Week Two: Failing the Test

To read the introduction to this series, please click here.

I just took a five-question quiz on world hunger, and I failed. It's not too surprising, really. I mean, I haven't ever really been hungry myself, so it's not something I've spent a lot of time thinking about. I did know that the region of the world with the highest levels of malnutrition is Sub-Saharan Africa, but I think that speaks more to my pre-conceived notions than it does my grasp of this issue.

I didn't know that 6 million children under the age of 5 die every year as a result of hunger. I didn't know that children who are malnourished are 8.4 times more likely to die of an infectous disease than children who aren't. And I didn't know that if I lived in country that was affected by hunger, I would have about seven more years to live before I reached the life expectancy of 38.

Here's the thing that makes me so sad (and angry) about this issue: it just seems so easy to solve. I mean, just feed people! I know it's not that simple, but to my naive brain it seems easy enough. You've got people that are hungry. You've got nations that have food. So, you send the food to the people who are hungry. I feel like I'm not the only one who's failed the test.