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Hunger x Half: Do You Want to Eradicate Hunger?

Augustinian Justice and Peace Promoters from around the world, assembled in Rome (June, 2005), endorsed continuing the Augustinian Hunger Campaign to help achieve the first Millennium Development Goal (Opens new window) (M.D.G.) of reducing by half by 2015 the number of people who go hungry. We offer the following to help you learn more about hunger.

Our Starting Point

Our starting point is derived from our basic beliefs: “God so loved the world . . . (--John 3:16) God loves this world, here and now, not some ideal world either of the future or of the past.

Hunger Facts

Here are some facts about hunger:

• Population of the 50 developed countries is 900 million, less that one-sixth of the world’s total population.

• Population of the developing world, with access to fewer goods and services, is 5 billion.

• More than 1.2 billion live below the international poverty line, are undernourished, with stunted growth, slowed thinking, sapped energy.

• Lack of food erodes relationships and self-esteem. Those needing support most are often too ashamed to seek it.

• Poor families spend 70 per cent of their income for food. In the developed world, the average is 10 per cent.

• In the U.S., 13 per cent of the citizens (30 million) are hungry.

• Every year 10 million people die of hunger. Of these, 6 million are children under the age of 5.

• Every day, 25,000 people die of hunger. Every five seconds, one person dies of hunger.

• The world produces enough food to feed 120 per cent of the population.

• Economic and political decisions prevent access to sufficient food by one-third of the world’s population.

What is Hunger?

Most of us have never truly been hungry. Some definitions and descriptions of “hunger”:

• The necessary urge to eat.

• A constant companion to many, as a ceaseless discomfort, weakness and pain.

• A dietary intake that does not provide the kind and quantity of food needed for growth, activity, and good health.

• Food deprivation: not a voluntary condition, but rather the result of policies, programs, priorities, and/or politics that deprive persons of needed food.

• A sin.

What Causes Hunger?

There are many causes of hunger. For example:

• Poverty: Not enough money to buy enough food; Unequal distribution of income. (Think of how much famous entertainers and professional athletes are paid.)

• Transportation: No way to get to where food is, or to get food to where hungry people are.

• Disasters: Drought, insects, floods, war.

• Lack of Resources: No land, no seeds, no proper tools, inadequate understanding of balanced nutrition.

• Manipulation: Political rulers make food available to reward support or withhold food to punish opposition.

What Our Faith Says

• I want you to share your bread with the hungry, shelter the homeless poor, remove the yoke of injustice, and let the oppressed go free. -- Isaiah 58:6-7

• If your brothers and sisters have nothing to wear and no food for the day, and you say to them, “Good-bye and good luck! Keep warm and well-fed,” but do not meet their bodily needs, what good is that? -- James 2:15-17

• For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me drink; I was a stranger, and you invited me in; naked, and you clothed me; sick, and you took care of me; in prison, and you came to visit me. -- Matthew 25:35-36

Some possibilities to consider:

• Alleviate: Help feed the hungry, meet their pressing needs through charity (a Christian obligation).

• Reduce: Lower the number of hungry persons, but not the intensity of hunger, through economic development (also very important).

• Eradicate: Eliminate the causes of hunger by changing the structures of society so that hunger disappears (also necessary).

Let’s make a parallel, comparing hunger with other sins, like burglary.

• Alleviate: Comfort victims of burglary. Help them to replace what was stolen, but do not confront the burglar.

• Reduce: Pass laws, increase Police patrols, install better locks and security doors.

• Eradicate: Organize neighbors to make their neighborhood stronger through improved communication and cooperation. Promote a sense of community responsibility. Look out for each other. Work to solve problems of unemployment, undereducation, drug abuse, poor motivation, and other factors that contribute to choosing a career in burglary.

What Can We Do to Eradicate Hunger?

What concretely can we do to eradicate hunger? Some things are:

• Learn about hunger in your neighborhood, and what life is like for the hungry people living near you.

• Volunteer to work in a soup kitchen or homeless shelter.

• Raise awareness of hunger issues in your family, neighborhood, workplace, church and/or school.

• Write or telephone your elected officials, telling them about your concerns for the hungry.

• Promote knowledge and support of the Millennium Development Goals (Opens new window) (one of which is cutting hunger in half).

• Advocate political action to change policies and help create enabling governments.

The Gospel of Jesus and traditional Catholic moral teaching direct us to feed the hungry. The Catholic Church, through Catholic Relief Services (CARITAS), Catholic Charities, the St. Vincent de Paul Society and other organizations, labors heroically to combat hunger. Church organizations have made the Millennium Development Goals (Opens new window) a top priority.

Augustinians from around the world have reiterated our commitment to achieve Millennium Development Goal Number 1: To reduce by half by 2015 the number of those who are hungry. We invite and encourage you to be a part of our Augustinian Hunger Campaign.

Be Part of the Augustinian Hunger Campaign

Find out more about the Augustinian Hunger Campaign and how you can help to cut hunger in half.

      » Be a part of the Augustinian Hunger Campaign
             Actions you can take to help eradicate hunger