Farmers right here in America contribute more to fighting world hunger than they might realize.
The World Food Program says that we are experiencing a hunger crisis like we have not seen since World War II with 350 million people across nearly 80 countries facing hunger. The group has 26,000 employees around the world to move food where it needs to be, calling themselves “The World’s Safety Net” when it comes to fighting hunger.
Leaders there say that American farmers and their commodities play a big role in that fight.
According to Chase Sova, “These are people who don’t know where the next meal is going to come from. We’ve got a million people who are facing famine right now in about five or six different countries around the world, so the hot spots are many. If you’re reading about them in the news, chances are there’s a hunger hot spot associated with them. So, the Syria’s around the world, Yemen, northeast Nigeria, and the Horn of Africa right now is in a five-year drought. In just over the the past ten years through the food assistance programs, in the United States, we’ve purchased about 10 million metric tons of grains and other commodities that are used in food aid programs, and it’s reached over 300 million people around the world, and that’s just in the last ten years. All of this comes from the American heartland. It comes from farms. Frankly, it’s something that the American farmer, I think, should be proud of. You’re serving an important role. It’s a win-win for American farmers who are finding markets for their products but also helping alleviate some of the worst hunger emergencies on the planet. So, these commodities are still a big part of the U.S. food aid portfolio and a very important one.”
As of 2021, USDA shows more than 10 percent of American households were food insecure which comes out to nearly 34 million people.
