World Food Program USA Blog

"Awaken Your Senses" Challenge

Food blogger Marc Matsumoto is taking a bite out of world hunger. On September 25, Matsumoto joined 11 of the nation’s top food bloggers to launch the Quaker Oats/Goodbite.com “Awaken Your Senses” challenge. With your help, Matsumoto can win $10,000 to benefit Friends of the World Food Program (Friends of WFP) and help fight world hunger.

Last week 12 food bloggers shared their favorite food memory via a video diary posted at YouTube.com/QuakerTalk. Goodbite.com chef David Lawrence will create an oatmeal topping based on each video. Website visitors will vote for their favorite oatmeal topping, and the blogger associated with the winning topping will receive $10,000 to donate to the charity of their choice.

Matsumoto’s video diary will be posted next week, so check back then and help Friends of WFP feed the hungry! Visit http://www.youtube.com/quakertalk to learn more. 

Read Matsumoto's blog post about the contest!

-Jessica Lennon
Web Associate
Friends of WFP

Teaming Up On Hunger

The Millennium Villages project and the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) have recently announced that they will join forces to alleviate hunger and poverty in Africa. Their plan is to create “undernourishment-free zones” in the 80 Millennium Villages that span 10 different countries. They will focus on important measures such as school meal coverage, health education and assistance for smallholder farmers in increasing both income and productivity.

WFP’s Executive Director Josette Sheeran states, “We must act now to build the partnerships and take the comprehensive steps necessary to win this fight. No one organization can do it alone, and we will leverage a growing collaboration with the Millennium Villages project to deliver powerful solutions to malnutrition.”

The Millennium Villages project was formed as a response to the findings of the UN Millennium Project. It is led by the Earth Institute, Millennium Promise and the United Nations Development Program. Focusing on community development and self-empowerment to create a sustainable way of ending poverty, the Millennium Villages project combined with WFP techniques will have a positive impact on food security.

Professor Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University and Special Advisor to the UN Secretary General, adds, “The Millennium Villages will carry out the exciting interventions pioneered by WFP, and demonstrate that hunger and under-nutrition can be cut decisively through proven measures in agriculture, school meals, nutritional supplementation, food-for-work programs to build infrastructure, and other powerful WFP tools.”

The global economic crisis has made hunger an enormous concern worldwide, but WFP and the Millennium Villages project are rising to the challenge with a united effort.

Read more about the Millennium Villages project.

Read more about the partnership on WFP’s website.

-Sara Thomson
 Outreach Intern
 Friends of WFP

Tropical Storm Hits the Philippines

This past weekend, a deadly tropical storm hit the Philippines resulting in massive floods.  The southern island of Luzon and the metropolitan area of Manila were hit the hardest.  About 80 percent of Manila was submerged in water while about 480,000 people were affected by this record rainfall, and 145,000 people were forced to flee their homes.  

The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) is working to distribute food rations to over 180,000 people affected by the flooding.  Many of the region's assets were destroyed, and the Associated Press reports that at least 140 people have died.

“WFP is working with authorities and mobilizing assistance to help thousands of Filipinos whose lives have been devastated after Saturday’s deadly tropical storm,” said WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran.

“We are deeply saddened by the magnitude of the human suffering caused by this natural calamity and we assure the Philippines Government and its people of our support for a swift and coordinated recovery effort,” said Stephen Anderson, WFP’s Country Representative in the Philippines.

Two new tropical storms are currently forming east of the Philippines and there is the potential that they may hit sometime within the next week.  WFP is already providing assistance and is ready to help the Filipino people as they experience these historic storms.

Help support WFP’s relief effort in the Philippines.  Donate now.

-Brian J. Ward
Outreach Associate
Friends of WFP

Secretary Clinton to Discuss Global Food Security at High-Level U.N. Event

Tomorrow Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will discuss global food security at an event co-hosted with Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations Secretary-General.

Secretary Clinton and the State Department have been discussing hunger and food security for many months now.  Most recently they released a video narrated by Matt Damon that calls on international stakeholders to act now to end hunger. 

 

A factsheet released by the State Department entitled “Global Food Security: U.S. Commitment to Action” outlines basic principles that it recommends to advance food security worldwide.

According to Secretary Clinton, “The question is not whether we can end hunger, it’s whether we will.”

The State Department writes that the “momentum is building for global action.”  In July, during the G8 Summit, world leaders pledged $20 million over three years to fund agricultural development.  While the nongovernmental community applauded the announcement, an emphasis was also placed on investments needed in nutrition, emergency relief and social safety nets.

The State Department’s global food security strategy calls on country-led initiatives, as well as investments in multilateral institutions, to deliver assistance to the world’s hungry.

 

The plan is outlined below:

“To achieve these goals, we will:

 

• Advance sustainable agricultural-led growth through increased investment across the entire agricultural production and market chain, strengthen post-harvest infrastructure and protect the natural resource base.
• Reduce under-nutrition by increasing access to diverse and quality foods, and strengthening prevention, identification and treatment.
• Increase the impact of humanitarian food assistance by strengthening government capacity to mitigate hunger crises and improving local and regional procurement.”

Secretary Clinton will deliver opening and closing remarks at the Food Security Event at the U.N. headquarters on Saturday, September 26 at 4:00 pm.  The speech will be available to stream live from www.state.gov.

Visit the State Department's Global Food Security site.

-Jessica Alatorre
Outreach Associate
Friends of WFP

Yum! Brands, Christina Aguilera Launch World Hunger Relief 2009

This week, Yum! Brands launched its annual World Hunger Relief campaign to raise awareness and funds for the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) and other hunger relief efforts. Multi-Grammy Award winner and pop star Christina Aguilera has lent her voice to the cause this year after visiting WFP food assistance operations in Guatemala.

"I wanted to see with my own eyes what hunger means," said Aguilera. "As a mom my heart just breaks when I see how young mothers...struggle to feed their children. I don’t think I can ever forget these images."

Joined by husband Jordan Bratman, Aguilera traveled with WFP to several villages in the highlands of Guatemala, where up to 80 percent of indigenous children are undernourished. Guatemala has the highest rate of chronic malnutrition in Latin America and the Caribbean, and the fourth highest in the world.

World Hunger Relief is now an especially critical campaign because for the first time in history, over 1 billion people in the world are living in hunger.  At the same time, WFP faces an estimated budget shortfall of $3 billion for 2009 - meaning many of its life-saving food assistance programs may face cutbacks.  For example, 150,000 children and pregnant and nursing women in Guatemala are at risk of losing WFP's nutritious food supplements.

"WFP urgently needs donations to keep feeding some 150,000 women and undernourished children" in Guatemala, said Aguilera.  "I want to raise awareness and open people's eyes so they can get the funds they need to keep on working."

For more information about World Hunger Relief 2009, visit www.FromHungerToHope.com.

For more information about WFP food assistance operations in Guatemala, click here.

-Alli Bailey
Communications Assistant
Friends of WFP

Kelly Moore To Speak At Summit

Humanitarian, founder and CEO of Music For Mankind® Kelly Moore will be speaking on behalf of his organization at Friends of the World Food Program’s Second Annual Summit on Global Hunger in Washington, D.C. on October 5.

Moore recently released a 30-minute documentary titled “Nicaragua -- On The Ground” which documents his 2008 trip to Nicaragua with members of Friends of the World Food Program as a U.N. Delegate for the United Nations World Food Program. 

For more information, please visit www.musicformankind.net.

-Kelly Moore

The Importance of Video Games

On the island of Sheylan, conflict and unpredictable weather have brought the need for food assistance to an all-time high. Luckily, you can help! Sheylan is a virtual island in the United Nations World Food Program’s (WFP) interactive video game, Food Force. With six missions to teach about humanitarian crises and how to best deliver food assistance, children are getting an empowered sense that they can be part of the solution.

According to WFP, “Players are required to pilot helicopters on reconnaissance missions, airdrop high energy biscuits to internally displaced person (IDP) camps, negotiate with armed rebels on a food convoy run and use food aid to help rebuild villages.” They can even play each other for high scores. Yet the game isn’t all about flying planes and airdropping food. The site includes educational videos, an interactive hunger map, its own blog and much more.

Teachers can download and use the lesson plans provided by Food Force to teach their students about hunger and how it can be prevented. Additional information is provided for how individuals can help raise awareness and funds for WFP’s real missions. Organize a book sale, plan a carwash or even make a jellybean count! All of these simple ideas can make a huge difference in supporting WFP and its programs to alleviate global hunger. 

Whether it be Mission Two (centered around nutritional needs and costs), Mission Three (measuring the player’s skills at airdropping food to areas in need on Sheylan), or any other mission or educational opportunity, get on the website today to see how you can help in both the virtual world and the real world.

Please also feel free to contact our fundraising department [fundraising@friendsofwfp.org] if you’re interested in organizing a fundraising or awareness event at your school. They will be able to guide you and answer any questions you may have. Remember, it costs WFP just 25 cents to feed a child in school for a day!

Read a recent Voice of America article about Food Force and other video games like it.

Read more about opportunities for students and teachers on WFP’s website.

-Sara Thomson
 Outreach Intern
 Friends of WFP

Thank you for supporting Friends of the World Food Program!

Right now, your support is more important than ever for those pushed deeper into poverty and hunger.

Please watch this video, share it with your friends and remember: we couldn’t help the World Food Program provide assistance to millions of people each year without your support! Hunger is solvable and together we can make a difference.
  

Guatemala Faces Worst Drought in 30 years

Guatemala has the fourth largest chronic undernutrition rate in the world, and the worst in Latin America and the Caribbean.  Now Guatemala is facing the worst drought it has seen in 30 years.  The drought is affecting 2.5 million people in the country due to a severe decrease in agricultural production.  WFP says that the people of Guatemala are facing four particular factors that are leading to an increase in the number of hungry poor: high food prices, the global financial crisis, an increase in unemployment and a recurrence of poor crops. 

WFP spokesperson Emilia Casella said:

"Nearly 50 percent of children under five years old in Guatemala suffer from chronic under-nutrition, which can cause stunting or severe weight loss. WFP is expecting that the worst-hit families will be about 54,000 families in Guatemala, although the government is estimating the number could be closer to 300,000."

Currently, WFP is distributing food to more than 20,000 families affected by the drought.  WFP is also continuing to provide VitaCereal – a highly nutritious blend of maize, soy and micronutrients – to 100,000 children under the age of 5 and 50,000 pregnant and nursing women. 

As mentioned in the previous blog post, WFP is facing a budget shortfall and if it is unable to raise $7 million to support this program for the next 12 months, it will be cut at the end of October. 

Donate now to help WFP continue its life-saving operations in Guatemala. 

Read More.

-Brian J. Ward
Outreach Associate
Friends of WFP

Will we meet the needs of the hungry around the world?

Next week, the top industrialized nations of the world will gather in Pittsburgh, PA to address the pressing issues of our global economy. Collectively, the Group of 20 (G20) represents 85 percent of the world’s economy. Given the severity of the global economic crisis, what these nations discuss on September 24-25 could have an important ripple effect across the globe. As these countries come together, where do we stand on ending global hunger?

“The double whammy of the financial crisis and the still record high food prices around the world is delivering a devastating blow. Throw in a storm, a drought and a conflict and you have a recipe for disaster,” said Josette Sheeran, the Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Program (WFP).

According to Sheeran, the world has a stake in responding to urgent hunger needs. “We have seen it throughout human history that a hungry world is a dangerous world,” she told UN Radio.  “If people don't have enough to eat, only one out of three things happens: they either revolt, they migrate or they die. It is much better to apply targeted help, effective help and efficient help to those people than to allow those consequences to happen."

WFP is not immune to the global economic crisis. In order to operate, WFP is entirely reliant on voluntary donations from governments, individuals, corporations and foundations. As all these sectors have been hard-hit by the global economic crisis, WFP has also been affected. For 2009, WFP budgeted $6.7 billion to reach 108 million people in 74 countries. Taking into account forecasts and money already received, WFP expects to receive contributions totaling only $3.7 billion. This leaves a $3 billion budget shortfall.

In a time when the number of people experiencing hunger rises every day, it is difficult for WFP to make decisions about ration sizes or program cuts. By the end of 2009, the number of hungry people worldwide will exceed 1 billion – an unprecedented, record-breaking development. That means nearly one in every six people do not get enough food to be healthy and lead an active life. Hunger and undernutrition are the No. 1 risk to health worldwide – greater than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined.

A chart released this week by WFP shows how many people are hungry, how much money has been given for food assistance through the years and how many people WFP is able to feed as result of these contributions. The visual is clear: at current funding levels, WFP will not be able to provide the full assistance needed globally.
 
Just this week, Sheeran appeared on CNN, asking the international community to remember that the financial crisis is affecting the poorest around the world, many of whom live on less than $1 per day.

“The financial crisis is hitting hard in the poorest places in the world and they are not seeing the green shoots of hope yet,” Sheeran said.

-Jessica Alatorre
Outreach Associate
Friends of WFP