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Poverty and Hunger
Around the World
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A look at the global
problems of poverty and hunger
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Heather
Campbell
English 102
Leslie Jewkes
May 6, 2013
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Poverty and hunger cannot be limited to one country or
one continent, it is a global epidemic that is spreading and becoming harder to
control. The Millennium Development Goals were created to try and tackle eight
of the world’s problems and make them better by 2015; eradicating poverty and
hunger being the first on the list. With help from nonprofit organizations and
those that are willing to donate time and money and food to the cause, poverty
and hunger are being taken care of to the best of those organization’s
abilities.
Heather Campbell
English 102 011W
Global Paper Rough Draft
May 6, 2013
Poverty
and Hunger around the World
One of the biggest problems in the world right now is not
something that is televised or written about in big newspapers. It is a war,
but it is not the war in the Middle East or the war against terror; it is a war
against poverty and hunger. Poverty and hunger are usually overlooked or
forgotten about because nobody wants to think about them. Ignoring poverty and
hunger is not going to make them go away or make them better. The only way the
world can solve the problem of poverty and hunger is to make it known and do
something about it.
One
of the big questions is, what does it mean to be hungry? Missy McDonald stated
“Hunger means different things. For many people, it means eating nothing
at all for days. For others, it means not having enough healthy food for
years”. It also should be remembered that this whole problem of poverty and
hunger doesn’t stop at hunger, it goes on to malnutrition. Malnutrition means “that
their bodies are not getting the important nutrients they need to stay healthy”
(McDonald) and to go even farther; malnutrition often causes death, especially
in children. “The researchers at Columbia
University's Mailman School of Public Health found that poverty, low levels of
education, and a lack of social support, among other "social"
factors, account for as many deaths as heart attack, stroke, and lung cancer”
(Lippman). Malnutrition can cause many other medical problems and can even be
linked to obesity because more fattening foods and high carbohydrate foods are
cheaper than the healthier counterparts.
Sue Cavanaugh writes “Reducing by half the number of
people suffering from chronic hunger is one of the Millennium Development
Goals, and it is generally believed this goal will be reached by the target
date of 2015”. The Millennium
Development Goals are goals that were put together by 189 countries to try and
better the world. Eradicating extreme poverty and hunger is the first goal of
eight listed by the United Nations Development Programme. The Millennium Development
Goals were started in September of 2000 with the hopes of having reached all of
their goals by 2015.
Jan
Rivero of Stop Hunger Now said “I think it is safe to
safe that hunger is truly a global reality and not restricted to developing
countries. Of course it is more pervasive and severe in those countries as
opposed to the industrialized ones”. It is true that developing countries
suffer the most in the crisis of poverty and hunger. Those countries do not
have the means that the rest of the world has to be able to get what they need.
“People living in extreme poverty cannot meet the basic needs for survival:
they are chronically hungry; have no access to health care, clean water, and sanitation;
have no access to education; and lack shelter.” (Tyer-Viola). Many factors can
lead to living in poverty, it is much more complicated then what is lead to be
believed.
Poverty and hunger is not a black and white, one side or
the other issue. It is not as simple as fixing one thing to solve the whole
problem. “Fundamentally, hunger is caused by poverty. If we want to reduce
hunger effectively, we have to reduce poverty and that requires action across a
broad spectrum” (Chukwumeka). Developing countries do not have the funds or the
means to feed all of their people because they do not have the necessary
resources. There are organizations that are collecting donations and giving
these countries food baskets, but that is only a small fix for a much larger
problem. Governments need to budget better and find what they feel is most
important for their country to start fixing the poverty and hunger of their
people.
As stated before, it is not just developing countries that
have poverty and hunger. Sue Cavanaugh wrote in the same article that “A total
of 882,188 Canadians accessed food banks in March 2012 — a 31 per cent increase
over pre-recession levels in March 2008” and also stated later that
“Researchers estimate that less than a quarter of food-insecure households use
food banks”. That would put over 3.5 million Canadians needing help getting
food for their families. This number is an estimate, but for a country that
most believe to be well off, it is still a staggering number. Cavanaugh also
included in her article that “The last decade saw the global price of food rise
three times faster than the rate of inflation, a situation that led not just to
increased poverty and hunger but also to "food riots" in more than two
dozen countries in 2008 and 2011”. The price of everything continues to rise.
Oil and other fuels are being used faster so they are costing more to use. Gas
prices are continually rising to keep up with demand, but the price of food is
rising even faster than that. The cost of food is rising faster than people can
keep up. Minimum wage jobs cannot support even a single person so people have
to find multiple jobs. The job market is diminishing, making it harder for people
to find work. No jobs means no money which leads to poverty and hunger.
Stop Hunger Now is an
organization that is sending packaged food and other aid to countries in need.
The organization is currently helping 76 countries and will mostly likely end
up helping more in the future. They select organizations that operate internationally;
those organizations submit an application to Stop Hunger Now to receive their
meals. Just last year Stop Hunger Now added India to the countries that they
are serving. Stop Hunger Now has packaged over 97 million meals for all the
countries and people that they serve.
The fight against
poverty and hunger is an ongoing and ever tiring battle, but it can be won.
Poverty is caused by many things and only by fixing the job market, broadening education,
creating stable living environments, access to clean water, and gender and
racial equality can we take control of poverty and hunger. The Millennium
Development Goal to eradicate poverty and hunger is close to meeting its goal
of halving the numbers, but there is much more work to be done. Organizations
like Stop Hunger Now need donations and volunteers to help spread the help they
can give. Donations do not have to be a large amount; even small donations can
help feed a family. Find a local organization and donate time, money, or food;
it could save a family. If the world can help those in need, those in need will
be able to help the world.
Work Cited
Cavanaugh,
Sue. "What's For Dinner?." Canadian
Nurse 109.3 (2013): 22-25. CINAHL
with Full Text. Web. 10 Apr. 2013.
Chukwuemeka,
O. Oteh, and Flora O. Ntunde. "Eradication Of Poverty And Hunger In
Nigeria: Issues And Options For Attainment Of Millennium Development
Goals." Canadian Social Science 7.6
(2011): 109-113. Academic Search
Complete. Web. 22 Apr. 2013.
"Join the Movement to End Hunger." Stop Hunger Now: Welcome to Stop
Hunger Now. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2013.
Lippman,
Helen, and Laura C. Lippman. "Is Your Patient Sick—Or Hungry?." Journal Of Family Practice 61.5
(2012): 248-253. Academic Search
Complete. Web. 22 Apr. 2013.
McDonald,
Missy. "Solving World Hunger, One Meal At A Time." Appleseeds 11.3 (2008): 2. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 10 Apr. 2013.
Rivero, Jan. Personal Interview Communication.
April 12, 2013.
"The Millennium Development Goals Eight Goals
for 2015." Millennium
Development Goals. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2013.
Tyer-Viola,
LA, and SK Cesario. "Addressing Poverty, Education, And Gender Equality To
Improve The Health Of Women Worldwide." JOGNN: Journal Of Obstetric, Gynecologic & Neonatal Nursing 39.5
(2010): 580-589. CINAHL with Full
Text. Web. 21 Apr. 2013.
