Photo Courtesy of: www.foodwastenetwork.org.uk/food-waste-stories.html?category_id=2%5B/caption%5D
Haecheol Jang |Staff Writer|
Almost 3.1 million children die from hunger each year, according to the World Food Program.
Every year, 2.3 billion tons of food is wasted, according to World Food Day.
It is ironic that many people die from hunger with so much food wasted.
Some people waste their food, but some people die because there is no food to eat.
Why does this problem still exist?
There are some reasons for this problem, according to Jean Ziegler.
One of the reasons is war.
In the case of Somalia, the country has been in anarchy since 1991, and there are many militarists fighting each other.
The U.S. military entered the country to create peace and solve hunger problems, were murdered by the militarists.
The militarists plundered food aid ships and trucks.
Many people died from hunger while the militarists focused [on] an internal war and plundered.
The second reason for world hunger is the corruption of politics.
Sankara was the fifth president of Burkina Faso.
Before he was the president of Burkina Faso, the country was corrupt, and the public suffered from hunger.
Sankara made a radical reform: the abolishment of head taxes, decentralization of power, and nationalization of the land, which made land clearing possible.
After his reformation the country was self-sufficient in the production of food.
However, Sankara was murdered by a militarist, and the country returned to its previous condition.
Another example of hunger caused by corruption is North Korea.
North Korea’s radical politics is communism, but there is no communism in the country.
From Il-sung Kim, there were 70 years of dictatorship in the country.
South Koreans know how the innocent North Koreans are suffering from hunger.
Many relief organizations sent food to the poor North Koreans, but high-ranking government officials intercepted the food and did not provide any to the public.
The third reason is manipulation of market prices.
Market prices are fixed by the law of supply and demand.
If supplies are too great, prices are down.
Therefore, people abandon huge amounts of foods to maintain the food’s price.
One third of all food produced is never consumed, according to World Food Program.
France solved this problem by using big supermarkets.
France forces supermarkets to give unsold food to charities to solve the food wastage problem, according to the Guardian.
Each year, 7.1 million tons of food is wasted in France, and 11 percent is binned by shops.
French law bans waste, and it can be helpful to those who are suffering from hunger.
Do you know the top five U.S. supermarkets who waste food?
The answer is SuperValu Incorporated, Ralphs Grocery Company, Wal-Mart Stores Incorporated, Costco Wholesale Corporation and Safeway Incorporated, according to Alternet.
America wasted 40 percent of food in 2012, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council 2012 report.
Now, the world has the ability to produce enough food to supply everyone in the world.
If people reduce the wastage of food, the food can save other people’s valuable lives.
If other countries follow France’s footsteps, more people can stay alive.
Remember, the food you waste is the food other people sincerely long for.
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