Posted by Pinky.
The desire to not suffer from hunger must be one of the most basic drives of all animals, human beings included. Which is probably why when I read the following passage yesterday I was literally stunned into silence. An excerpt:
"The Haitain [food shortage] crisis is so extreme it forces people to eat (non-food) mud cookies (called "pica") to relieve hunger. It's a desperate Haitian remedy made from dried yellow dirt from the country's central plateau for those who can afford it. It's not free. In Cite Soleil's crowded slums, people use a combination of dirt, salt and vegetable shortening for a typical meal when it's all they can afford. A Port-au-Prince AP reporter sampled it. He said it had "a smooth consistency (but it) sucked all the moisture out of (my) mouth as soon as it touched (my) tongue. For hours (afterwards), an unpleasant taste of dirt lingered." Worse is how it harms human health. A mud cookie diet causes severe malnutrition, intestinal distress, and other deleterious effects from potentially deadly toxins and parasites.
Another problem is the cost. This stomach-filler isn't free. Haitians have to buy it, and "edible clay" prices are rising - by almost $1.50 in the past year. It now costs about $5 to make 100 cookies (about 5 cents each), it's cheaper than food, but many Haitians can't afford it..." (from Stephen Lendman's Hunger Plagues Haiti and the World; read the whole article here)
I realize there are many people who will say that hunger and starvation is inevitable. They tend to think that some people - either because of bad luck or perhaps their own ineptitude - are simply meant to perish due to a lack of food.
But as I've looked more carefully into the economy and politics of food, I keep coming to the opposite conclusion: that food shortages are not unavoidable, that they are usually man-made, and that malnutrition and starvation could be eradicated if first world human beings in positions of power had the will to do so. Which means that ordinary nobodies like us (you and me) will have to be the ones to force their hand. Please don't go to bed tonight without taking at least one action against starvation.
Here are links to a few organizations that are already fighting:
Oxfam [ www.oxfam.org; donation link here ]
UN World Food Programme [ www.wfp.org; donation link here ]
The Hunger Project [ www.thp.org; donation link here ]
Thank you,
pinky
note: Thank you to Brian Koontz for sending me the link to the Lendman article.
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Posted by Drittens: Debbie from Foodymasters sent us a link to some data that’s both accessible and current (2022). Go here: https://www.deliveryrank.com/blog/world-hunger-facts-statistics
Some of the statistics are terrifying, but it’s clearly not the kind of information that we can turn away from just because it’s deeply disturbing. The article ends with some ideas on what’s being done and needs to be done in order to fight hunger. Please read it.