What Can we do about World Hunger Food

What Can we do about World Hunger? Food First http: //www. givegetnation. net/img/scan 10004225. jpg

Thoughts about the Future • “The way people think about hunger is the greatest obstacle toward ending it. ” -- Peter Rosset, Food First http: //www. alertnet. org/thefacts/imagerepository/feedingcentre 238. jpg http: //www. policyinnovations. org/innovators/people/data /: v_get/45663/07114/_res/id=sa_Picture

Thoughts about the Future • “The only real risk is the risk of thinking too small. ” • -Frances Moore Lappe http: //www. mediathatmattersfest. org/mtm 05/img/frances_moo re_lappe. jpg http: //www. gladrags. com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/diet-for-a-small-planet. jpg

Thoughts about the Future • “The world has enough for man's need, but not for man's greed. ” --Mahatma Ghandi http: //www. theprometheusinstitute. org/images/stories/quotes/gandhi. jpg

Questions • Should we have guilt? • We have so much food, wealth! http: //z. about. com/d/hotels/1/5/L/c/PR_buffet. jpg

Questions • Should we have fear? • We might lose it all! Food riot, 2008 http: //www. ecollo. com/image. axd? picture=Food. Shortage. jpg

Questions • Can we protect the environment and grow enough food? http: //evolution. berkeley. edu/evosite/relevance/images/pestspray. jpg

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

Questions • Should we seek efficiency? http: //www. alliantenergy. com/docs/groups/public/documents/pub/p 015076 -1. jpg

Questions • Can we eliminate hunger without losing freedom? http: //www. milada-real-estate. com/Rancho-Santa-Fe-House-1. jpg

Five Principles • 1) Hunger results from human choices – not 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 Principles • 2) Economic democracy – and the empowerment of women • are keys to ending hunger • and will also reduce world population growth. Microfinance meeting, India http: //www. andhranews. net/India/2007/July/10 -Microfinance-Institution-Bandhan. jpg

Economic Democracy • “Because no human being Hunger results from a lack of Economic Democracy chooses hunger, hunger is proof that a person has been denied a voice in meeting survival needs. • And, since a say in one’s future is the very essence of democracy, the existence of hunger belies democracy. ” • -- Frances Moore Lappe http: //www. organicvalley. coop/img/kickapoo/frances_moore_lappe. jpg

Five Principles • 3) Ending hunger need not destroy the environment – but will require sustainable agriculture • that can be practiced by even the poor. http: //www. organicexchange. org/Pictures/book_art. jpg

Five Principles • 4) 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 Principles • 5) The increased wellbeing of the poor in the third world – can enhance our own well-being • we need not fear their advancement. http: //www. businessfacilities. com/blog/uploaded_images/time_india-792084. jpg

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. http: //lh 3. ggpht. com/mallu 1982/R 1 j. XD 8 F_26 I/AAAAEFQ/UD 7 du. Snoi. U/DSC 00312. JPG? imgmax=512

Personal Choices • 1) Get alternative information. • Mainstream TV, press has a vision clouded by myths. http: //www. proteinpower. com/drmike/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/peter-jennings. jpg

Personal Choices • 2) Educate others— – friends – co-workers – family. • Speak up when others voice self-defeating myths. http: //www. citytech. cuny. edu/images/aboutus/newsevents/commencement 05/valedictorian. jpg

Personal choices • 3) 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 Choices • 4) Help hungry, homeless people through church, community groups. http: //msconnecticutlatinaunitedstates. com/my. Pictures/preparing%20 to%20 serve%20 food%20 to%20 shelter%20 clients. jpg

Personal Choices • 5) Participate in – – Habitat for Humanity http: //www. lmu. edu/Asset 2717. aspx community planning more and better jobs affordable housing environmental protection.

Personal Choices • 6) Elect officials committed to addressing roots of hunger. http: //media. collegepublisher. com/media/paper 295/stills/r 0 eo 2 e 67. jpg

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

Personal Choices • 7) Spend money on less processed, – less packaged foods – from co-ops or worker owned stores. Farmers market http: //www. elysianfarm. com/images/lg. Carrboro-Farmers-Market. jpg

Personal Choices • 8) Boycotts have been successful: – Nestle stopped marketing baby formula in third world – divestment helped bring majority rule to South Africa. http: //alex. edfac. usyd. edu. au/home/Mercy%20 College%20 site/untitled/business%20 studies/pix/nike-boycott-large. jpg

Personal choices • 9) Become an activist. • Social movements Civil rights protest http: //students. spsu. edu/mgarner/US%20 History/Civil%20 Rights%20 Project/march-wash. jpg – brought women the vote – got civil rights legislation – helped end war in Vietnam.

Moral Courage • Compassion is essential – but 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 Nigeria http: //www. stolenchildhood. net/images/nigerian_children_33. jpg

Moral Courage • Takes 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. http: //photos 22. flickr. com/27974053_f 2 ae 332 d 53. jpg

Compassion • This 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/s 462 r 959. jpg

Compassion • Ironically, the message of compassion and connectedness to others' well-being – underlies the dominant western religion, Christianity http: //i 40. photobucket. com/albums/e 220/ibrendell/Saints_--_Mother_Teresa_with_Baby. jpg

Compassion • But our culture has elevated economic dogma – market and property rights – above the Christian message • of love, compassion and connection. Mall of America http: //upload. wikimedia. org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/38/Interior_mall_of_america. jpg/800 px-Interior_mall_of_america. jpg