with such amazing women and to discuss a topic I love, the World Food Programme's "Fill the Cup" campaign and school feeding program. I've worked with the WFP for 3 years now and have been fortunate enough to become one of their Ambassadors Against Hunger.
It's heartbreaking to picture the number of children suffering from hunger around the world and one of the many reasons I love teaming up with Josette is because of her always optimistic outlook on the solution. How can Josette sit in that room and say that this battle against hunger is "winnable" when the number of children dying from it is so vast? Well, she shares the facts to support that statement beautifully, and I'll leave that to her. But for me, when I see a room full of people eager to learn how to fight global hunger, when I've taken the field trips and seen the effect of the WFP in action, I am overwhelmed and I see the truth in her statement -- this is a winnable battle.
When I donated money to the WFP on Oprah, and saw an outpouring of additional donations from students, families, mothers and fathers across the US that raised an additional $500,000 for the cause -- I once again, saw the truth in her statement. And the other night at CAA, the energy in that room of people being motivated or sharing what they've already done to aid in the elimination of world hunger was palpable. Right in front of me in the audience were Lauren Bush and Ellen Gustafson, whose own youthful philanthropy came in the form of fashionable "Feed Bags," which in conjunction with the WFP have already fed over 40,000 children for a year in school.
One of the questions that came out of the Q&A that night was posed by a 12 year-old boy named Colin. He described the opulent wealth he's surrounded by at school and wanted to know how to make his peers aware of this global hunger issue. And I responded with "Why don't you tell me." We started to engage and I am always struck by the power of youth.
We have to fight for these children to be nurtured and encouraged. I ask for people to donate to the WFP because even a quarter can change the life of a child. Josette says that we can overcome global hunger, and with help and donations it is truly possible!
I was so happy to speak with Colin because as a young person, that's what this is about: Changing lives of children in need, as we work to shift the consciousness of anyone who is able to help or contribute in any way. If our youth don't have the priorities to help others, we are in trouble. If children who need and fundamentally deserve that right for food and education, don't get it, we are in trouble. This young generation is the future. They will be in charge. And taking care of one another is what I hope for in that future. To deliver the message of hope and actually execute it! This is possible.
It is a choice we make. It is what we teach others. What we all must practice. The world can be an overwhelming place. And I understand the human nature to be self-involved, but there are people out there like Josette who are literally changing the world. If the heroes we look up to are human, then the capacity to affect the world positively, the way they do, is possible for any human being.
So if we take a moment out of our busy lives and teach our youth, this conscious shift is possible. I ask children to contribute their ideas on how we can do big to little things to take care of these children in need. Again, they are our future and not only should we not stand in their way or look away, we should enable them to become those human heroes that we all need.
Once more, I thank Arianna for providing this platform as generously as she has. And to end by saying that any bit helps and you can either donate at Drewbarrymore.com or wfp.org.
Thank you for even taking the time to read this and I encourage us all to take care of each other.
Thank you,
Drew Barrymore
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Am I the only human left on the planet who knows anything about nature, population controls, the over extension of so called progress and the need to cut our world population by 5/6th?
This planet cannot sustain all these people. The population has DOUBLED in the last 50 years. That is to say, most people alive in 1960 are still here, and they all bred too!!!!!
No, I don't relish the idea of being in the generation that goes back to grass huts and climbing trees, but I also do not relish the concept that if my kids have kids, their grand kids could die because the population has reach 10 billion and we are eating SOLIENT GREEN for lack of any other food source.
Saving all the babies only means more adults to feed later. Humans reproduce a baby a year if not controlled. One human can place as many as 20 children out to be fed. But the plan MOTHER NATURE put out there was that if a woman has 20 kids, 2 might just live to reproduce.
We have saved so many, myself included, that we cannot possibly care for all of them.
Can we please consider, first, not having 14 kids to attract attention. Next, how about the concept of letting other cultures go on about their business as they had for thousands of years without WHITE CHRISTIAN EUROPEAN'S forcing our way of life on everyone else on the damn planet????????????
Are you going to be the person who oversees the practice of just letting people die of starvation? All of you on this post and elsewhere who profess such need to pull together and go about the world to face starvation in the face - do without a meal for a month.
I don't know if you have ever gone hungry, and I don't mean just forgetting to eat breakfast and jotting off to a meeting, I mean going days and days without anything in your stomach and no hope of a meal in the future.
I cannot speak for other countries, but it was people like Margaret Sanger who sneaked around advocating birth control for women controlled by their religion and husbands, one baby after another, being put in prison for it time and time again. Sometimes it is not a choice - it is ruled that way.
In America, "we" are known to wait for the epidemic rather than head something off at the pass, i.e., polio, AIDS, our economy, among others. Education should have started long, long ago.
I cannot look another human being in the eye and says "sorry for your luck, Bub, but if you can't sustain your own life, you die." You can?
I have been hungry, and homeless, and without health coverage, and much more. My life has sucked bad. But do we really need to bring the planet to our way of living? Did the native Amercian's ask us to bring our way of life to this land? Were "Westerners" begged to invade Africa and bring our so called ideals to the many different peoples there? To bring the idea that every child should live, no matter what?
Oh, there is not enough food, but we will keep you alive anyway, so you can grow up and over breed. Oh, we can fix this illness, even though it has kept your population at a size your territory can manage.
Does anyone watch the lion kill the gazelle and eat it anymore?
Or are we so smug in our righteousness that we know how everyone should live.
Would it be beyond sad to loose a child? Of course it would, but it is still part of nature. and if it means that much to me, I will just have to replace the one I lost by getting pregnant again.
I would gladly take my own life if I thought it would help the planet, but I would be alone in that effort. We need to cut the population, not grow it. Sad for us, but not for the planet.
I agree 100%. The christian world has made abortion an ugly thing as well putting pressure on countries that participate in population control like china. China is very smart to allow one child and also to limit the amount of girls. The United States should do the same thing. One child per family and any more the pregnancy will be terminated.
Want to control global warming, carbon credits are not the answer, limiting the cancer that is human beings is.
Agreed. Science and an honest discussion about world sexism - women not having access ans choice to their reproductive rights is how we can lower population. Not starving people to death. Should we have fewer babies? yes. But once they're here it is our moral obligation to do our best to help. We ARE a global community now (and for today anyway. If the "grid"dies tomorrow and we all go back to huts, THEN we are ready for a different discussion.) I think hunger is a winnable problem. So is sexisit and religiously enforced pregnancy that casues overpopulation.
i wish you were the only person on this planet but I see by the attached comments you are not. So realize please that the more people are able to feed, clothe, and educate their children the lower the birth rate goes. Additionally the idea that we can't feed those we have is erroneous. We can, the only thing that prevents it is the will to support it. Science has already created the means to feed us all and all to come; it is those of us with the purse strings that refuse to support it.
After my kids got home from school yesterday, we had a long talk about this article, Drew. Because I had mentioned the crisis of low self-esteem in American kids today, my daughter discussed with me that just getting up the courage to ask for food in itself is demeaning. As a mother, I was only thinking food - feed them. She suggested we find a better plan in feeding their friends - we are working on this.
She also said that there are a lot of kids going hungry at her high school, that I would be amazed by how many. My son agreed. They pointed out that because kids can be so cruel to other kids, most do not jump at the opportunity for a free breakfast or lunch and would rather go hungry than to be made fun of by others, ashamed to take "charity." They both think that in giving all students an account using a "key/swipe card," even the ones that pay, there would be no way to distinguish between the two. I think this idea is brilliant. My kids believe that not only should we feed the hungry, but nourish the brain/psyche as well.
I will admit humbly that even I am guilty of underestimating the potential of our youth. I learned a big lesson - one I will not soon forget.
Shortsighted, indeed. In the long run, war, famine, and disease will have to save whats left of the human race, by cutting population.
Look a bloated, malnourished infant in the face and say that.
The best way to do this would be to take charities out of the hands of churches that condemn birth control.
If you give a family a choice of having two or three children that they can afford to raise and educate, rather than having 7 or 8 that all have to work on a little scrap of land or beg in the streets, most of those parents will go for the 2 or 3 option. But they need birth control and options for income.
Actually, thinking of war, famine and disease as "awnsers" is a bit short sided. We can control how we see things. I love that you can say that from your computer. Obviously your life is a bit luxurious, hmm? You have met more than your needs and you think others getting theirs met is shortsighted? Do you have a dictionary?
A very heartfelt post, and I laud the efforts of the WFP and of any and all willing to assist them in their efforts. But they are sadly Sisyphean. Let us in the West do what we can in the mean time as our climate remains temperate, as our soil remains somewhat fertile, as we have sufficient access to fresh water, as there are still a few fish around, and as crop biodiversity remains relatively high. But as a young person, I cringe at the thought of how the food situation will play out as we find more and more arable land turning to desert, as we draw seawater into our aquifers, as we divert to cookie-cutter GMO crops, as we suck all the sea life from the oceans, and as the potentiality for further petroleum fertilization diminishes daily. Sooner than later the West will identify all too well with Asia, Africa and Latin America.
So enjoy your big juicy steaks, your pan-seared foie gras, and your exotic fruit salads while you can. It may make a nice bedtime story for our children should we choose to subject further offspring to this growing catastrophe (no pun intended).
I like Drew,but she needs to learn economics.The only way we can donate is by getting our economy going,and I don't believe Ive seen any program to start that yet.The wealthy give the most to charity,but with higher taxes and deductions taken away,I think the numbers will fall.The only way to stop poverty is to have free trade with these countries that are poor.Business has to find ways to let these people capitalize from their natural resources and human capital.When India opened trade with their country and dropped government regulations 2 million people rose out of poverty in a short time.The harsh Dictatorship in most countries like Venezuela-Cuba ect is the reason people suffer.Countries that practice Socialism also hold their people back.Even in France where Socialism/Capitalism rules,Their lives could be better with just Capitalism.No government can control an economy efficiency(Its impossible).Unfortunately we know what works ,but every Thug that runs these countries do not care of the people.
It is to laugh. I'm sure you are a real France scholar. How nice of you to decide for them that they would be better off with pure capitalism without a social component. Do you have any evidence to back up your baseless assertion?...........
I thought not.
If mediocre is all they want that's fine.I'm different-I an ambitious-and I love learning,and investing.I even like working.Capitalism was here first.If you don't like it you should move to France.I know Obama won ,But trust me YOU ARE OUTNUMBERED HERE.
OMG, I know. The French live longer and with a higher level of health than we can even imagine! It's weird how many people cling to this idea of usa capatilism? The French are smarter, more well rounded, I would move there in a heart beat if I could. Their system(s) run MUCH better than ours- which isn't even running bc it's so broken.
We have a very different mindset than the French. Here in America the best life imaginable is to wallow in gold. In France they value art, family, and friends above riches. And if you haven't noticed, free trade and "just capitalism" don't seem to be doing us any favors here either as the unemployed battle hunger in our own country.
I would hardly compare my situation with any of those in developing nations and I have never felt hunger in the way they do. But at this point I would give anything to live in a country of "socialist thugs" like Norway or Sweden or Denmark or France that would never allow me to go without eating or without seeing a doctor should I fall ill.
How you think that all nations of the world can thrive in capitalism astounds me when the very basis of the economic system is a vast majority of people willing to do any job for any wage. Not every economy can be a service economy; not everyone stumbles into luck (or is willing to take advantage of the poor) in the way that so many millionaires do. Republican Capitalism, like Authoritarian Communism are beautiful theories that read so well on paper, but the dog-eat-dog human conundrum rips them apart. Democratic Socialism stems that problem and provides for everyone though you may not ever be a billionaire. But I don't mind. I prefer my real friends' faces to those on hundred dollar bills.
Good Point .Move to France
where have you been, "just capitalism" has screwed the pooch royally.
Democrat Statist Social Programs has screwed this country.Since 1933
Actually, poor people give a larger percentage of their income away to charity than the rich.
The West including the US have always been the fore runners in charity. That was because in the past most Asian countries were developing nations and some are poor. However with the emergence of strong GDP growth before the current slow down, individuals from countries like China, Singapore, China, South Korea and Taiwan have more income and the recent earthquake in China see people from these countries donating generously for a good cause. However this is not sustainable and is limited to certain disasters. Now things are changing, internationally known actors like Jet Li, Jacky Chan and a host of Taiwanese and Hong Kong actors/actresses some of them young ones are being aware of the need to help others. Jet Li’s One Foundation Project is going big and it is his wish to see this foundation being set up all over the World just like the Szu Chi Foundation which has already made good headway. Charity should include all nations as this will save more lives all over the World. But for people to open their heart their eyes must be opened first. This is where the mass media comes in. Educating people by cultivating compassion is necessary.
Thank you Drew, you are an inspiration.
It's great to see another celebrity break free of the Hollywood stereotype that has, sadly, come to dominate the public consciousness. I for one would like to hear more from the media about the worthy causes that celebrities are endorsing as opposed to the latest gossip about their dating lives or shopping habits.
It's so wonderful to read all these comments and only see positive responses. A true testament to Ms. Barrymore's optimism and commitment. Congratulations on a very inspiring post.
Agreed! The comments are not only supportive but extremely informative -- I'm learning of several worthy organizations I hadn't been aware of. Thanks to all.
As for Ms. Barrymore herself. *sigh*. She had me at "hello", many years ago.....
Drew, thank you for using your celebrity for such a worthy cause. Thumbs up.
You mention a young man named Colin who is wondering how he can make others aware of the problem. A unique way of doing this would be for him to have a Hunger Feast at his school.
http://www.salve.edu/salvetoday/archives/view_archive_public.cfm?archive_ID=825
how nice that you want to help ... until the governments stop stealing from the people there will always be hungry kids.. until people stop fighting and stealing from the least of us, when greed and hubris and cruelty are gone... world hunger is a result of governments and or organizations taking and using... the feeling that the poor are expendable, they are usful only to use rather like semi intelligent oxen... there to work, and there to shoot... no worth, and no value..
When humans truly learn compassion and then structure our society to reflect that compassion... until then there will be intolerable poverty and hunger,
How lovely a girl as beautiful as Drew Barrymore feeding a bunch of African Children I wish a lot of Hollywood Celebrities would do the same.
There are variety of issues that contribute to world hunger (power, poverty, authoritarianism, corruption, war, inequality), even though the world produces more food than it can eat. The issue I want to mention here is the production and consumption of meat.
It takes many pounds of grains, along with thousands of gallons of water, just to produce a single pound of meat. Most of the corn, soy, wheat, oats, and alfalfa in the US is fed to animals being (cruelly) raised for meat. Our appetite for meat is also destroying species and their habitats, including the magnificent rainforests of the world.
For more info, please visit Eco-Eating at www.brook.com/veg
Thank you.
Ms. Barrymore! Thanks for your column, and your work on hunger! I am a volunteer with RESULTS. We are working on ending hunger - and its cause, the worst aspects of poverty. We work on poverty in the U.S. and overseas. Take a look at www.results.org and join us! Our International Conference is going to be held in Washington, D.C., from June 20 -24, 2009. Anyone with the stamina to read all of these comments, and get to this one is welcome to get involved too!
Still, today, over 25,000 children, under five, are dying EVERY DAY from hunger and hunger related diseases. In 1989, over 40,000 such children were dying daily. So, we have made some progress. Still much to do. Get involved! Check out the web site!
Part of the hunger quotient is empowering people. When communities have a stake in their environment, they will protect it. A good friend of mine illustrated that when he and his wife several years ago decided to volunteer at a hospital in Ghana. Not your usual summer vacation but she was a midwife, he a carpenter and both former Peace Corps.
To make a long story short they ended up opening the first local surf shop, made a local young man their business partner and now the business is thriving. The business is run by, benefits and employ locals. (This of course was after teaching them how to surf which they then could give surf lessons). Local residents now sponsor beach cleanups – they have a vested interest, and what was a seemingly hopeless existence has now blossomed into a viable enterprise bringing better health, wages and attitude. They have a small restaurant and are starting surf tours.
All this was accomplished with very little money, a lot of hard work and imagination. It didn’t require the U.N. just some dedicated people who could transfer their hope and energy to another community, no strings attached. Someday we will hopefully make a documentary on this because the story still evolves.
A year ago we assembled a simple video to tell a little of this story. If you’re interested you can see it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnV2mstVhUE.
Yes, a couple of people can make a deference.
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