Editorials

Pitfalls on AIDS: No Actual Funding Yet for New Bill, Policies Advanced May Represent U.S. Politics More Than Sound Prevention Strategy Washington Post (May 16, 2003. You will leave this site and be required to register [once] with the Post.)

2002: A Bad Year for Poor People  (February 28, 2003)

Letters to the Editor

Note: When publishing letters sent to us, Hunger Notes typically does not publish full names of those writing letters in order to protect the privacy of those writing. If you wish that your full name be used, please let us know.

October 9, 2003

Dear Editor,

Your web site is wonderful. What a wonderful wealth of information. My daughter is in the fifth grade and within her class her group is doing a year long exhibition on world hunger. Unfortunately because it is an elementary school they do not allow hunger banquets, etc. They will be doing some fundraising throughout the year and some sort of display and power point presentation, but I was wondering if you could suggest a site where the children can learn about becoming civic minded and being good citizens by way of writing letter to their government, congressman,  etc. about world hunger and what is being done about it. I don't know what bills are out there nor do I know what level they should write local, national etc. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for all you do. D.R, Boca Raton, FL

Dear D.R.

Quite an excellent question: what site is there out there where fifth graders--or any of us!--can learn about becoming civic minded and writing letters to their government?  Two suggestions. First, writing three letters, to your students' Senators and Congressperson asking what the U.S. government is doing to prevent hunger. Secondly, looking at the two major politically minded anti-hunger organizations websites, and picking an issue there to write on.

Possibility One: your daughter and her classmates--and the rest of us!-- should write the same letter to their Congressperson and two Senators.  I think they should ask: what is the United States doing about world hunger?  I do not think the United States is doing much, so it would be interesting to see their answer. If your daughter or any of her classmates wants to send Hunger Notes a copy of their letter and the Congressional response, we will be happy to publish their letters! To locate Washington addresses for your Senators and Congressperson, begin at http://thomas.loc.gov/ and then see the links for Senate directory and House directory near the top.

Possiblity Two. The two politically-minded anti-hunger organizations in the United States are Bread for the World and Results, whose websites are www.bread.org and www.results.org Both are supporting an initiative to increase funding for HIV/AIDS prevention and therapy. As you know, HIV is a disease which is devastating many countries in Africa, and is causing many deaths among poor people.  The U.S. legislative year is in theory wrapping up (appropriations for the 2004 U.S. government fiscal year were supposed to be completed by September 30, 2003), but I think that your letters will be useful through February at least, when the legislative process may finally be completed.

Good luck with your efforts!

Editor, Hunger Notes

September 9, 2003

Dear Editor,

I looked over your website and I was wondering it your site donates food in the USA. I watched a special last week on 60 Minutes II and it mentioned towns in  Ohio, like McArthur and towns in that area. that had hunger lines that were so long that they would run out of food not even close to halfway through the lines.  After watching this, I realized that I desperately want to help the hungry and poor people in the area that I live in. I want to help hunger in the USA. If you have any information on how I could donate food, money, etc. please respond as soon as possible.  Thank you very much, E.K.

Dear E.K.

There are several possibilities.

First you may contact your local food bank or pantry.  These are widespread, but probably not everywhere. To do so, I think the easiest thing to do is to dial local information and ask for the local food bank or food pantry. You may have to get into some negotiation with the operator to  have them do this, although it may be very easy. We have an partially automated 411 system here in Washington, D.C.  I called up and asked--to the automated voice which asked who I was seeking and where--the local food bank or food pantry in Washington D.C.  The real human operator who responded to this request said she had nothing for food pantry but did have a listing for food bank, which was the Capital Area Food Bank.  This was the correct answer!  These food banks, which are in communities all across the United States, collect food from various sources, including individual contributions, and distribute the food to organizations who feed poor and hungry people.

The second and even more direct thing to do is to contact an organization which feeds hungry people, such as a meal program.  Churches for example will prepare meals on certain days for all who wish to come.  Or, in larger cities, there can be other specific programs. In Washington, we have for example SOME, (So Others Might Eat). Local churches often have food pantries, where those who need food can come, which need replenishing. For example, the food pantry in my church, St. Anthony's, just issued the following request in the church bulletin:

We especially need: spaghetti and spaghetti sauces; macaroni/pasta; canned pork and beans, canned vegetables, especially green beans; tuna fish; salmon and canned meat products; soups, canned and dry; peanut butter and jars of jelly; kid's dry cereals and diapers.

 There are also many programs that may be able to utilize food (and certainly will be able to use monetary assistance) that work with people in need: homeless people, women with children who cannot pay all their expenses and need some assistance, immigrants, and others.

The final suggestion is to go to Google and type in your zip code and one key word at a time such as hunger, homelessness, battered women, women's shelter, food bank, food shelter, mental illness, AIDS, elderly and food, ...

Thank you very much for thinking of hungry people, and acting on your thoughts!

Editor, Hunger Notes

May 14, 2003

Dear Editor,

 I'm a high school student in Colorado.  For the past semester I have been collecting articles about hunger in Africa for a school project.  If you have time could you please answer some questions for my report?  First of all, could you please state your name so I can quote you in my paper.  Secondly, have you had any personal or hands on experience with hunger?  What do you believe is the leading contributor to the hunger problem today?  What are some possible solutions?  Which solution do find most promising?  Do you believe the world will ever get rid of hunger completely?

G.E.C.

Dear G.E.C. 1. Name. My name is Lane Vanderslice.

2. Personal experience with hunger.  I have almost never experienced serious hunger or poverty.  Possibly the only time was when I was working as a migrant laborer when I got out of college (in order to see things that I had not seen before) and ran out of money because I was not making much ($.03 for a pound of cotton!).  When I later lived in Latin America (principally Bolivia) I did try to get out and spend some time with people in the countryside, almost all of whom were very poor. I certainly did learn some things from these experiences. I learned, for example, that an alarming number of  their children were dying very young, which got me thinking about why this was happening and what might be done about it.

3.The leading cause of hunger. The leading cause of hunger is harmful economic/(political/social)  systems.  Please see our article on this topic at http://www.worldhunger.org/articles/03/global/harmfuleconomicsystems.htm.  Hunger Notes has not done a good job in describing these systems (nor has anyone else).  These are systems that take the majority of income and resources for the few and leave the people at the bottom in desperate shape.

4.  Possible solutions to hunger.  The principal one would be to try and improve these systems-- make them more democratic and responsive to poor people. Especially we in the United States should consider our role in the process, which is considerable, though masked.

5.  Will the world ever get rid of hunger completely?  No, though there is no good reason why not. However, we can do a much better job of reducing hunger.
 

February, 2003

Dear Hunger Notes,

I am helping to sponsor a group of high school students to compete at this year's World Affairs Challenge (in Denver, Colorado) with the theme being Feeding the World: A Menu of Possibilities.  We have chosen to try to give a face to hunger.  I have found your web site most helpful.  I would like to ask permission to use information from this site.  The students are doing a skit representing the lack of compassion/awareness of people in America. Specifically. they are also planning a "hunger strike" where they are asking high school students to give up their lunch money (which will be given to help reduce hunger) and actually feel the hunger (even though the time will be short). There is then a research presentation and a discovery display required.  Any ideas where we can find more pictures depicting hunger in America? We would like to depict the average American who takes food for granted, then what would happen if they became homeless and or hungry…any information or other ideas would be greatly appreciated.  We have a short timeline-- the presentation being in early March.  Thank you for your assistance!  K.G. Rifle, Colorado

Dear K.G.:
You are welcome to use information from our site. With respect to pictures I have no specific suggestions for sites. My suggestion would be to go out and take pictures in Denver. There are certainly enough homeless and hungry people there— such as those at homeless shelters or feeding centers. This would be much more powerful for a presentation. In general, Google (www.google.com) has an image selection. Select it and then type in homeless in the search bar.

Editor, Hunger Notes

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