Global Food Crisis Threatens Us All

As I'm eating lunch at my desk (earlier in the week on Wednesday I think) I'm catching up on some e-mail, then taking a break from the computer and looking over a magazine. Strange how seldom I read that stack on the desk like I should! As I thumb through them I notice an article in the Fall 2008 "Service" published by Church World Service.

That article that almost makes me drop my sandwich is "Food Crisis Threatens a Generation."

Strong words!

I immediately check my memory to see if I'd heard anything about this on TV news or read anything in popular newspapers. Hmm, seems like everything has been about Olympics, politics, college football, and the weather.

While I have recently whined about rising gas prices, the worldwide effects have doubled food costs for even basic staples. Of course, the working poor and those who barely survive each day throughout the world are most profoundly impacted. Experts are calling this the worst food crisis in 30 years. Rising food prices could push an addition 100 million people into poverty.

I quite eating with some quotes from UNICEF & the World Food Program:

• a child dies of hunger every five seconds
• one in four children in developing countries is underweight

Learn more about the crisis and about ways to take action at http://www.churchworldservice.org/pdf_files/foodcrisisfactsheet.pdf