April 23, 2001
EDITORIAL:
Simple steps can cut world hunger
___Here's a statistic with meat on it: For less than what Americans spend in a single year on videotapes, jewelry and liquor, the United States could help cut in half the number of people around the globe who will suffer from hunger during the next 20 years.
___That's the latest projection from Bread for the World, a non-partisan, grassroots Christian citizens' movement against hunger.
___Every year, Americans spend $7 billion on videotape rentals, $20 billion on jewelry and $24 billion on alcohol, according to "Foreign Aid to End Hunger," the organization's new resource.
___For less than 2 percent of that total--$1 billion a year--U.S. foreign aid could help remove about 512 million people from among the 800 million people worldwide who suffer from hunger, the booklet estimates. It suggests that for every U.S. dollar allocated to eradicate world hunger, the international community will provide $3 in matching funds.
___Allocating $1 billion to end hunger might sound like a fairy tale during this season of tax cuts and federal budget reductions. But the politicians might view the situation differently if they knew what Americans think.
___First, Americans grossly over-estimate how much the government spends on foreign aid, the Bread for the World report notes. A poll conducted by the Program on International Policy Attitudes found most U.S. citizens believe 20 percent of the federal budget goes to foreign aid. Actually, the amount is less than 1 percent. Also, most people wrongly believe foreign aid goes to foreign governments, when actually it primarily is channeled to relief organizations that distribute the aid to the people.
___Second, even with those misunderstandings, Americans are generous and want to help others. The poll revealed that 83 percent of Americans believe the U.S. government should join with other countries in "a joint plan for cutting world hunger in half by the year 2015."
___Despite progress made during the past three decades, the needs remain mind-numbing: In South Asia, 500 million people live on less than $1 per day, and half the children are underweight. In North Africa and the Near East, 36 million residents are chronically hungry. In sub-Saharan Africa, south of the Sahara Desert, one-third of the population is undernourished, and 291 million people live on less than $1 a day. In South and Central America, 30 percent of the population suffers from hunger. And even in the United States, nearly 31 million people are "food insecure," forced to skip meals to pay for rent or to visit emergency food banks each month.
___This appeals to the heart, but Bread for the World appeals also to the head. It advocates wise use of foreign aid to enable developing countries to, in time, feed their own people and even become partners in eliminating hunger elsewhere. For example, the organization advocates U.S. aid to Africa be directed to (1) invest in agriculture, "the surest way to end hunger in the long term"; (2) build good roads and infrastructure for food distribution and economic development; (3) enroll more children in school; (4) "empower and educate" African women, providing a huge impact on families; (5) prevent and treat a range of infectious diseases, which currently drain scarce resources; (6) develop home-based businesses to lift people from poverty; (7) continue debt relief.
___Despite a climate of budget-cutting, Congress needs to allocate foreign-aid funds to help eliminate world hunger. As you write your senators and representative: Appeal to their Judeo-Christian instincts; the Old Testament instructs care for the disadvantaged, and Jesus admonishes care for "the least of these." Appeal to their political savvy; tell them about the poll that says 83 percent of Americans favor this. Appeal to the bottom line; countries that get past poverty and hunger can become good trade partners.
___But let us not ask our lawmakers to do more than we will do ourselves. Remember how much Americans spend on videotapes, jewelry and liquor. For Baptists, let's substitute soft drinks for liquor. What would happen if Texas Baptists matched the amount of money we spend in a year on videos, jewelry and soda pop? For every dollar each of us spends on those, let's set aside a dollar for the Texas Baptist World Hunger Offering. (If you're getting married this year, spread the cost of those rings over five years.) "To whom much has been given, much is required." We can do this. And we can do a world of good, in Jesus' name.
___ Marv Knox
E-mail the editor at marvknox@baptiststandard.com
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