A World Beyond Hunger
Related Scripture: Luke 3:11
Hunger By the Numbers
- 828 million people around the world were affected by hunger in 2021.
- 3 billion people in the world had moderately or severely food insecure in 2021.
- 9% of women in the world had moderately or severely food insecure, compared to 27.6% of men.
- Almost 3.1 billion people could not afford a healthy diet in 2020.
- It is estimated that 45 million children under the age of five suffer from malnutrition, the deadliest form called wasting.
- 149 million children under the age of five had stunted growth and development due to a chronic lack of essential nutrients in their diets.
- There is enough food in the world for everyone to have 2,800 calories a day.
These are some very disturbing numbers to read. They are so big it is difficult to fully comprehend them or wrap our brains around them. What makes them more disturbing is that these incredibly large numbers represent people, real people all around our world who are lacking the food they need to survive. It seems incomprehensible in a world so advanced to have so many people struggling to find food. And yet millions and millions of men, women and children around the world are hungry.
What Can We Do?
- Know how the food you eat and have in your pantry gets there.
Spend some time researching where your food comes from and if it finds your way to you through ethical means. If you are doing this as a project in your women’s ministry group, go through the corps food pantry and discover where things are made, how it was made, how it got to you. If it is not by ethical or environmentally friendly means, research alternatives and ensure that next time you go food shopping you buy the alternative.
- Reduce your food waste.
We have talked already about the fact that the world produces enough food to feed all the people who live in it. So realistically this should mean that no-one going to bed hungry, yet they are. People are going hungry while others are wasting food. In fact, one third of all the food produced (over 1.1 billion tons) is never consumed. Don’t be discouraged because there is something you can do. Make your own compost or create a corps compost. We always have plenty of waste after those big corps and community dinners and so a compost could be a great way to use the leftovers and a great service project for your women.
- Take food directly to those who need it.
More than 1 in 7 households in the USA are food insecure, and 3.9 million homes have children in them who are food insecure. This means many children are going to school without breakfast and lunch. To serve those children, have the women’s ministry sponsor and volunteer at a free breakfast program at your local school or offer to provide free lunch for children during the school holidays. This will make such a difference in these children’s lives and in the way they are able to learn and function at school.
- Organize a local food drive for your corps food pantry.
There is never enough food stored in your corps food pantry and it can always do with more food. Ask the women to organize a food drive. Set the date, recruit volunteers, get the word out and make it happen. What a blessing it will be to those in your community who are in desperate need of this food. Try and encourage people to donate healthy food, fruits and vegetables and food that has nutritious value. People who use our food banks shouldn’t have to get the food that others don’t want.
Enough Food for Everyone
As Christians and as people who love the Lord, that people are going hungry should bother us. It should upset us; it should anger us, and it should cause us to want to act upon this injustice. Food insecurity is an issue of fairness. It is not fair that people around this world and in this country are going without food, when there is enough food for everyone to be fed. I believe this is something that God cares about. Luke 3:11 challenges us with these words “John answered, ‘Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same’” (NIV). These words seem so simple, give food to those who have none, yet we all know it is not that easy. It’s not just a matter of giving someone a plate of food (although at times that might be the answer). World hunger is complicated and complex with multiple causes and there is no way you as an individual can solve it, but there are small things you can do. The more small things you do, and the more you encourage others to do the same, the greater the difference we will make.
Julie Clawson in the concluding chapter of her book “Everyday Justice” challenges readers to seek justice in everything that they do because that is the example that Christ has set for us through His love for us. She also challenges the readers to not seek justice alone, but instead to gather a community of people who can seek justice together. Tackling the issue of food insecurity is a way that the women’s ministry group can seek justice together and more importantly seek Jesus together. Jesus cares about issues of injustice and when His people are not being treated fairly or justly, He is grieved. When we tackle this issue of hunger, we are caring about the things that Jesus cares about. You might not be able to give every person in the world a plate of food, but you can start by serving one person and that is enough in His eyes.
Resources:
