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Thanks to Liz Reitzig of Nourishing Liberty for posting the following note in the most recent issue of the Real Food Consumer Coalition's newsletter. This corner of the newsletter is about our small-town heroes in the local food movement. Do you have someone you’d like to highlight? Drop us a note and let us know. Today, we highlight Hiram Larew who founded Poetry X Hunger. Hunger in the U.S. and around the world is on the rise even as advocacy groups indicate that hunger is entirely preventable. “While all kinds of traditional tools – science-centered, environmentally-attuned, economically-savvy, and/or culturally appropriate – are being used to try to reduce hunger, headway in the struggle is going to require help from all quarters, including the arts,” states Larew. “That’s why I started an informal initiative called Poetry X Hunger – to enlist the help of poets in the fight against hunger.” Over the years, poetry has been used very effectively to raise awareness and concern over many social issues like homelessness, social inequity, and racial bias. But, it hasn’t been as intently brought to bear in the fight against hunger. Poetry X Hunger is intended to change that. By rousing powerful poetic voices to the cause, the initiative will hopefully reach, and even change, hearts and minds. To find out more, take a minute to visit Poetry X Hunger where you can learn more and read poems by several poets in the U.S. and Africa along with hunger facts, historical accounts of hunger, and other prompts for poets. Or, check out Facebook at Poetry X Hunger where poems by several poets are showcased. And hey, feel free to send in a poem for possible posting!! Larew notes that Maryland State Arts Council and the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization support the 2018 and 2019 World Food Day Poetry Competitions as implemented by Poetry X Hunger.  Here is a photo of Hiram Larew at Woodlawn Estate in Fairfax, Virginia.
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15 July 2019, New York - An estimated 820 million people did not have enough to eat in 2018, up from 811 million in the previous year, which is the third year of increase in a row, according to the latest annual State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI 2019) report. The report, launched at the UN High-Level Political Forum, underscores the immense challenge of achieving the Sustainable Development Goal of Zero Hunger by 2030.
The pace of progress in halving the number of children who are stunted and in reducing the number of babies born with low birth weight is too slow, which also puts the SDG 2 nutrition targets further out of reach. At the same time, adding to these challenges, overweight and obesity continue to increase in all regions, particularly among school-age children and adults. The chances of being food insecure are higher for women than men in every continent, with the largest gap in Latin America. "Our actions to tackle these troubling trends will have to be bolder, not only in scale but also in terms of multisectoral collaboration," the heads of the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO) urged in their joint foreword to the report. Hunger is increasing in many countries where economic growth is lagging, particularly in middle-income countries and those that rely heavily on international primary commodity trade. The annual UN report also found that income inequality is rising in many of the countries where hunger is on the rise, making it even more difficult for the poor, vulnerable or marginalized to cope with economic slowdowns and downturns. Watch the launch. Learn more End Hunger UK Week of Action is happening during the week of 11th - 18th October.
We are hoping that all around the country people who think that it is simply not right that so many are locked into food poverty will come together to raise awareness, put on events, and ask their MPs to take action. You can organize something in your area any time over the Week, or come to London on Wednesday 16th October to take part in the Day of Action. Click here for more info. BREAKING NEWS
Climate change is threatening the world's food supply, the United Nations warned, and the window to address that threat is closing rapidly. The world’s land and water resources are being exploited at “unprecedented rates,” a new United Nations report warns, which combined with climate change is putting dire pressure on the ability of humanity to feed itself. Read More » Don't forget to submit your poems to the2019 World Food Day Poetry Competition by August 15th!
There's no submission fee. Cash prizes will be given for winning poems. You can submit one or two poems - published or unpublished. Adult poets in Washington, DC and the surrounding Counties are eligible. See all the details at: http://www.fao.org/north-america/news/detail/en/c/1200341/ |
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