FAO warning: ‘1.020 million people going hungry every day’

Common Press Release

23 June 2009


In spite of various important international treaties with the noble intent of affirming everyone’s right to food, we are now being confronted with the stunning fact that one sixth of all of humanity is starving.

This catastrophe is an indication that in our global village something has obviously slipped out of the balance of ethics and reason:

- Hunger and malnutrition are killing nearly six million children each year, whilst for their peers in other parts of the world meat-laden diets lead to obesity and a wide variety of diseases, thus shortening their life expectancies and putting increasing burdens on public health systems;

- The inefficient meat trade expansion continues to spiral out of control, but still decision makers like the FAO continue their efforts to accommodate the gruesome trend even at great environmental cost to soil, air and water, instead of trying to halt it, or at least slow it down.

-Social justice is compromised by the fact that even when confronted with so much misery, huge shares of available food stuffs (even 95% of soy) are still siphoned off for farm animals.


FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf: "The present situation of world food insecurity cannot leave us indifferent."

Indeed, it cannot. Sidelining this drama has been going on for far too long.

However, it is somewhat surprising that the FAO press release avoids addressing the impact which around 56 billion animals, fed to be slaughtered worldwide each year, are representing for the problem of food security.


Where is the social justice?

Especially in times of great suffering, decency calls for a thorough and objective investigation of all possible means suitable to lighten the burden, and that in interest of all, poor and wealthy alike. After all, when starving people refuse to carry their load quietly any longer and instead decide to shatter systems of injustice, the resulting social unrest may bring danger and hardship for everyone.

Vegetarianism offers a multitude of benefits and this compassionate lifestyle represents also the ideal way to ease the hunger drama. A meatless diet or even a reduction in meat consumption will quickly free an enormous amount of food resources: If Americans reduced their intake of meat by merely 10%, 100,000,000 people could be fed!

Each vegetarian is a living proof of solidarity and a silent hero who contributes greatly to the new fair and compassionate society we so urgently need.



Signed:

AgireOra Network
www.agireora.org
Italy

Association Végétarienne de France
www.vegetarisme.fr/
France

Centro Vegetariano
www.centrovegetariano.org
Portugal

Edinburgh the Fur-Free City
www.edinburghfurfreecity.co.uk
UK

European Vegetarian Union
www.euroveg.eu
International

European Vegetarian and Animal News Alliance (EVANA)
www.evana.org
International

Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA)
www.JewishVeg.com
USA

Romanian Vegetarian Society
www.svr.ro
Romania

SHARAN
www.sharan-india.org
India

Swiss Union for Vegetarianism
www.vegetarismus.ch/
Switzerland

Unión Vegetariana Argentina
http://www.uva.org.ar
Argentine

Unión Vegetariana Española (UVE)
Vegetarian Union of Spain (UVE)
www.unionvegetariana.org

Vegan Society Austria
www.vegan.at
Austria

Veg Climate Alliance
http://vegclimatealliance.org/
International

Vegetarierbund Deutschland e.V. (VEBU)
www.vebu.de
Germany

Vegtomato
http://www.vegtomato.org/
Taiwan


References:
- FAO: One sixth of humanity undernourished - more than ever before: www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/20568/icode/
- Every six seconds a child dies of hunger: www.wfp.org/node/3364
- If Americans reduced their intake of meat by merely 10%, 100,000,000 people could be fed: www.earthsave.org/environment.htm


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Petition Food vs Feed : “In the name of humanity, a responsible global community can no longer afford to invest 7-16 kg of grain or soya beans, up to 15,500 liters of water, and 323 m2 of grazing land in the production of just one kilo of beef for those with the means to pay for it.”

Please sign this petition

Source: contact
Author: FAO

Link: Food Security Statistics
Link: Global Food Supply Far From Secure: Farming Expert
Link: UN: World hunger reaches 1 billion mark