You want to play GOD?

Well, guess what – you do every day.

30,000 of our children die each day of hunger related issues that you and I could have prevented.

Every 3 seconds a child dies.......and it could have been prevented.  What would you do if this were your child?

How many will die just in the time it takes to read this article?  Here’s a test:  Read this article and time yourself.

From the micro to macro level the death tolls are approximately 200,000 each week, 800,000 each month, and a whopping 10+ million every year.   Additionally, 3.5 million people die annually from malnutrition, and another 1.02 billion people are chronically deprived of food = more than the population of USA, Canada, and European Union combined according to statistics presented by the FAO, the WHO, and UNICEF.

 Are you responsible?  Yes.  Every minute that passes that you choose to not take action, then consequentially you are deciding the fate of these children.  It’s time to be accountable.

Their life is in your hands and the ultimate question is:   

Will they live or will they die?

YOUR CHOICE…… tick, tick, tick…….

"Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day.  Teach a man to fish, he'll eat for a lifetime."

When I was a child and still today, my mother reminds me of the ‘starving children’ dare I waste my food at dinner.  My response was always the same sarcastic rhetoric: “then get me an envelope and I’ll mail it.”  The truth is, I felt helpless, as many of us do.  What can I do?  Donate, donate, and donate the media propagates….. But is that really the answer?  What about the less fortunate who cannot afford to donate?  The truth is that there is an overwhelming amount of ways that you can save a life, rather, a multitude of lives that you can do with little effort.   This article not only attempts to provide an explanation of the phenomena of the ‘global food crisis’ but at the end I have provided invaluable resources for you to take action, get involved, and save lives.

First and foremost, there is power in numbers so I urge you to share this, tweet this, forward it, and do whatever it takes as raising awareness is the first step.  Second, regardless of your personal efforts to engage is saving a life and effecting change…… just in passing this message along you may touch the heart of someone who may touch someone else and ultimately make a tremendous difference in a movement that will save lives, save the planet, and ultimately change the world.

Want more stats?

·        Poor nutrition contributes to 1 out of 2 deaths (53%) associated with infectious diseases among children aged under five in developing countries

·        1 out of 4 preschool children suffers from under-nutrition, which severely affects a child's mental and physical development causing learning disabilities, mental, retardation, poor health, blindness and premature death.

·        Poor people spend over half their disposable income on food, depleting household resources for health.

·        Long-term malnutrition impacts of the crisis will include impaired mental development, reduced work productivity, and higher rates of chronic disease.

·        One in six people worldwide do not get enough food to be healthy and lead an active life, making hunger and malnutrition the number one risk to health -- greater than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined. Vitamin and mineral deficiencies now rank in the top ten leading causes of death according to WHO in developing countries.

·        About 1 billion people, almost all in developing countries, are suffering from the effects of dietary deficiencies, and another billion are at risk of falling prey to them.

According to WHO multiple factors are behind the crisis, including:

·        rapidly increasing energy prices

·        lack of agricultural sector investment

·        rapidly rising demand for food arising from economic growth and higher incomes

·        trade distorting subsidies

·        recurrent bad weather and environmental degradation

·        subsidized production of bio-fuels that substitute food production

·        imposition of export restrictions leading to hoarding and panic buying

Aside for the sake of both children and people alike, the global food crisis is also a global health threat.  Many poor people are forced to have a less nutritious, unbalanced diet and people in countries who are dependent on food imports are likely to eat fewer meals. This could cause a range of negative health conditions that cross transnational boundaries.  The consequences of inaction will be enormous for the public health internationally, and include:

    Increased communicable diseases.

·        higher threat of infectious diseases, including more severe cases of diarrheal diseases and respiratory illnesses among children;

·        more children born with low birth weights;

·        higher death rates among newborns and children aged under five;

·        Less money to spend on health services because of higher food bills. This will affect greatly people living with HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis in particular.

·        Likely impaired mental development, diminished learning ability, reduced work productivity, and increased prevalence of chronic disease.

 The food price shock now involving world markets is destabilizing governments, igniting street riots and threatening to send a new wave of hunger rippling through the world's poorest nations. People worldwide are coping in different ways. For the 1 billion living on less than a dollar a day, it is a matter of survival. In a mud hut on the Sahara's edge, Manthita Sou, a 43-year-old widow in the Mauritanian desert village of Maghleg, is confronting wheat prices that are up 67 percent on local markets in the past year. Her solution: stop eating bread.

To read more about the economics of hunger: 

• Looming Food Crisis
• A Full Plate Today, Uncertainty Tomorrow
  
• The New Economics of Hunger

 If we are in the midst of a global catastrophe, why are we so wasteful?

·        Grocery stores discard products because of spoilage or minor cosmetic blemishes. Restaurants throw away what they don’t use. And consumers toss out everything from bananas that have turned brown to last week’s Chinese leftovers.

·        The EPA estimates that 30 million tons of food is wasted in America each year, 40-50% of edible food never gets eaten, equivalent to approximately $100 billion.

·        In England, a recent study revealed that Britons toss away a third of the food they purchase.

·        In Sweden, families threw out about a quarter of the food they bought. 

·        In some parts of Africa a quarter or more of the crops go bad before they can be eaten.

 A study presented to the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development found that the high losses in developing nations “are mainly due to a lack of technology and infrastructure” as well as insect infestations, microbial growth, damage and high temperatures and humidity. The Department of Agriculture estimated that recovering just 5 percent of the food that is wasted could feed four million people a day; recovering 25 percent would feed 20 million people.

50% of the garbage that goes into the landfill is edible.  For example, some low-moisture foods such as dried apples can be safe to eat even years after their expiration date, if properly stored, food chemists say. They verified this in a tasting experiment of 28-year-old rolled oats. Heat, moisture and light can degrade food's nutritional value. Processing and improper storage practices can expose food items to heat or oxygen, which is what causes deterioration. In ancient times, salt was used to cure meats and fish to preserve them longer, while sugar is added to fruits to prevent spoilage. Certain herbs, spices and vinegar can also be used as preservatives, along with anti-oxidants, most notably Vitamins C and E. In processed foods, certain FDA-approved chemical additives also help extend shelf life.

But consider this: the rotting food that ends up in landfills produces methane, a major source of greenhouse gases. Food waste is the largest landfill contributor to methane gas production, so unless your municipality has a landfill-to-gas capture, your rotten bananas and forgotten pickles are contributing to global climate change. Undercutting progress on achieving the MDGs and improving food security, Mr. Ban warned, is global warming. “We tend to think of climate change as something in the future,” he said. “It is not.”

Its effects are visible, with worsening drought and changing weather patterns.  “We must take action now, “ said Ban Ki Moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations.  Furthermore,  “We must recognize the interconnectedness of extreme weather patterns, empty grain and rice storage houses, and poverty.”

Power of the People: We as individuals acting together have the power to influence this process, but we must engage early and decisively to make this happen.  Governments International Organizations are making attempts to effect change but little has been done as OECD work on pro-poor growth finds that the general failure in recent decades to achieve sustained rates of agricultural sector productivity comes from inappropriate policies; inadequate institutions and services; failures to invest in appropriate infrastructure; and failures to invest in the development of the human, social and natural capital that agricultural households need to achieve higher productivity.

"By investing in your children you are investing in the future...If you've got a well-nourished population, you are well on the way towards having a productive population," IPS News.

The clock is ticking.  

I could go on about a multitude of things that the governments should do, some of which they are and some of which they are not.  However, in order to spare another few thousand words, I’ve decided to place a vast amount of resources and references available for review in Google Docs, which can be found under the Library tab of this site.

The following ways that YOU can make a difference:

• Raise awareness!  Follow the links at the bottom of this article to email, forward, retweet, etc…
• Sign the End Hunger Petition
• Be an Advocate for Children
• Tips and tricks: Advocacy Techniques
• Tweet at your Senator
• Links to Support the Millennium Development Goals
• Join the Global Call for Action in your Community
•  Join the End Poverty 2015 Millennium Campaign
• Join the Stand Against Poverty 2010 Initiative
• Join the Copenhagen Campaign
• Contact your local, district,  and regional representatives
• Tips and tricks: How to write Editors
• Send a Save the Children eCard
• Join the Causecast Community
• Volunteer Opportunities at Home and Abroad
• Shop and Give at No Cost to You!
• Make Poverty History: Vote for trade and justice
• Join or Register a local group
• Support the Vulture Funds Bill
• Maximize Student Impact on Campus
• Take a ride on the UN CyberSchoolbus
• Join the Fight Against Extreme Poverty
• Send someone an eCard showing your support for the Millennium Promise
• Involve your Congregation with resources for raising awareness and action
• Get an InfoKit with handouts and more from Millennium Promise
• A Handout Kit on the solution to poverty in Millennium Promise villages
• Be a part of the Survive to 5 campaign
• Raise awareness through kids with this Teacher Toolkit
• Save the Children Social Networking
• Send a letter to Congress and the President for Modernization of Foreign Assistance
•  Send a letter to the UK Secretary for Trade and Industry
• Tell Congress to End Child Hunger
• Sign the Petition for the Global Child Survival Act
• Sign the Disaster Decade Petition for Save the Children
• Be a part of Save the Children Advocacy Day 2010
• Learn how to make a difference and fundraise online with a handy Toolkit
• Get companies and organizations involved in a Matching Gifts Program
• Call your Senators and urge them to cosponsor local, regional, and national initiatives. Just dial the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask for senator's office
• Text Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (an online interactive forum that can allow you to connect with Secretary Clinton directly). You may text to: 90822 (inside U.S.) or 202-255-6299 (outside U.S.). Standard rates apply.
• Call the White House. Just dial the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 or send an email online
• Reach out to your own community.
• Download & utilize teacher’s Resource Guides
• Involve your classroom in our School-to-School Program. It is a proven statistic in Africa and across the world that education increases the average lifespan of every of every child getting one.
• Host a Car Wash - A simple and classic way to get out a message, and raise money for a good cause!
• Hold a Signature Campaign - Compete to get signatures on petitions to send to your local or national government, or companies that are not environmentally friendly or conservative.
• Some suggestions by the Washington Post
• Ways to help through the United Nations
• Urge Industry Leaders to Make Conflict-Free Products by emailing the 21 Biggest Electronics Companies
• Donate to the Millennium Promise Foundation
• Sponser a Child
• Donate to Save the Children Fund
• Donate to FAO Projects Against Hunger