&
Realities
Myths
Myth: In the United States, support for reducing
Reality: As individuals, Americans are known
world hunger is a political issue.
for contributing generously to help victims of natural
disaster, malnourished children, refugees, and others
in need. Ours is also a society where most adults and
many teens do volunteer work—whether that’s organizing church mission trips, distributing food at a food
pantry, coaching or teaching in after-school programs in
poor neighborhoods, or one of countless other tasks.
In opinion polls, majorities of Republicans, Democrats, and Independents consistently support the idea
that America should do more to help hungry people
around the world—even when times are tough at home.
Regardless of political party or ideology, U.S. administrations from Presidents Harry Truman and Dwight D.
Eisenhower to George W. Bush and Barack Obama have
championed significant efforts to ease the suffering of
hungry people, fight deadly diseases, and give people
around the world the tools to build a better life.
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So along with fostering growth, countries must make
reducing poverty a top priority.
In fact, the majority of the world’s poor people live in
“middle-income” countries, where annual income per
person ranges from about $1,000 to $12,000. Middleincome countries have enough resources to protect
most if not all of their people from hunger, yet many
people still go hungry because their incomes are far
below average and/or they are members of vulnerable
groups such as women, young children, and ethnic/
religious minorities.
Myth: Poor countries trying to strengthen
Reality: A large majority of the world’s poor
their economies are better off developing jobs in
manufacturing or technology. Agriculture is not as
important.
and hungry people work as subsistence farmers or
landless farm laborers. Strengthening agriculture around
the world could help hundreds of millions of people earn
a better living for themselves and their children.
Poor people in urban areas rely on agriculture as well, of
course—to produce food and make it available to them.
With the right supplies, urban families can also grow
enough vegetables and other healthy foods to improve
their health on very small plots of land.
Evidence shows that some of the highest rates of
return on investment to be found are in the agriculture
sector.
Myth: Strong economic growth, by generating
Reality: Economic growth is essential to a
more resources for a country, will significantly reduce
hunger and malnutrition among its people.
country’s efforts to reduce hunger. But by itself, it is
simply not enough. The main reason people are hungry
is not that there’s not enough food for sale in the local
market—it’s because they ca nnot afford to buy food.
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