By: Jenny Bitner.

Imagine yourself in front of the TV. As you are flipping channels, a commercial advertising one of those ‘adopt an impoverished child’ programs comes on. What do you do? Do you stare transfixed at the sunken faces and swollen bellies of the children or do you change the channel. More than likely, you will change the channel. Those children who are struggling to survive thousands of miles from you and the money it takes to feed them are the furthest from your mind. You are struggling to scrape up the $5 that will get you into the local bar on Thursday night. So, why should you care? Those children and their families only stitch together the clothes that you wear and harvest the food that you eat. They do this for pennies a day and come home to sickness and little food. By answering common questions that you may have about poverty and hunger, your level of understanding should raise your awareness high enough to make you think twice about flipping that channel.

The nations that house these children are underdeveloped. That means that the countries are poor and the citizens are malnourished. There are many possible reasons for these nations being underdeveloped. Climate is one of the reasons for being underdeveloped. Some experts believe that it is too hot in these regions for humans to produce what they need for themselves. The climate cripples the humans and the crops they attempt to cultivate. Some experts believe that religion or child-rearing techniques influence the lack of development in the regions. However, many Latin American countries are Catholic, a religion that dominates many advanced European countries. Japan also practices a ‘different’ religion than many of the other advanced countries, and it has proven to be quite successful. Child rearing may affect these regions because, if the parents do not properly raise their children, the children will not grow up to be prosperous enough to survive.

One of the most commonly accepted reasons for nations being underdeveloped in the poorer regions is colonialism. Many Northern Hemisphere or ‘northern’ countries that are rich spent the last few centuries colonizing weaker parts of the world. With this colonization came the introduction to the colonizer’s government system and beliefs. The colonizer took over the better parts of the land and kept it for personal benefit. When the colonizers removed themselves from the countries they had taken over, they left behind people who did not know how to govern themselves. Consequently, the country fell to ruin. In addition, the regions of these countries that were still rich in resources were often still in the hands of international corporations established by the colonizers. The companies maintain control of the land and its resources, and the people who work the land and live on it do not get the privilege of benefiting the fruit of their toils. Those companies that move on leave behind worthless land.

As you can guess, all of these factors put together create a nation that is a big mess. The country cannot govern itself, let alone provide food and education for the people who live within the borders. In order to escape from the hole the countries have dug into, they require outside help.

Check out the tags on the clothes that you are wearing. Where were the clothes made? Even if the tag says, "MADE IN THE USA," that may only mean that the tag was sewn on in the USA. People in the underdeveloped regions of the world piece together many of the clothes that we wear. The factories that make the clothes do not pay a living wage to their employees, do not provide any benefits, and do not treat their workers fairly. The people who make the clothes that you wear get the equivalent of pennies per day if they make their daily quota.

Also, Many of the foods that you eat are grown and harvested by people in these impoverished regions. They grow the food on their own land, and international companies ship it to their high-paying overseas customers. The workers do not get to use it for themselves. The types of food that are imported for the luxurious of the overseas customers tastes include bananas, pineapples, strawberries, coffee, chocolate, dairy, fish, seafood, and beef. Yes, we import 40% of the world beef trade! The average American consumes 115 pounds of meat per year. We also import 33% of the world’s dairy. Please note that the United States makes up only 5% of the world population.

One of the common misconceptions about the United States is that it is the "Food Basket" for the world. This would mean that the US gives the majority of food and aid to the underdeveloped regions of the world when compared to other rich countries. As you can assume, this is far from the truth. The sanitation department of New York City has a bigger budget than the US budget to the United Nations. Our foreign aid budget is smaller than New York City’s welfare program budget. Where does the money that we do send out go? One third of the money that the United States gives away goes to Israel. Foreign policy and national interests decide who gets our monetary support. The US government does not consider human need.

Besides giving so little money away to other nations, the United States is a major drain on the world’s food supply. The United States is the third leading importer of agricultural products. We rank behind Japan and Germany. The food that we import comes from 36 out of 40 of the hungriest nations in the world. Since we have the money, we can afford the imported goods. Humans do not always consume all of the food that is imported. The 115 million dogs and cats that are registered in the United States get more protein on an annual basis than all of Latin America.

Solutions to the problems of global poverty and hunger vary. On the individual level, you can send money to help a child in one of these countries. Every little bit helps. Organizations such as UNICEF are reliable and most do not take out portions of the money for overhead. You could organize a meatless Sunday. By going for 1 day a week without meat, you are consuming 1/7^th less meat. Put a few people together, save the money that you would have spent on the meat, and send it to the people who truly need it. They will appreciate it.

By adjusting the eating habits of people nationwide, food can be rerouted to save millions of people each year. For example, 12 pounds of grain contains the same amount of protein as a pound of beef. By rerouting the grain that is consumed in beer each year, enough protein will be reproduced to feed 80 million people each year. Many scientists are working on ways to produce new enriched foods that will be better for people without consuming as many natural resources. Selective breeding in animals and plants produces better quality food.

In 1974, a group of 77 countries met at the United Nations to open the "North/South Dialog." This was a discussion between the rich and poor countries of the world. The resolutions from this dialog make up the New International Economic Order. Many of the resolutions deal with ways for the richer countries of the world to help the poorer ones. One resolution states that "Each State is free to control its natural resources." That way, any natural resource within a country’s borders can be used to benefit the people of the country first and then the rest of the world. By raising the price of raw materials used in global products, the countries will make more money. Underdeveloped countries also think that science and technology should be transferred to them. The United States, while giving the impression that it is a leader in aid to poorer countries, is actually one of the main drains on the resources from these poorer countries. You can help these nations by raising money and cutting back your food intake. While you may not feel that you are making a difference, a nation-wide effort would have a greater impact. The poorer countries have attempted to help themselves by creating policies for the richer countries to follow.

Across the world, millions of people are dying from starvation and poverty because people are ignoring them. Instead of sitting peacefully in front of your television set, you could be helping the people who make your clothes and harvest your food. Of course, this is your choice.