Help End the Global Food Crisis
28,698 signatures toward our 50,000 Goal
Sponsor: The Hunger Site
It's time to change the way we look at food production and distribution. Support an inalienable right to food for all humans!
The world produces enough food to feed all 7.5 billion people, yet 1 in 9 people around the world go hungry each day1. As you read this, an estimated 793 million people worldwide are undernourished2.
The coronavirus pandemic worsened hunger around the world. National lockdowns and social distancing measures are drying up work and incomes, and are likely to disrupt agricultural production and supply routes, leaving millions to worry how they will get enough to eat3.
At least 135 million people had been facing acute food shortages before the pandemic, a number which nearly doubled in 20204.
This global hunger crisis was prompted several factors, including losses in income for millions who were already living in poverty; a collapse in oil prices; widespread shortages of hard currency from tourism drying up; overseas workers not having earnings to send home; and ongoing problems like climate change, violence, population dislocations and humanitarian disasters3.
An estimated 368 million children have lost the nutritious meals and snacks they normally receive in school5. Meanwhile, protests and looting are breaking out in impoverished communities from Honduras to South Africa to India3.
"The Right to Food" means that it is not enough for food prices to come down and food production to rise. An increase in food production must also benefit the world's poor and vulnerable populations. It must be environmentally sustainable and conceptually far-reaching; The Global Humanitarian Forum estimates that 45 million people are suffering from hunger due to climate change. And it must allow communities to do for themselves what no outside force has been able to do for them: to lift its members out of poverty and create a society that is self-sufficient and strong.
Ask the U.S. President and U.N. Secretary-General recognize "The Right to Food" and help end the Global Food Crisis forever. Sign the petition below and tell a friend.
- Concern Worldwide US (27 May 2019), "The Top 10 Causes Of World Hunger."
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2017), "Global dimensions of food security and nutrition."
- Abdi Latif Dahir, New York Times (22 April 2020), "'Instead of Coronavirus, the Hunger Will Kill Us.' A Global Food Crisis Looms."
- Food Security Information Network (2020), "2020 Global Report on Food Crises."
- World Food Programme (2020), "Global Monitoring of School Meals During COVID-19 School Closures."
The Petition:
Dear United States President, and U.N. Secretary-General:
In spite of international attempts to resolve hunger by subsidizing the production of food in greater quantity, it remains a global problem. The World Food Programme estimates that one of every seven people is going hungry, and that has only worsened since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Global Humanitarian Forum meanwhile estimates that roughly 45 million people currently affected by chronic hunger are suffering due to climate change -- a number expected to double in the next 20 years.
Increasing agricultural production must go hand in hand with increasing the incomes of the poorest, particularly small-scale farmers, and switching to modes of production which do not contribute to climate change.
We must change the way we look at food production and distribution. To support an inalienable right to food, we ask that investments in agriculture such as farming subsidies be made in a thoughtful manner to best benefit those vulnerable to poverty and hunger. These efforts should not only provide more food, they should also create economically sustainable communities in which food production and distribution play an integral role. We ask that these investments be environmentally as well as socially responsible, supporting and rewarding environmentally sustainable practices.
We call upon you, as representatives of our national and international community, to take action to establish "The Right to Food" as an inalienable human right and an immediate political priority.
Sincerely,
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