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What Can we do about World Hunger?. Food First. http://www.givegetnation.net/img/scan10004225.jpg. Thoughts about the Future. “The way people think about hunger is the greatest obstacle toward ending it.” -- Peter Rosset, Food First.
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What Can we do about World Hunger? Food First http://www.givegetnation.net/img/scan10004225.jpg
Thoughts about the Future • “The way people think about hunger is the greatest obstacle toward ending it.” -- Peter Rosset, Food First http://www.alertnet.org/thefacts/imagerepository/feedingcentre238.jpg http://www.policyinnovations.org/innovators/people/data/:v_get/45663/07114/_res/id=sa_Picture
Thoughts about the Future • “The only real risk is the risk of thinking too small.” • -Frances Moore Lappe http://www.mediathatmattersfest.org/mtm05/img/frances_moore_lappe.jpg http://www.gladrags.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/diet-for-a-small-planet.jpg
Thoughts about the Future • “The world has enough for man's need, but not for man's greed.” --Mahatma Ghandi http://www.theprometheusinstitute.org/images/stories/quotes/gandhi.jpg
Questions • Should we have guilt? • We have so much food, wealth! http://z.about.com/d/hotels/1/5/L/c/PR_buffet.jpg
Questions • Should we have fear? • We might lose it all! Food riot, 2008 http://www.ecollo.com/image.axd?picture=FoodShortage.jpg
Questions • Can we protect the environment and grow enough food? http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evosite/relevance/images/pestspray.jpg
Questions • Should we seek justice? http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl/hi/guides/457000/457022/img/1169457081.gif
Questions • Should we seek efficiency? http://www.alliantenergy.com/docs/groups/public/documents/pub/p015076-1.jpg
Questions • Can we eliminate hunger without losing freedom? http://www.milada-real-estate.com/Rancho-Santa-Fe-House-1.jpg
Five Principles • 1) Hunger results from human choices • not inexorable forces of nature. • Therefore we can choose to end hunger in the same way we chose to end slavery. http://www.sonofthesouth.net/slavery/abraham-lincoln/pictures/abraham-lincoln-2.jpg
Five Principles • 2) Economic democracy • and the empowerment of women • are keys to ending hunger • and will also reduce world population growth. Microfinance meeting, India http://www.andhranews.net/India/2007/July/10-Microfinance-Institution-Bandhan.jpg
Economic Democracy • “Because no human being chooses hunger, hunger is proof that a person has been denied a voice in meeting survival needs. • And, since a say in one’s future is the very essence of democracy, the existence of hunger belies democracy.” • -- Frances Moore Lappe Hunger results from a lack of Economic Democracy http://www.organicvalley.coop/img/kickapoo/frances_moore_lappe.jpg
Five Principles • 3) Ending hunger need not destroy the environment • but will require sustainable agriculture • that can be practiced by even the poor. http://www.organicexchange.org/Pictures/book_art.jpg
Five Principles • 4) Greater fairness can lead to ending hunger • if we devise food systems where those that do the work • have a greater say and reap a greater reward. Farmers protesting for land reform
Five Principles • 5) The increased well-being of the poor in the third world • can enhance our own well-being • we need not fear their advancement. http://www.businessfacilities.com/blog/uploaded_images/time_india-792084.jpg
What can we do? • If change is possible, we must change ourselves. ISU student in Africa
What can we do? • We must examine our everyday choices. http://lh3.ggpht.com/mallu1982/R1jXD8F_26I/AAAAAAAAEFQ/U-D7duSnoiU/DSC00312.JPG?imgmax=512
Personal Choices • 1) Get alternative information. • Mainstream TV, press has a vision clouded by myths. http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/peter-jennings.jpg
Personal Choices • 2) Educate others— • friends • co-workers • family. • Speak up when others voice self-defeating myths. http://www.citytech.cuny.edu/images/aboutus/newsevents/commencement05/valedictorian.jpg
Personal choices • 3) Choose a job that contributes to the solution rather than to the problem. • Is accumulation of material possession the real key to a satisfying life? http://www.gradebook.org/substitutex.jpg
Personal Choices • 4) Help hungry, homeless people through church, community groups. http://msconnecticutlatinaunitedstates.com/myPictures/preparing%20to%20serve%20food%20to%20shelter%20clients.jpg
Personal Choices • 5) Participate in • community planning • more and better jobs • affordable housing • environmental protection. Habitat for Humanity http://www.lmu.edu/Asset2717.aspx
Personal Choices • 6) Elect officials committed to addressing roots of hunger. http://media.collegepublisher.com/media/paper295/stills/r0eo2e67.jpg
Vote! http://www.polichicksonline.com/Hilla%20American%20Eagle%20vote%20T%20shirt.jpg
Personal Choices • 7) Spend money on less processed, • less packaged foods • from co-ops or worker owned stores. Farmers market http://www.elysianfarm.com/images/lgCarrboro-Farmers-Market.jpg
Personal Choices • 8) Boycotts have been successful: • Nestle stopped marketing baby formula in third world • divestment helped bring majority rule to South Africa. http://alex.edfac.usyd.edu.au/home/Mercy%20College%20site/untitled/business%20studies/pix/nike-boycott-large.jpg
Personal choices • 9) Become an activist. • Social movements • brought women the vote • got civil rights legislation • helped end war in Vietnam. Civil rights protest http://students.spsu.edu/mgarner/US%20History/Civil%20Rights%20Project/march-wash.jpg
Moral Courage • Compassion is essential • but is easy. • Harder to achieve is moral courage. • It takes courage to cry out "The emperor wears no clothes" • In the face of injustice, inequity, malnutrition Nigeria http://www.stolenchildhood.net/images/nigerian_children_33.jpg
Moral Courage • Takes courage to challenge the status quo, • to point out that the world is awash in food • and all of the suffering is the result of human decisions. • We risk embarrassment, • dismissal by friends • to speak out about widespread false understandings of the world. http://photos22.flickr.com/27974053_f2ae332d53.jpg
Compassion • This courage comes from the same place our compassion comes from: • our innate moral sensibilities, • our deepest emotional intuitions • about our connectedness to others' well-being. http://images.rescuegroups.org/rainbowbridge/fullsize/s462r959.jpg
Compassion • Ironically, the message of compassion and connectedness to others' well-being • underlies the dominant western religion, Christianity http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e220/ibrendell/Saints_--_Mother_Teresa_with_Baby.jpg
Compassion • But our culture has elevated economic dogma • market and property rights • above the Christian message • of love, compassion and connection. Mall of America http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/38/Interior_mall_of_america.jpg/800px-Interior_mall_of_america.jpg