How have we tried to stop hunger?

Hunger can be dated back to the beginning of mankind, and there have been many attempts to prevent the increase of hungry people. An example of a potential solution in the past can be food donations. However, this did not help decrease the number of people suffering from hunger but, those numbers continued to increase immensely.

My argument is similar to the ideas of Janet Poppendieck, the author of, “6 The USA: Hunger in the Land of Plenty”, In her book, Poppendieck writes about mankind attempting to stop poverty in the 1980s, with food banks, similar to the idea of food donations.

For example, Poppendieck states, “The ‘“emergency”’ designation caught on. It was already part of the language of soup kitchens and food pantries, which provided food to individuals and households experiencing ‘“food emergencies”’ and were thus called ‘“emergency”’ food providers.” (Poppendieck 2019)

In other words, in the 1980s, it was decided that soup kitchens and food pantries would be necessary to individuals and households experiencing, food emergencies. The people that provided food for the hungry were known as emergency food providers. This solution did not last long.

Thus, “Inflation is the other side of the squeeze that has sent so many Americans to emergency food providers in the last 15 years.” (Poppendieck)

Strictly speaking, inflation is another big factor to the reason why so many people suffer from hunger. The dollar amount fluctuates up or down causing the value of money to either be worthless or worthy. If the dollar amount decreases too drastically, even people with money would not be able to afford food. This may be why there is no permanent solution to hunger, there are just too many factors that need to be addressed.

Poppendieck, J. (1997) First World Hunger: Food Security and Welfare Politics. University of Toronto Press 135, 151