Feeding your neighbor in a complex world “We live in a world that is capable o eeding every person that lives on the planet.” Abhijit Bannerjee, Massachusetts Institute of T echnology Tey peer at us rom the pages o our newspapers and television screens – the haunting images o starving children in East Arica who are the innocent and silent victims o amine. Tey are among the millions aected in this current crisis, which is testing the limits o people’s compassion as we worr y about systemic corruption, which, in addition to ongoing conicts, mak es us wonder i our donations o ood will reach those needing it most. Why, we might also wonder, i we are born equal in the eyes o God, are so many let to die o starvation while we in the West tuck our expanding waistlines up to the table or our daily bread? In a recent special report on eeding the world, Te Economist posed Te 9 billion-people question, a comprehensive overview o the complex issue o ood security* and the various actors contributing to rising ears about providing ood or a burgeoning global population. For city dwellers increasingly isolated rom modern arming, it oers an eye- opening look beyond our daily headlines about rising ood prices in our local supermarkets and ood riots in developing countries. I the world cannot eed its current population, how can we possibly meet the nutritional needs o the nine billion expected by 2050? And how is MEDA’s work contributing to global ood security? At its simplest, the solution is to boost yields and reduce waste. Trough our work in A ghanistan, Ethiopia, Ukraine, Peru and other countries, MEDA is encouraging small armers to adopt modern arming practices that will help them move beyond merely subsistence toward a more prosperous uture. Feed my neighbor: Food security resources for pastors 1 Engage your fock! • Spring planting season – Grow a row for local food programs and promote self-suf ciency • Challenge your congregants to eat a simple meal of beans and rice at least once a week and donate the money they save to food security causes. • Hold an international potluck dinner as a celebration of diversity and to share culinary traditions • Show Daniel Penner’s video, Milk: From cow to consumer , and share MEDA client stories to illustrate the complexity of the food system and create greater awareness of and connection to where we get our food Fast facts • 1 in 7 people are hungry • Poverty – principal cause of hunger • 1,345M poor people in developing countries live on $1.25 a day or less • 925 million hungry people world-wide (13.6% of estimated world population) • Children are the m ost visible victims of hunger. • Children who are poorly nourished suffer 160 days of illness each year • Half of 10.9 million child deaths each year due to poor nutrition • Malnutrition stunts growth of 32.5% of children in developing countries • 1 in 6 infants born with low birth weight by malnourished mothers in developing countries more ... * “Foo d security exists when all people at all times have access to sufcient, sae, nutritious ood to maintain a healthy and active lie.” - World F ood Summit o 1996