World Hunger and You

Most of us have always been aware of people going hungry in the developing countries of the world. Nations such as Yemen, Senegal and other parts of African come to mind when we think of world hunger and starving people. We have probably given money, time or other personal resources in an effort to combat world hunger. Hunger however is not going away. In fact it is an ever growing problem for more and more people in the world and is starting to be felt with increasing frequency in developed countries world wide.

And while there may be adequate food in many countries what the average consumer spends as a portion of their income on food has increased dramatically with no end in sight. This has forced many consumers to chose between such basic necessities as health care and eating. Only careful planning by governments or individuals or some natural or man made disaster such as global warming that reduces the worlds population will alleviate this situation for future generations. With their past record of ignoring problems until it is too late we should not bet on the governments of the world to do the right thing. Each of us as individuals must work together to find a solution for ending world hunger.

In order to solve a problem a understanding of the facts that caused the problem must first be understood. With that in mind what are some of the factors that have brought us to this point in time where the worlds supply of food has been reduced to its lowest levels in the last 35 years? As with most problems more than one ingredient is at work in creating this surge of world hunger around the globe. A combination of bad weather, soaring fuel prices, dwindling food reserves and a growing world population have all come together to form the perfect storm. One factor responsible for the worlds dwindling supply of food is simply that there are more people to feed. An additional two billion people are expected to call this planet home by the year 2040. By the year 2050 the worlds population will require twice as much food as it currently does.