Yet one in eight remain chronically hungry, surviving on merely one meal a day.
This is the cause of much human suffering, while it undermines the well being of nations and predisposes people to illness and premature death.
Hunger is as much a cause as a consequence of poverty, and it traps families in a vicious cycle from one generation to the next.
Households are considered food secure when they have year-round access to the amount and variety of safe foods their members need to lead active and healthy lives.
Household food security has three elements: the availability of food; access to food; and utilisation of food.
Approximately 75% of the poor people of the world live in rural areas and depend primarily on agriculture for their livelihoods.
Of these hungry people, 300 million are school-age children. Not only do they bears the pangs of hunger but also malnutrition leads to loss of energy, listlessness and vulnerability to disease.
It stunts growth of the body and the mind. Hungry children cannot function well in school.
A nutritious, balanced school meal for every child is the best investment we can make in the future. Where this program has been implemented, school attendance has doubled.
A daily meal is the surest magnet for attracting children to school. This is an important fact because of the 300 million school-age children in the world, 130 million are illiterate and not attending school (a majority of these children are girls).
If education is the key to development, the school meal is the key to unlocking the education door.
A school meal every day for every child in the world would require the energy and initiative of many people and nations. We Augustinians have a special interest in education.
·WHAT CAN WE DO TO HELP MAKE THE PEOPLE WE CURRENTLY WORK WITH AWARE OF THIS SITUATION?
·WHAT CAN WE DO IN EACH OF OUR COMMUNITIES AND APOSTOLATES TO HELP ACHIEVE THE GOAL OF A DAILY MEAL FOR ALL CHILDREN?
Charity, whether for individuals or for nations, responds to short-term needs, but it fails to create the necessary condition for human self-respect and dignity. That is the work of justice: to transform structures and society so that right relationships can better be reflected.
Poor nations must be able to determine their own future rather than having it defined for them by donors. Within nations, poorer citizens must be architects of their own destiny.
True national security can only be secured by providing all citizens the wherewithal to live their lives with dignity and justice. ID2412
