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Dakoda Charles Lipke

Professor Watkins

Monday, Wednesday, Friday 11:30

20 February 2017

Food Should Not be a Complication

All over the world, there are billions of people going to bed hungry every night. Yet why

dont we do anything about this issue that keeps increasing every year? These rising elements

keep hindering us from reaching our true potential in stopping the fight against world hunger.

There are many complicated solutions to end world hunger. I believe that there is hope in the

world where we can come together, not only in communities and in social environments but also

in a global standpoint, to overcome the statistics of starvation in the world. If we come together,

the collaboration may bring forth new ideas and new ways to go about ending hunger

everywhere.

Coupled with bringing together new ideas, the United Nations at the World Food

Summits discussed various ways to cut the world hunger ratio in half. They discuss the benefits

of creating an environment that aids in decreasing the rate of humans going to bed hungry on a

daily basis. The United Nations also indicated that many contributions to the hungry world that

we live in are due to, either living in poverty or right above the poverty line. This could easily be

solved by conserving our food and limiting the waste. America is one of the most wasteful

countries. We throw away scraps when they could be used to feed the homeless, and our grocery

stores throw out food right when it hits the expiration date. This waste happens even though the

expiration dates are there for stores to help rotate food product in a better fashion (McColl).
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Not only is the issue about food waste present but also being malnourished.

Malnourishment occurs when the human body doesnt receive the right quantity of food needed

to keep the body and mind functioning properly. This not only occurs in third world countries

but also in the first world countries as well. A person is more likely to be malnourished if they

are of a low-income household or nation, have little to no power inside the home, have

increasing food costs, and have substandard farming land. This not only influences the body, but

its also mentally exhausting as well. Along with humans being malnourished, it comes with the

territory of being highly susceptible to diseases that rob people of nutrients that they need daily

(Sanchez et al. 357).

In order for us to sustain health and keep our bodies running at their peaks, we need to

consume a consistent form of nourishment. Whether good or bad, our bodies need to be able to

burn food to produce energy. We already produce more than enough food to feed everyone on

the planet, though most of farmers crops are going to biofuels and animals that are being

confined then slaughtered only to be sold in stores at top dollar. If these events keep reoccurring,

not only are we putting more humans below the poverty line, but also, its clear as day that we

are putting food production over the health of humans. Adding chemicals to our crops that may

help them manufacture more quickly only adds more stress to on trying to benefit those that are

malnourished. Although manufactures are producing a large amount of food more efficiently,

companies are the only ones that see the revenue of the products sold. Were still not doing

anything about the people that are going to bed hungry every night. Letting our future children

go to bed underfed displays the truth about us as a society and a nation (Holt-Gimnez 595).

Additionally, letting our children go to bed hungry is unacceptable. We already have the

resources and the technology to resolve this issue. What we know now is that every ten seconds
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we lose a child to hunger (Sheeran). This indicates that if children dont get the right amount of

nourishment while they are in the early stages of life, it can have devastating effects. Food is

essential for everything, and if we take that factor out, it turns into a snowball effect. Losing

body weight, muscles, bone density, and many other elements that make us prone to diseases and

a higher risk of death. Its difficult to globally provide food to not only children, but also to

people who need it because of food prices. Prices are constantly increasing, which makes it

difficult for most people to support themselves, especially when they are living paycheck to

paycheck (Sheeran).

Equally important, we all need to stand together and let our voices be heard for those that

cant speak because they are too hungry. We need to fight for our right to eat and get the

nutrients we need. This is our life that were living and we dont want to spend our days

wallowing in hunger. As Josette Sheeran uses a childs red cup to remind herself of how simple

it is to solve hunger. This red cup comes from Rwanda from a child named Fabian. And I carry

this around as a symbol, really, of the challenge and also the hope. Because one cup of food a

day changes Fabian's life completely, as she stated in the video, Ending Hunger Now.

As society moves forward, we can guarantee that large businesses and food companies

are doing everything they can to help prevent people all over the world from going hungry. As

human beings, we are joining together on a global basis and letting our voices be heard. Through

actions such as, conserving food through a variety of ways, using medication to reduce the

effects of malnourishment, and even having better farming techniques. These solutions will

improve the otherwise tragically short lifespan of many humans, and help provide the nutritional

diet our bodies crave. Conclusively, this will help with the development of our brains and help
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society move forward. In doing so, let this not only happen in our backyards, but also bring it to

our communities, to our cities, to our state, to our nation, and then to this planet we call home.
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Works Cited

Holt-Gimnez, Eric, et al. We Already Grow Enough Food for 10 Billion People and Still

Can't End Hunger. Journal of Sustainable Agriculture, vol. 36, no. 6, July 2012, pp.

595598., doi:10.1080/10440046.2012.695331. Accessed 17 Feb. 2017.

McColl, Sarah. Here's How We Can End Global Hunger in 15 Years. TakePart, Participant

Media, 7 Aug. 2015, www.takepart.com/article/2015/08/07/ending-global-hunger .

Accessed 17 Feb. 2017.

Sanchez, Pedro and Swaminathan, M.S. Cutting World Hunger in Half. Sciencemag, 307,

5708, 357-359. Science, www.science.sciencemag.org . Accessed 17 Feb. 2017

Sheeran, Josette. Ending hunger now. Josette Sheeran: Ending hunger now | TED Talk |

TED.Com, TED Talks, July 2011,

www.ted.com/talks/josette_sheeran_ending_hunger_now#t-337347 . Accessed 17 Feb.

2017.