World Food Day-The Challenge

Have you ever been so hungry that you actually said, "I'm starving?" I know I have, many times. The sensation of hunger, a lack of food in your stomach, is universal. But there are different manifestations of hunger which are each measured in different ways:

 

• Under-nourishment is used to describe the status of people whose food intake does not include enough calories (energy) to meet minimum physiological needs for an active life. At present, there are 925 million undernourished people worldwide, most of them in developing countries.

• Malnutrition means 'badly nourished', but is more than a measure of what we eat or fail to eat. Malnutrition is characterised by inadequate intake of protein, energy and micro nutrients and by frequent infections and diseases. Starved of the right nutrition, people will die from common infections like measles or diarrhoea. Malnutrition is measured not by how much food is eaten but by physical measurements of the body - weight or height - and age.

• Wasting is an indicator of acute malnutrition that reflects a recent and severe process that has led to substantial weight loss. This is usually the result of starvation and/or disease

Tomorrow, October 16, 2011 is World Food Day. I present a challenge for you all. For tomorrow only, I challenge you to fast for the entire day, going to bed without eating to experience a tiny fraction of what 925 million feel everyday. Then, take whatever money you would have spent on food, say if you are craving tacos, or you were going to make a chicken dinner, and donate to an organization that feeds the hungry. Perhaps you are unable, for whatever reason, to fast, how about volunteering at a soup kitchen (they're not just open on holidays) or collecting can goods from friends, family, and neighbors and taking them to a food pantry. Or simply go to one of the websites at the links provided below, gather some information and share it.

There is enough food in the world for everyone to have the nourishment necessary for a healthy and productive life. As daunting as the task of feeding 925 million people seems, it absolutely can be done. John Agyekum Kufuor and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva have been chosen to jointly receive the 2011 World Food Prize for their personal commitment and visionary leadership while serving as the presidents of Ghana and of Brazil, respectively, in creating and implementing government policies to alleviate hunger and poverty in their countries. Check out what they did here to greatly reduce hunger and poverty in their countries.

The only hunger this world should see is the hunger for knowledge. Despite what you have been told, we are our brothers' keepers. Join me in the fight to end hunger. Please share this post and spread the word, and leave comments about what you did for World Food Day. Love and Light.

 http://www.worldfooddayusa.org/

http://www.bread.org/hunger/global/facts.html