Thursday , March 28 2024
If America has enough resolve to battle world hunger, we can take the greatest step there is toward world peace.

Eisenhower Believed Allied Victory Was Inspiration for Fighting Global Hunger

Times may be tough for the US, but we have seen tougher. The struggle to fight global hunger need not be relegated to the backburner.

In 1948 when Dwight Eisenhower made a speech about fighting child hunger, he invoked the great resilience of America in overcoming challenges. He used the example of June 1944 just after the allied landings of D-Day that started the invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe. A massive storm struck the coast, and the destruction it caused could have severely harmed the Allied forces. But even greater than the storm was the resolve of America and its allies in overcoming obstacles.

Today, both Congress and President Obama should show stronger support for fighting global hunger, which means increased funding for the US Food for Peace and McGovern-Dole programs.

Right now these global hunger-fighting programs are in serious jeopardy of more budget cuts.

The World Food Program USA reports, “Despite this increasing need, national budget cuts have decreased the funding for Title II, the main legislation for food assistance in the Food for Peace program. The reduction from $1.84 billion to $1.46 billion since 2010 can negatively impact vulnerable populations in a variety of ways, making each recurring crisis deeper and more costly to address.”

Thousands of people in Afghanistan, South Sudan, Yemen, East Africa, the Sahel region of Africa, and many other areas are suffering from severe hunger and malnutrition. Food for Peace and McGovern-Dole donations make a huge difference for these crisis points. But if not enough resources are provided to these hunger-fighting initiatives, then hunger can live to fight another day.

The US has to increase its Food for Peace arsenal. If America has enough resolve to battle world hunger, we can take the greatest step toward world peace there is.

About William Lambers

William Lambers is the author of several books including Ending World Hunger: School Lunches for Kids Around the World. This book features over 50 interviews with officials from the UN World Food Programme and other charities discussing school feeding programs that fight child hunger. He is also the author of Nuclear Weapons, The Road to Peace: From the Disarming of the Great Lakes to the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, Open Skies for Peace, The Spirit of the Marshall Plan: Taking Action Against World Hunger, School Lunches for Kids Around the World, The Roadmap to End Global Hunger, From War to Peace and the Battle of Britain. He is also a writer for the History News Service. His articles have been published by newspapers including the Cincinnati Enquirer, Des Moines Register, the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Buffalo News, San Diego Union Tribune, the Providence Journal, Free Lance-Star (VA), the Bakersfield Californian, the Washington Post, Miami Herald (FL), Chicago Sun-Times, the Patriot Ledger (MA), Charleston Sunday Gazette Mail (WV), the Cincinnati Post, Salt Lake Tribune (UT), North Adams Transcript (MA), Wichita Eagle (KS), Monterey Herald (CA), Athens Banner-Herald (GA) and the Duluth News Journal. His articles also appear on History News Network (HNN) and Think Africa Press. Mr. Lambers is a graduate of the College of Mount St. Joseph in Ohio with degrees in Liberal Arts (BA) and Organizational Leadership (MS). He is also a member of the Feeding America Blogger Council.

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