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World hunger is a major problem faced today. It eats up those who have nothing to eat. It destroys those who have nothing to destroy in their desparate despair. It taunts those who can almost taste food with their tongues, but quickly realize the mirage. It is a concern to many, but others don't even know or want to know about it. Some know of it, but don't know how to help, or don't bother.
There are thousands of people starving for a single grain of rice at this very minute, digging through garbage cans for food, eating tree roots and plants, and other things we wouldn't even think about eating just to stay alive. At the same time, there are people throwing away incredible amounts of food just because they don't want to eat the same thing they had yesterday. They throw away a bruised apple, a loaf of bread with a little spot of mold in a corner because it was not eaten, and vegetable peels, without even thinking about it. Hospitals and other food companies throw away huge amounts of food. They are ignorant to the fact that some little child in Africa or Asia dreams to have even a taste of a bread crumb, whether moldy or not. 1% of the world's richest people make 57 times what 1% of the poorest people make every day.
75% of the world's population lives in poor countries, with only 16% of the world's income. What might surprise you, is that 305,047 children in Canada came to the food bank in March 2002, and in the U.S., 4 million people under 12 suffer from hunger each year.
War, famines, drought, poverty - all cause lack of food. Because of these, 24,000 souls are lost every day - three-quarters children. Every year, another holocost equivelent ends and begins - 6,000,000 children die of starvation. Some children who face hunger become mentally retarded, and do significantly poorer in school. Many Africans planted tabacco in their fields to make some money by selling it, but once the tabacco was there, the land it fed on became dead. They could not grow anything there except tabacco for a long time.
But we can help! There is enough food in the world for everyone, but most people in poor countries don't have enough land to farm on. If we could just share a little more, it would go a long way. With 1,200,000,000 people making $1 or less each day, another $1 could save a few more lives for one more day. There are some sites, like the Hunger Site, which are sponsered to let people give free food with just a click of a mouse. If you go to the Hunger Site (see link below), click on the button there everyday for free, and each click gives 1.1 cup of staple food to the needy. We can make a difference! If we all work a little harder, and instead of feeding, fostering, and spending millions of dollars on little abandoned kittens and puppies (not condemning programs or people who do so), and start feeding, fostering, and spending millions of dollars on the needy people (after all, aren't people more precious and worth more than kittens?), we would see great results. I hope you will start trying to do something about this, even if it is just clicking once a day at the Hunger Site. Thanks for reading this paper.
bravenet.com