Hunger and the Global Environment

One person in every five worldwide experiences persistent hunger –N–Not the healthy appetite triggered by anticipation of a hearty meal –B–But the painful condition caused by a chronic lack of food Tens of thousands die of starvation each day –O–One every two seconds

In the U.S. millions of children are hungry at least some of the time –Under the broad definition of food insecurity, over 13 million U.S. children do not know where their next meal is coming from or when it will come

The Challenge to Change Banishing food insecurity for all of the world’s citizens poses two major challenges –To provide enough food to meet the needs of earth’s expanding population Without destroying natural resources needed to continue producing food –To ensure food security

Concerns for the future exist: –Hunger –Poverty –Population growth Millions of the world’s people are starving Fifteen children die of malnutrition every 30 seconds 125 children are born in that same 30 seconds Every day, the earth gains another 220,000 new residents to feed, most of them born in impoverished areas

Loss of food-producing land –Food-producing land is becoming saltier, eroding, and being paved over –Each year, the world’s farmers try to feed some 85 million additional people with 24 billion fewer tons of topsoil This loss threatens overall food security

Atmosphere and climate changes, droughts, and floods –The concentration of carbon dioxide is now 26% higher than 200 years ago –Climate changes cause droughts and floods that destroy crops and people’s homelands –Diseases such as malaria are expected to spread to other climate zones as they warm

Ozone loss from the outer atmosphere –Permitting harmful radiation from the sun to penetrate Increases the likelihood of skin cancers and cataracts in people and animals and potentially may damage crops and ecosystems Water shortages –Supplies of fresh water are dwindling and becoming polluted

Deforestation and desertification Ocean pollution –Is killing fish in large “dead zones” along the world’s coasts –Overfishing is depleting the fish that remain

Extinctions of species –More than 140 species of animals and plants are becoming extinct each day –Another 20% are expected to die out in the next 10 years

U.S. Food Programs Children’s school lunch and breakfast programs Child-care and elder-care programs Programs to supply low-income pregnant women and mothers with nourishing food (WIC) Food assistance programs for older adults Congregate meals Meals on Wheels

Food Stamp Program –C–Centerpiece of U.S. food programs for low- income people –A–Administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) –P–Provides assistance to more than 20 million people at a cost of over $20 billion per year Over half of the recipients are children

National food recovery programs have made a dramatic difference –C–Collecting wholesome surplus foods for distribution to low-income people who are hungry –T–The largest program, Second Harvest, coordinates the efforts of more than 250 food banks, food pantries, emergency kitchens, and homeless shelters Providing more than 1 billion pounds of food to 45,000 local agencies that feed over 23 million people per year

Food banks –F–Facilities that collect and distribute food donations to authorized organizations feeding the hungry Food pantries –C–Community food collection programs that provide groceries to be prepared and eaten at home

Emergency kitchens –P–Programs that provide prepared meals to be eaten on site –O–Often called soup kitchens

What is the State of World Hunger? One-fifth of the world’s 6 billion people have no land and no possessions at all –The “poorest poor” survive on less than one dollar a day each –They lack water that is safe to drink, and they cannot read or write

Today, the world’s supply of grain, an index of the sufficiency of the world food supply, can still feed the world for several months –Wheat and corn, the staple foods of many nations, are abundant and now cost less than half as much as 40 years ago

The future may not be so bright –At its present rate of growth, the world’s population will soon outstrip the current rate of food production –The green revolution has passed Old technology will not generate the greater crop yields needed to keep pace with the increasing numbers of people being born

Environmental Degradation Soil Erosion –Affects agriculture in every nation –Deforestation of the world’s rain forests dramatically adds to land loss Without the forest covering to hold the soil in place, it washes off the rocks beneath –Drastically reducing the land’s productivity

Climate, Air, and Fresh Water –Air pollution and the resulting climate change reduce food outputs –Changes in climate are expected to result from a buildup of so-called greenhouse gases Such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, and airborne particles These pollutants are produced by human industry, agriculture, and transportation activities

A rise of only a degree or so in average global temperature may –reduce soil moisture, –impair pollination of major food crops such as rice and corn, –slow growth, –weaken crops’ resistance to disease, –and disrupt many other factors affecting crop yields

Dwindling supplies of fresh water are now limiting the numbers of people who can survive in some areas –Poor water management causes many of the world’s water problems –Each day, people dump 2 million tons of waste into the world’s rivers, lakes, and streams As such pollution grows along with the population, vast quantities of the earth’s fresh water will be unusable by the year 2025; and 2 of every 3 persons on earth will live in water-stressed conditions

Overpopulation –The world’s population reached 6 billion in 1999 –The rate of growth has begun to taper off –By 2033 the human population will exceed the earth’s estimated carrying capacity The total number of living organisms that a given environment can support without deteriorating in quality –Overpopulation may be the most serious threat that humankind faces today

Moving toward Solutions The poor nations need resources and the will to: –m–make contraceptive technology and information more widely available, –e–educate their citizens, –a–assist the poor, –a–and adopt sustainable development practices that slow and reverse the destruction of their forests, waterways, and soil

The rich nations need to stem their wasteful and polluting uses of resources and energy –W–Which are contributing to global environmental degradation

Protecting the Environment

–According to the United Nations, the “ecological footprint” - the productive land area needed to support a person’s lifestyle - of each individual is 4x larger in an industrialized country than in a developing one

Although many problems are global in scope, the actions of individual people lie at the heart of their solution