Fighting World Hunger With Words from History

Introduction

Bring the past, only if you're going to build from it

Doménico Cieri Estrada

Welcome to the latest book in my series on global hunger. This edition features articles I wrote from 2009-2012, but with a historical twist. The stories take you back in time showcasing the history of fighting hunger, a chance to see how the past can influence the present. You can see the words and actions of leaders and also citizens who fought hunger during our history.

Other articles talk about priorities, like how costly nuclear weapons are connected to the global hunger crisis. Some stories follow up on school feeding programs featured in my 2009 book Ending World Hunger.

My mother helped edit and proofread this book during the summer of 2012. She was terminally ill with lung and brain cancer but wanted to work on this project. She was an expert proofreader, with experience working for the Navy and other government agencies. My previous books were proofread by her as well. This book definitely is dedicated to Mom.

William Lambers

Table of Contents

Introduction

The Czar Obama Needs

Food Can Write the Peace in Afghanistan

President Obama, Global Hunger, and the Christmas Before the Marshall Plan

Do Not Let School Feeding Programs Fade Away

Hunger, Terrorism and National Security

Lack of Funding for School Feeding In Yemen Not a Sound Strategy for Peace

Feed the Invisible Guest at Your Table, Help Fund Food Relief for Haiti

Everyone Can Be a Food Ambassador For Haiti

An Interview with Eliane da Conceicao of Catholic Relief Services in Sierra Leone.

Saving Haiti from Hunger and Desperation

Hunger the Worst Enemy of Peace in Yemen

Resolution in Congress Calls for Disarming Nukes and Fighting Child Hunger.

Afghanistan, Iraq and Ending Child Hunger

School Feeding Brings a Ray of Hope for Haiti

Global Hunger Fight Missing White House Coordinator

Jennifer Mizgata of the UN World Food Programme on Hunger in Yemen

Key Duo for Ending World Hunger: School Feeding and Local Food Production

Strengthen School Lunch Program During Tough Economic Times.

It Was the Greatest Mission Ever Flown

International Women's Day and the Search for Opportunity, Education and Acceptance

Hunger, Conflict, and the Suffering of Women in Yemen

A Child's Letter and the Struggle to End Global Hunger

Congress Needs to Support the Roadmap to End Global Hunger

Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride and the Struggle to End Global Hunger

U.S. Foreign Policy At Its Best When Fighting Child Hunger

The Double Global Zero Campaign

Feeding Stomachs, and Minds, in Sri Lanka

What Interim Aid Meant Yesterday and What It Can Mean Today

School Feeding in Mauritania the Latest Victim of Global Hunger Crisis

The Media Can Play a Role in Fighting Global Hunger

An Update on School Feeding in Benin

Obama's Policy Toward Yemen is Failing on Food

School Feeding in Ghana A Model for Obama's Food Security Initiative

Secretary Clinton Calls for Action to Fight Child Hunger and Malnutrition

A Food Ambassador For All Seasons

Remembering Hoover's Child Feeding Message

Stopping the Hunger and Despair in Yemen

Marine Mission Highlights Overlooked Key to Peace in Afghanistan

U.S. Marine Takes the Lead on School Feeding in Liberia

Obama's Feed the Future Should Include Food for Education in Yemen

A Cup of UNICEF Can Change the World

Food with Education is the Key to Afghanistan's Future

When You Feed a Child, You Feed the Future

Yemen Needs Its Own Roadmap to End Hunger

Food For Education Is The Great Hope For Yemen

Help Rhode Island Company Save Children From Deadly Malnutrition

President Roosevelt's Third Freedom and Global Child Feeding

Al Qaeda, War, Hunger, and Poverty

Fight Hunger, Build Peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Withdrawal of Humanitarian Aid in Iraq

The School Lunch and National Security

The Hunger and Malnutrition Threat in Pakistan

Action Against Hunger in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Be Like Ike: Support School Feeding at Home and Abroad

School Feeding Tackles Hunger, Poverty, and Drought in Kenya

The Aflac Duck and the Global Hunger Crisis

Urgent International Response Needed for Food Crisis in Pakistan

Against Hunger, Poverty, Desperation and Chaos in Yemen

School Feeding in Tajikistan at a Crossroads

Support Small Farms from USA to Haiti and Pakistan

We Should Do Everything Within Our Power to Feed Pakistan

Feed Those Displaced by the War in Yemen

Global Child Feeding is the Key to the Millennium Development Goals

Cincinnati An Example for School Feeding

Obama's MDG Speech Will Test Yemen Policy

Senate Urged to Increase McGovern-Dole Funding

CRS Continues School Meals for Peace Tradition in Sudan

Remembering World War One Legacy When Fighting Global Hunger.

Fighting Global Hunger in the Classroom

Pakistani Children Facing Severe Malnutrition

Food and Hope for Street Children in Afghanistan

Secretary of War Highlights Key to Peace

Interview: Stacey Rice of Mercy Corps in Uganda

Halloween: Trick or Treat or Plumpy'nut

U.S. and Allies Ignoring Child Hunger Crisis in Yemen

Interview: Oxfam's Megan Whitacre on Supporting the Global Food Security Act

Senate: Ratify START Treaty and Fight Global Hunger

Benin Floods: What You See Here is Suffering

General Marshall and the American Tradition of Help

Historical View: Remembering Duluth’s Generosity and Winning the Peace Today

Take in a Silent Guest This Thanksgiving

Free Rice to Feed the Hungry on Thanksgiving

Food Aid Is About Three Things: Efficiency, Efficiency, Efficiency

Malnourished Children in Yemen Need Plumpy'nut

A Christmas Miracle and a Gift for the World's Children

Bringing Democrats and Republicans Together over Food

Food Can Bind All Nations in Goal of Peace

From Italy: The Fill the Cup Campaign to End Hunger

The Protests in Egypt and High Food Prices

Like Egypt, Yemen Suffers from High Food Prices

Got Milk? Haiti's Farmers and Now Schools Do

Egypt Again Shines Spotlight on Global Food Crisis

Join fight against child hunger here and abroad

The Great Russian Famine of 1921: When America Heard the Pleas of the Sick and Starving

Public Diplomacy Done Right with School Meals

A Treasure for Somali Children: School Meals

A Barn Owl, the Mothman Legend, and Global Hunger Relief

Yemen: When a CARE Package Brings Education and Hope

A Tale of Two Mother's Days: Afghanistan and Norway

The Sound of Music and the Cruel Enemy of Hunger

When Going Krogering Meant Fighting World Hunger

Old Soldiers Never Die; They Just Fade Away....and Fight Global Hunger

Transformational Leadership in Tackling Global Hunger Crisis

Catholic Relief Services team discusses Pakistan Flood Recovery

The Fast Gathering Storm of Hunger

Interview: Robert Zachritz of World Vision on Budget Cuts to Food Aid

Interview: Nora O'Connell of Save the Children

Hear the Pleas of the Sick and Starving in East Africa

Same Planet, Two Different Worlds

The Korean War: Humanitarian Heroes Fighting Hunger

Famine Strikes Again. Will America Respond?

East Africa Famine: An Interview with Laura Sheahen and Sara A. Fajardo of Catholic Relief Services

Interview: Catholic Relief Services in Afghanistan

Somali Child: I Just Want to Go to School Again

Post-Conflict Ivory Coast: An Interview with Annie Bodmer-Roy of Save the Children

Twitter, Facebook and Fighting Global Hunger

Thoughts On Norway and the Famine in Somalia

College Class Takes on Hunger and Poverty at Home and Abroad

Food for Peace, CRS Working to Feed the Hungry in East Africa

Interview: Kate O’Malley of Irish Americans in Support of Somalia

National School Lunch Week: A Call to Action

Plumpy'nut: A Modern-Day CARE Package

Interview: Para Hunzai of the World Food Programme in Cambodia

A School Lunch Hero for Disabled Children

Armistice Day, World Peace, and Feeding the Hungry

She Wanted to Mourn, But Chose to Save A Life

Interview: Alain Homsy of the Norwegian Refugee Council in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Spirit of 1947: This Thanksgiving Feed a Silent Guest and Build World Peace

Abraham Lincoln and the Fight Against Global Hunger

Singing Telegrams, Congress and Food Aid

When Santa, Rudolph, and Eisenhower Took on Global Hunger

This Christmas Feed a Silent Guest and End World Hunger

Remembering the Horn of Africa this Holiday Season

Interview: Geert Cappelaere of UNICEF on the Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen

Interview: Rajia Sharhan of UNICEF Yemen

Today’s School Feeding Programs Grew Out of the Penny Lunch Tradition of a Century Ago

Obama, Romney, Clooney, and an Invisible Guest

The Czar Obama Needs

October 22, 2009 Blogcritics

This past weekend at Books By the Bank Festival in Cincinnati, I talked to a number of people about the Roadmap to End Global Hunger, a bill in Congress that would create a White House office on global hunger. A special advisor to President Obama would be appointed to coordinate the U.S. response to the hunger crisis now impacting over 1 billion people. As Rep. Jim McGovern says, we are trying to put global hunger on the top of the administration’s agenda.

The reaction to the Roadmap at the festival was very positive. A number of people planned to use a flyer that I provided to contact their Representative about supporting the bill (H.R. 2817). People want to see the President and the Congress pay more attention to global hunger. I also heard from people who are wary of the focus on military solutions to conflicts in different areas. More emphasis needs to be placed on ending hunger and promoting development. Afghanistan was mentioned in this regard a number of times. 

One comment I heard, more than once, was that the Roadmap bill would create another czar for President Obama. He has been criticized for having so many czars in the White House. But people I spoke with on Saturday agreed that a hunger czar is one he would need. One theme that was persistent throughout the day was that fighting global hunger has to be a priority among world leaders. 

Josette Sheeran, head of the World Food Programme, said earlier this year that fighting hunger has to be the business of world leaders. If President Obama and other leaders are not focused on hunger, the problem is not going to be solved, despite the valiant efforts of so many people. That is why the Roadmap to End Global Hunger legislation is so important. It would put hunger at the top of the administration's agenda and create the kind of coordination needed to improve national response.

It would also help improve the global response. When Herbert Hoover served as a food ambassador in 1946, he gained the cooperation of governments to build the food supply so desperately needed at that time in war-torn Europe and Asia. President Truman’s Cabinet Committee on World Food Programs carried out the same role during the critical period of 1947-1948. Without food, the famous Marshall Plan that helped rebuild Europe could never have succeeded.

It was refreshing to hear people talk about outreach efforts in their communities to tackle global hunger and poverty. I heard of a couple of churches that had campaigns to stop world hunger. Hopefully every church has at least some program in place that deals with global hunger. A grade school student who stopped by my table was very knowledgeable about hunger issues. She and her school had apparently taken part in a program with World Vision. Her parents were very proud.

Other people were eager to get started. A teacher in training talked about getting her class involved. I think people want to work to end hunger, but do not always know how. When a crisis such as hunger is far away and out of sight, it’s difficult to focus on the issue. Also, there is not much media coverage to remind people what is happening in distant lands.

I mentioned to one person how a cable TV news channel placed a statistic in one of its crawlers that over one billion people worldwide are hungry, while on the main screen ran excessive coverage of the boy in the balloon story, even though at that moment the story was thought to be resolved. Of course, later we learned it was a hoax. Even the highest number of hungry people in history could not make it to the cable news main screen.

One lawyer mentioned to me not having enough time to do anything substantive to help fight world hunger. I replied that even a quick call or e-mail to a representative supporting the Roadmap to End Global Hunger can make a big difference. It was interesting that when I brought up this issue, which involves politics, the President, and Congress, there was not one instance of people making partisan remarks. I don't think the words Democrat, Republican, liberal or conservative were even mentioned during six hours of the event.

Food Can Write the Peace in Afghanistan

December 2, 2009 Blogcritics

During World War II, Agriculture Secretary Claude Wickard said, food will win the war and write the peace. This old adage is wisely being applied toward the war in Afghanistan.

The U.S. Army is sending teams to help train Afghan farmers in the latest agricultural techniques for increasing production of food. In a country where drought is a routine enemy, the farmers are also learning to grow crops that are more drought-resistant. The Nebraska National Guard has supplied grain storage bins in Kapisa Province, according to 1st Lt. Lory Stevens. This is critical so farmers can better preserve the food they are able to grow. 

By introducing alternative crops, farmers will move away from growing the drought-resistant poppy crop that supplies drug traffickers and finances terrorism. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates points out, Before 30 years of war, Afghanistan…had a strong agricultural sector, and in fact exported…a variety of food. Gates adds, but we have to figure out a strategy where they get the money and the seeds and the ability to sustain their families before they get rid of their poppy crop.

Food is clearly the foundation desperately needed by Afghanistan. The World Food Programme reports that nearly a third of the Afghan population is unable to get enough food to live healthy and active lives. Another 8.5 million Afghans live on the edge of this food insecurity. These statistics do not bode well for peace.

Reports of a good wheat harvest this year in Afghanistan are encouraging. A grain reserve may be in development which will guard against drought emergencies in these critical upcoming years of reconstruction. How devastating it would be for Afghanistan to suffer a drought next year, or high food prices, and not have any emergency supplies to help its people.

The international community should ensure that all Afghans have food security. A national school lunch program for all Afghan children should be implemented in the coming year. This could be done by expanding and strengthening existing school feeding being carried out by the UN World Food Programme and World Vision. 

Child feeding programs are not expensive for the U.S and its allies to fund, and they may be the most critical elements in building long-term peace. As General Dwight Eisenhower said in 1948, How can we expect children who are reduced almost to an animal life level of existence - who struggle each day for any kind of food that will keep them alive - how can we expect them in the future to be apostles of peace.

We know from our history that food and agriculture are vital for building peace. The great Marshall Plan which helped rebuild Europe after World War II was built on a foundation of food.

President Truman once remarked on the effect a food aid program had for Europeans prior to the Marshall Plan. Aside from obvious sustenance, the food gave people a symbol of hope, and this may indeed be the most powerful tool for winning the peace in Afghanistan.

President Obama, Global Hunger, and the Christmas Before the Marshall Plan

December 5, 2009 Blogcritics

As the holidays approach, President Obama and his administration see a world where more than one billion people are suffering from hunger. If you go to the State Department's food web site, you will see a detailed plan for tackling this world crisis.

The Global Hunger and Food Security Initiative document calls for a global hunger coordinator to work with President Obama. Why? The State Department explains, Coordination will be improved among U.S. government agencies through a whole-of-government strategy led by a U.S. Global Food Security Coordinator.

Save the Children, Catholic Relief Services, Friends of the World Food Program, and over 20 other charities support this idea. In fact, the concept is a key part of Roadmap to End Global Hunger legislation currently in Congress.

But so far, Congress has not moved on this legislation and President Obama has no global hunger advisor. History shows how critical it is for a food crisis to be at the top of an administration's foreign policy agenda.

For instance, what was the Truman administration working on during the holiday season of 1947? Truman's Cabinet Committee on World Food Programs was hard at work figuring out just how much food the U.S. could send overseas to Europe to feed the hungry. Europe was struggling to rebuild after World War II and the Marshall Plan, which would ultimately bring about the recovery, was still being put together.

In this critical period before the Marshall Plan, Austria, Italy, and France were in desperate need of help for the coming winter. In late 1947 an interim aid package was put together to send food and other vital supplies to these three countries. Keep in mind that other war-torn countries were also receiving aid at this time. The Cabinet Committee on Food submitted its findings to President Truman on December 26, 1947. Tens of millions of bushels of wheat would be available for the interim aid program.

We know the rest of the story. The Marshall Plan, with its foundation of food, helped to rebuild Europe from the most devastating war in history.

Today, there are new struggles for peace and food will once again play a critical role. In Afghanistan food and agriculture will be key for bringing peace to the country. In Iraq there is the need to build universal school feeding, expanding on the effort started by the UN World Food Programme. In food shortages loom in 2010 if the U.S. and the international community do not act. There are also Sudan, Ethiopia and many other nations in need of help.

But right now, no global hunger coordinator resides in the White House to tackle these difficult issues. If the Congress does not move on the Roadmap to End Global Hunger legislation, it will harm U.S. foreign policy at this critical juncture.

President Obama has pledged to fight hunger. The State Department Food Security plan is detailed and sound. But words need to be put into action.

Do Not Let School Feeding Programs Fade Away

December 8, 2009 Examiner

General Douglas MacArthur gave many orders during his career, including those as commander of American forces in the Pacific during World War II. But after the war, while in charge of the military government in Japan, MacArthur gave a lesser known, but extremely important order.

Japan was suffering from food shortages after the war. Herbert Hoover visited Japan during his 1946 trip as the food ambassador for President Truman. Hoover wrote of Japan, we were confronted with mass starvation on a gigantic scale. If order was to be preserved and wholesale death prevented, there was only one course of action possible. We must undertake huge imports from overseas... Hoover and his team set about to obtain the necessary food supplies for Japan.

A critical part of Hoover's mission was to review the status of child nutrition. Hoover recommended to MacArthur an increased emphasis on child feeding. General MacArthur immediately ordered extensive child feeding in the schools and canteens throughout Japan.

Former Food for Peace director George McGovern wrote in 1964 that the school lunch programs added inches and pounds to the average size of Japanese youth. McGovern also said that Japanese school officials have been forced to install larger desks because the children of this generation are larger than their mothers and fathers.

Child feeding programs remained a critical part of U.S. policy toward Japan into the Eisenhower years. Eisenhower received a report on Food for Peace in 1960 from its coordinator Don Paarlberg, which highlighted school feeding in Japan and also Italy. The subsequent Kennedy administration continued the program as a major part of its foreign policy.

It's important to remember how crucial child feeding programs are for reconstruction of a society. Many countries around the globe, like Japan in 1946, are recovering from conflict or natural disasters. If these countries get a helping hand to start child feeding programs, they will have one of the key ingredients for progress.

Low funding for the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is stopping school feeding programs in their tracks. In Yemen one WFP program has not seen a distribution since last June. In many other countries child feeding programs are at risk.

The United States supports school feeding programs via the McGovern-Dole Food for Education program. This initiative, although not well-funded by Congress, is one of the great American tools for building peace and prosperity around the world. McGovern-Dole should have a more prominent role in American foreign policy.

One note about MacArthur. According to Hoover, MacArthur was a great statesman and his administration of Japan after the war was outstanding. The extensive child feeding programs ordered by MacArthur were part of his great record. Hoover wrote that when MacArthur marched down their streets with his victorious army, the Japanese people turned their faces and spat at the walls, but when he marched the troops down the streets at his departure, they were in tears.

Hunger, Terrorism and National Security

January 11, 2010 Blogcritics

Look at the countries at the heart of the war against Al Qaeda: Afghanistan, Yemen, Pakistan, Iraq, and Somalia. These countries share a common struggle against yet another enemy, a foe more powerful and resilient than terrorism: hunger and poverty. 

Lack of food, water, and development do not bode well for a country resisting terrorism within its borders. Recently, Colonel Scott Anderson of the U.S. Army Reserves penned an op-ed in the Bismarck Tribune about the hunger and poverty he witnessed in Afghanistan. Anderson wrote that such conditions create a weakened state that can allow extremist ideologies to take hold. 

Another report from Captain James Smith of the South Carolina Army National Guard comments on the importance of aid programs for Afghanistan. Smith writes that a solid, unbiased development assistance plan not only improved the perception of the United States, it also helped create an environment that was less vulnerable to terrorists. 

In Afghanistan and other countries infiltrated by terror, many people struggle to obtain food each day. Children suffer the most. A simple school meal, enhancing nutrition and education, is the foundation for the future of these children and their countries.

We know from our experience following the Second World War how important school meals are for nations trying to recover from conflict. The school meal was a silent but effective part of our foreign policy at that time. President Harry Truman said in 1946, we cannot ignore the cry of hungry children… A sound world order can never be built upon a foundation of human misery.

Last year in Yemen, an Al Qaeda stronghold, the World Food Programme had to cut a school feeding program for children because of lack of funding. This program was critical because it provided rations that children could take home to help the entire family.

For this program not to be funded is a tragedy for those children, their families, and their country. It is a failure of the international community to support a food program that is a key ingredient for peace and development. 

Will similar child feeding programs be funded for Iraq and Afghanistan in 2010? Will other efforts get underway to help these countries produce more food?

It must be realized that food is not just a humanitarian issue, but one of national security. Strong states are needed to fight terrorism, not states scrapping for food for their people. If we seek to decrease the ranks of terrorism, we will find humanitarian aid a great ally.

Lack of Funding for School Feeding

In Yemen Not a Sound Strategy for Peace

January 13, 2010 Blogcritics

Yemen has received a lot of news coverage recently concerning terrorism. Not as much attention is being given to the hunger and poverty that afflict that country.

One of the interviews in my book Ending World Hunger was with Salman Omer from the World Food Programme (WFP) in Yemen. The interview was focused on the status of school feeding. In an impoverished nation like Yemen, programs aimed at fighting child hunger are crucial.

Omer explained that WFP had a program in place that gave students take-home rations. He said, A key goal of WFP's five-year country program is to support more than 114,639 schoolgirls enrolled in some 1,300 schools, in the most food-insecure areas of the country. This was important for it boosted school attendance and provided a supply of food for the entire family.

But at the time of the interview the high food prices of 2008 were affecting the program, cutting rations for many of the children in Yemen. This would not be the last hit the program would take.

In 2009, low funding for the World Food Programme forced the suspension of the take-home ration initiative entirely. So since June 2009, none of the students and their families in Yemen have been receiving the take-home rations.

Photo of school feeding participant in Yemen before lack of funding forced suspension of the program. Photo courtesy WFP/Mahdi Kalil)

According to Maria Santamarina of the World Food Programme, We are hoping to conduct a distribution now in February 2010, though both the beneficiaries and basket will be reduced for lack of funding.

Clearly, the international community has to step forward to help restart school feeding in Yemen. Not only does the take-home ration need to be restored, there is still