A Half-Century of Fighting Hunger Through Education

Woman in rice field with text overlay: Our mission is to help you fight hunger with knowledge

Since 1976, World Hunger Education Service has been committed to reducing hunger and malnutrition globally. Our mission through initiatives like Hunger Notes includes:


EMPOWERMENT THROUGH EDUCATION

Equipping  students, educators, and the public with in-depth knowledge about food insecurity in the U.S. and globally, from research projects to basic awareness.


FOSTERING A HOLISTIC VIEW OF HUNGER

Providing resources and expert insights that integrate ethical, religious, social, economic, political, and scientific perspectives for a comprehensive understanding of hunger.


BUILDING CONNECTIONS

Creating a community for shared knowledge and networking opportunities, strengthening connections across the anti-hunger field.


INSPIRING SOLUTIONS

Discovering a variety of approaches and organizations dedicated to solving hunger and offering inspiration to deepen involvement in creating hunger solutions.

 


Hunger Notes and You

Hunger Notes is an online publication of the World Hunger Education Service (WHES), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit  organization governed by a Board of Directors.

The Hunger Notes website is a dynamic platform for learning, exploring, and sharing knowledge about hunger and its related issues.

Whether you’re a student, educator, leader, humanitarian, or part of a partner organization, this site offers valuable resources tailored to your needs. 

Here’s how you can make the most of Hunger Notes:

  • Dive into our “basics” series for research insights, the latest statistics, and explore the further reading sections for in-depth analysis.
  • Stay informed with the latest news stories and insights on global hunger trends.
  • Enhance your papers and presentations with our downloadable original graphics or raise awareness by sharing them online.
  • Educate and engage others by using our materials and graphics, available for online sharing or as printable handouts.
  • Introduce key concepts using our short explainer videos in your presentations or on social media.
  • Make learning interactive with our online quizzes, designed to help retain important information.
  • Contribute your analysis, opinion, or review to Hunger Notes and add a valuable publication to your CV.
  • Learn what other organizations are addressing hunger and how you can engage with them.

 

Discover, learn, and contribute to the fight against hunger with Hunger Notes.

 

Your Feedback Matters

We value your feedback and contributions. As an educational resource, WHES is continually updating our resources to better facilitate a deeper understanding of the causes and solutions of hunger. If there’s a resource you’d like to see or if you have ideas for improving our site, we’d love to hear from you. Please email us at info@worldhunger.org.

Be a Hunger Notes Scholar

WHES provides a platform for development professionals and aspiring humanitarians to publish articles and analyses on the latest breakthroughs in hunger research. If you’re interested in submitting an opinion piece or article to our website, please email your proposal to editor@worldhunger.org for an initial consultation.

 


Our Story

With more than enough food in the world to feed everyone, hundreds of millions of men, women and children still go hungry. Surely, we can make the world work better than this.”

— Patricia Kutzner, Founder of World Hunger Education Service.
Excerpted from World Hunger subtitle A Reference Handbook 1992

1977 Photo of advocates for food aid reform speaking to U. S. Agriculture Secretary Robert Bergland. WHES Founder Pat Kutzner is pictured third from the left,
Dr. Pat Kutzner (pictured third from the left), founder of the World Hunger Education Service and the first editor of Hunger Notes, advocates for food aid reform with the Hunger Committee of the Episcopal Church. (Photo courtesy of The Archives of the Episcopal Church).

 

The Genesis of Hunger Notes

The 1960s and President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty brought the harsh reality of hunger to the forefront of the American public. The following decade saw a surge in compassion, leading to the formation of numerous organizations in Washington, D.C., dedicated to addressing hunger. However, there was no central repository for the burgeoning scholarship on hunger or a place to connect the different organizations working to end hunger.

Pat Kutzner, a newcomer to Washington, D.C., and an emerging leader in the anti-hunger movement, had a solution.

While writing up a list of anti-hunger resources for the Episcopal Hunger Network’s newsletter in 1974, Kutzner had an idea to do the same for a wider audience on a larger scale.

Coordination and transparency were vital ingredients in the fight against hunger. “We must see the obstacles and options clearly and know what we are doing,” she later wrote.

By 1976, Kutzner had secured space in the offices of the Friends National Committee on Legislation and began her work. She recruited Barbara Howell from Bread for the World and Bob Cory, director of William Penn House, as board members, and the World Hunger Education Service was born.

The nonprofit was, “engaged in helping raise the level of public awareness and concern about hunger,” Kutzner wrote in a 1980 statement to Congress. “Our motto is ‘helping leaders help others end hunger’,” she said.

For decades, WHES’s print guides, subscription newsletters, and now the Hunger Notes website, have been pivotal in educating leaders and students and facilitated countless connections across the field.

Kutzner’s vision, along with dedicated leaders like Howell and Cory, has not only stood the test of time but continues to enlighten and inspire those committed to understanding and solving hunger. Each year, over 100 thousand eager knowledge seekers visit the Hunger Notes website.

 

Support the mission, learn more and explore ways you can take action to help end hunger.

Together, we can make a better world.
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  • World Hunger Education
    Service
    P.O. Box 29015
    Washington, D.C. 20017
  • For the past 40 years, since its founding in 1976, the mission of World Hunger Education Service is to undertake programs, including Hunger Notes, that
    • Educate the general public and target groups about the extent and causes of hunger and malnutrition in the United States and the world
    • Advance comprehension which integrates ethical, religious, social, economic, political, and scientific perspectives on the world food problem
    • Facilitate communication and networking among those who are working for solutions
    • Promote individual and collective commitments to sustainable hunger solutions.