Global School Lunch Program Key For Roadmap to End Hunger

President Barack Obama has to deal with the worst global hunger crisis in decades. High food prices and other disasters have dramatically increased the already massive ranks of the hungry. Hunger and poverty threaten stability in many countries.

Fledgling governments, like the Afghanistan democracy, have to provide food for its people or face the consequences of losing the support of its citizenry. As former Secretary of State George C. Marshall once warned "democratic principles do not flourish on empty stomachs." The international community has to help Afghanistan meet these food needs.

In Sudan, Haiti and many other countries malnourished children have little hope for a future. Their growth is being stunted and may not be recoverable.

To fight child hunger, the United States should lead the international community in building a global school lunch program. School meals not only help nutrition but also support the education that children need to escape poverty. A separate global child feeding program should be developed for younger children and infants. These two initiatives will take much pressure off families and communities struggling in the grips of hunger.

Recently, a group of charities, including World Vision and Catholic Relief Services, called for a U.S. government plan to tackle global hunger. The Roadmap to end Global Hunger supported by these organizations will soon become pending legislation in Congress. If approved by Congress the Roadmap calls for President Barack Obama to appoint a global hunger advisor for his administration. Global child feeding programs will be a key element of the roadmap to end hunger.

What would it cost for global school feeding? Josette Sheeran of the World Food Programme wrote this week at the Huffington Post, "Less than $3 billion a year - and in a year we read in the news that Christmas bonuses on Wall Street totaled more than $30 billion."

A series of school feeding interviews with officials from the UN World Food Programme and other charities is available for review. The interviews appear at several sites including Blogcritics Magazine, Newsvine, American Chronicle,Friends of the World Food Program Blog, Associated Content and the Cincinnati Enquirer.

The interviews are arranged by country and a "take action" section is included showing how citizens can get involved to support universal school feeding. Citizens can also take action by writing their representatives about supporting the Roadmap to End Global Hunger. Support for the U.S. McGovern-Dole Food for Education program is also critical for promoting school feeding.

A group called Citizens for a Global School Lunch Program has been started at Myspace and also on Facebook.

The goal is to assure that no child will go hungry anywhere on the planet. This is a key step toward eliminating hunger and building a future for impoverished nations. Through governmental and private sector funding universal feeding programs could be put in place for children in all countries. This would be the great Food for Peace initiative of our time.