If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
The Blog
This year during Shavuot, the Jewish holiday which marks the end of the harvest, I am reminded of my commitment to alleviate hunger.
Among so many world leaders and high-level representatives from civil society and academia, I felt a sense of critical mass beginning to form in the fight to end global hunger.
How can people struggling with an impoverished life on the streets, not even knowing when or where their next meal will be, also battle with obesity? How can hungry homeless people be fat?
I understand that some people truly deal with emotional eating, but lately with the hype about low- or no-carb diets, I am encountering more and more people coming to see me with complaints of experiencing fatigue along with intense carb cravings.
Neither governments nor global corporations bothered to consult with those who have the biggest stake in rebuilding agriculture in Africa: the farmers.
Regardless of how much cash Bono's crew made off the Facebook offering, we shouldn't blame him for investing smartly.
Protecting our children from obesity requires more than increased physical activity and access to healthy food at school. It also compels us to do all we can to be sure they aren't coming home to poorly stocked kitchen cabinets. Childhood obesity and hunger are related and real problems -- and both are also really solvable.
By 2050, there will be 9 billion people living on our planet, and to feed these people we are going to need 70 percent more food to meet demand. That's a big challenge, and one that requires commitments and investment from world leaders to help overcome.
Just like Jesus, you and I know what it's like to be tempted. We know what it's like to have a hunger for something we want, something that others might say we need, but that we know will serve only to distract or derail us.
As an amateur climber for 20 years, I learned that to scale daunting cliffs and ice, two core attributes are required -- courage and teamwork. You probably feel like you have been climbing your own mountain after two days of G8 talks at Camp David
We don't usually equate "summer vacation" and empty stomachs. Did you know child hunger and food insecurity often peak in the summer? An overwhelming majority of children who receive free meals at school aren't as lucky once school lets out.
If a society is judged by the way it treats the most vulnerable among them, we may be headed for a failing grade. Just consider these disturbing statistics when it comes to senior hunger.
There will be a significant audience missing from the G8 Summit symposium on food insecurity -- the people who are going to be responsible for feeding those additional two billion in 2050.
We as a nation cannot agree upon who is at fault for poverty and whose responsibility it is to address it. We are bent on it being one type of problem and one sector's responsibility.
Will the G8 leaders at Camp David be able to overcome their own internal disputes and the ongoing challenges of the global economy in order to partner with African governments to save the 1 billion people in the world suffering from hunger?
It's time for members of Congress to say they're going to do their part and support legislation that creates a circle of protection around programs that are vital to hungry and poor people.
