World Hunger and Poverty

World Hunger and Poverty

In a world of abundance, many go to bed hungry each night. Hunger is more than just the result of food production and meeting demands. The causes of hunger are related to the causes of poverty. One of the major source of hunger is poverty. Most people think the poorest most desperate segments of our population are usually that way because they can't manage their finances well. What about the those workers in undeveloped countries that can not buy the food they grow? Policies and Politics are the birth parents of poverty and hunger.
Widespread thinking among many is that world hunger can be solved by producing more food. The food resources of the world are abundant rather than scarce according to Peter Rosset, director of Institute for Food and Development Policy in California. Even in countries with excess food production millions are starving.
Think about the following:
• High Food Waste:
o In the United Kingdom, “a shocking 30-40% of all food is never eaten;”
 In the last decade the amount of food British people threw into the bin went up by 15%;
 Overall, £20 billion (approximately $38 billion US dollars) worth of food is thrown away, every year.
o In the US 40-50% of all food ready for harvest never gets eaten;
o The impacts of this waste are not just financial. Environmentally this leads to:
 Wasteful use of chemicals such as fertilizers and pesticides;
 More fuel used for transportation;
 More rotting food, creating more methane — one of the most harmful greenhouse gases that contributes to climate change.
• The direct medical cost of hunger and malnutrition is estimated at $30 billion each year. Why health is the key for the future of farming and food, January 24, 2002. See page 10, Table 1. The best meal you'll never have!, Costing the Earth, BBC Radio 4, April 14, 2005
Centuries after the industrial revolution, poverty is still widespread throughout the world although the technology has exist to produce enough wealth...

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