Food Shortages and Hunger

Food Shortages and Hunger

A recent document from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations shows the following data about food shortages and hunger on our planet:

1) Up to 757 million people faced hunger in 2023 – 152 million more than in 2019.

2) In 2023, 864 million people were food insecure, meaning they ran out of food at times during the year.

3) In Africa, 20.4% of the people are facing hunger.

4) 2.8 Billion people on our planet could not afford a healthy diet in 2022.

Human greed, selfishness, and ignorance cause food shortages and hunger. What should we do about it? In Matthew 25:35 and 42, Jesus invites those who gave the hungry something to eat and drink into His kingdom, while those who failed to do so are excluded. Jesus fed thousands of needy people. (See Matthew 14:13-21.)

Those of us blessed with adequate food and clean drinking water must reach out to those in need. We support 13 Christian organizations supplying food and water to needy people. Skeptics and atheists are not motivated to do this. If your belief system is “survival of the fittest,” you can write off the percentage of humanity in need and consider them “less fit.”

We can give you contact information if you want to get involved in Christian projects to provide food and water. Just email me at jncdge@aol.com. You can be part of the solution to the food problem.

— John N. Clayton © 2024
Reference: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Problem of Hunger Unnecessary

Problem of Hunger Unnecessary

A strange situation that exists today is human mismanagement of what God has given us. I get 20 to 30 pieces of mail daily asking for donations to feed starving children. These children are not just in Africa or India, but also in Appalachia. When you donate to one organization, you get on everyone’s mailing list. I’m glad organizations are addressing the food needs of people all over the globe, but the problem of hunger is so unnecessary.

With political circumstances depriving common people of basic food needs and selfish politicians and rulers involved in power struggles, children are dying all over the planet. The pathetic pictures of starving children hit home in the United States as the statistics show how poorly we manage God’s gifts. USA Today (May 26, 2021) published a report from the Environmental Protection Agency showing that 42.8 million tons of uneaten, wasted food ends up in landfills or combustion facilities every year. The report goes on to say that people in the United States typically waste 25% of the food they buy, amounting to a cost of $2,275 a year per person.

The problem of wasted food is not getting better even though we have ways to prevent food spoiling. Buying canned goods, freezing leftovers, dehydrating fruits, and ordering more intelligently should reduce our waste. The problem of hunger is unnecessary, yet every city in the country is reporting issues with waste.

A society will practice selfishness when it rejects the notion that God has given us what we have and expects us to share it with others. The economically deprived are the ones who suffer. The collateral damage of selfish atheism is a testimony to the validity of faith in God, but Christians should be leaders in making full use of God’s blessings.

— John N. Clayton © 2021

Reference: Time magazine May 24/31, 2021, page 23.