11 Myths about World Hunger

There isn’t enough food to feed the world

There is enough food in the world today for everyone to have the nourishment. There needs to be more efficient, sustainable way to grow and distribute food.

Hunger is simply a question of not having enough to eat.

Hunger also involves the type of food you eat. Good nutrition means having the right combination of nutrients and calories needed for healthy development. It's especially important for infants, pregnant women and young children.

Droughts and other natural disasters are to blame for hunger.

Communities that build irrigation systems, storage facilities, and roads to connect to markets improves harvests, and people can survive even during times of drought. Nature is only one factor when it comes to hunger. The proportion of food crises that are linked to human causes has more than doubled since 1992.

Hunger only exists when there’s not enough food.

People can go hungry when they can’t afford food or can’t get to local markets.

All of the world’s hungry live in Africa.

Of the world’s nearly one billion hungry, over one-half live in Asia and the Pacific. Hunger is also a relevant issue in the United States, where 50 million Americans are food insecure.

Too many people go hungry in the U.S. for me to respond to hunger abroad.

One in seven people in the world are hungry, which means one in seven people can’t create, study, or reach their full potential because they are hungry. That affects all of us. Hunger slows progress on other important areas that connect nations.

Hunger and famine are not easy to predict and can't be prepared for.

Tools exist to monitor and predict trends in food production as well as food prices. For example, the Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET) analyzes meteorological and economic factors to alert the world to the possibility of hunger hotspots and famine.

Hunger is a just health issue.

This issue also affects education and the economy. Children lacking nutrients struggle to focus, learn, or even attend school. In the poorest parts of the world, a school meal can double primary school enrollment.

People are only hungry during emergencies or disasters.

Population-wide emergencies only account for eight percent of the world’s hungry. There are close to one billion hungry people in the world who do not make the headlines.

There are more pressing global issues than hunger.

Hunger is at the root of so many global issues. When populations are hungry, economies suffer, people fight, and farmers can’t grow their crops effectively. Fighting hunger also fights environmental, economic, and security issues.

There is nothing we can do to help hungry people.

You can lead the fight against hunger. Consider:

• Volunteering at a soup kitchen.
• Host a hunger banquet event.

Here are more ways you can tackle hunger. GO

Sources:

World Food Programme