Twenty years of editing Hunger Notes

December 22, 2016

By Lane Vanderslice

I have edited Hunger Notes for 20 years.   I started with editing one issue in 1995, and then, when the founder of the World Hunger Education Service (WHES), Pat Kutzner retired in 1996,  became editor.

It has been very gratifying to bring information about people who are  hungry and poor to interested readers, so that we may better understand their situation and take steps to help them.

Some highlights:

—Articles that we ran  on the role that conflict plays in creating hunger, why governments have done relatively little about hunger,  the human right to food, and on sustaining commitment to acting against world hunger, are just a few of our articles that have raised important questions and been widely read.

—Our fact sheet on world hunger, begun in 2002 and updated every year since, has become our most popular page.  We now have fact sheets on  hunger in the United States, hunger in Africa, and other topics.

—Our hunger quizzes help our readers, especially students, understand more about hunger.  In response, we make a small contribution to an anti-hunger organization for each quiz taken, which adds up, as many people take a quiz each month.

—Hunger Notes has been published continuously since 1974.   It started as a a mimeographed monthly newsletter to keep the newly formed Episcopal Hunger Network updated on relevant resources and events.  It evolved to a print publication sent out to many.  In the late 1990s we began publishing it both in print and on-line and then began web-only publication in 2001.  Its readership has increased to over one million people per year since 2011.

WHES is now in transition to a new generation of leadership (as well as supporters and readers).   We just had a farewell lunch for Board member Linda Worthington, who has been associated with WHES for over 30 years.  We are working to make this transition successful.

My great thanks to those who have read Hunger Notes  and tried to understand the complicated but very important question of why people are hungry, and who take action against hunger based in part at least on that knowledge. It is certainly what has made my effort worthwhile.