World Hunger

In a world capable of producing enough food to eradicate hunger and starvation, it is astonishing that we seem to be slipping further and further behind. Almost 850 million people in the world are malnourished, with over 5 million children perishing each year of starvation. As bleak as this picture seems, it is likely to get much worse. On a worldwide basis, the cost of food has jumped almost 50 percent in the last year. Rice, the staple food of over half of the world’s population, has gone up 100 percent. Factor in the expected storms, droughts, and other natural disasters, plus political unrest and war, and you have a bleak picture that will probably get even worse than the current estimates. Relief organizations are already overtaxed. It is time for churches and other private organizations to do what they can. Check with your church, synagogue, or mosque and see if they already have a program in place. If they don’t, you might want to start an effort yourself to elevate some of the suffering.