Committee: World Food Program
Topic: Hunger and Malnutrition
Country: The United States of America
Delegate: Sarah Niederberger, Cathedral High School
The WFP does not work anywhere in North America due to a relatively small number of
desperate hunger situations. In 2002, the U.S. contributed $930 million to the World Food Program
which was four times greater than the next largest donor; the contribution was also fifty-one percent of
total contributions to rid the world of famine. The United States continues to be the leader in promoting
agricultural development programs to increase production of food. The World Food Program considers
itself the “world’s largest humanitarian organization,” providing food to ninety million people in eighty
countries this year alone; the United States is its largest donor. Less than five percent of the population of
America is undernourished, which is comparatively low; out of the five categories the WFP uses to
classify hunger levels, the United States is part of the lowest grouping. According to the CIA World
Factbook, approximately twelve percent of the population lies below the poverty level.
The America's Second Harvest Network is the nation's largest charitable hunger-relief
organization. The association consists of more than 200 food banks and food-rescue organizations that
span all fifty states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. Each year, the America's Second Harvest
Network provides food assistance to more than 25 million low-income hungry people in the United
States. In addition to established national programs, many non-profit organizations, major corporations,
and local businesses do what they can to help fight hunger. The International Alliance Against Hunger
was born as a voluntary partnership for combining the strengths of local, national and international
governmental and non-governmental organizations, service and religious organizations, the private sector,
and concerned individuals with the common mission of working to eradicate hunger on our planet. The
United States takes part in the goal of the IAAH to eliminate hunger through participation in the IAAH
and “The Alliance to End Hunger,” an organization that brings together businesses, non-profits, religious
bodies, various other institutions, and individual donors to change the politics of hunger. The World
Food Summit took place in Rome, Italy November 13 – 17, 1996. The World Food Summit sought to
encourage individual governments to work towards stability in order to end hunger; the elimination of
worldwide hunger depends on the participation of independent governments working to obtain an
enabling environment with policies that promote peace. According to the Foreign Agricultural Service,
“The Summit is intended to provide a forum at the highest political level to address the need for global
commitment and action to redress the most basic problem of mankind: food insecurity. It is expected to
lead to the adoption of appropriate policies and strategies at international and national levels, as well as a
plan of action for implementation by all parties concerned: governments, international institutions, and all
sectors of civil society. Since it will be a world summit, it will have a global perspective in dealing with
all aspects of food security and will address the root causes of hunger and malnutrition in all parts of the
world, while at the same time incorporating the specific regional dimensions of the problems and their
solutions.” Through the summit, 182 countries have signed a document agreeing to work towards halving
the hunger level by 2015.
The UN took on the same goal as decided by the World Food Summit to halve hunger by 2015.
Hunger and food insecurity affect the mind by impairing health status and cognitive function which, in
turn, undermines the nation’s investments in education and the need for a more productive and
competitive workforce. Solutions for hunger include the food stamp program, school lunch and breakfast
programs, Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, and Child and
Adult Care Food Program. Although not all countries can implement these programs by themselves, the
help of the UN and more economically prosperous countries can give less fortunate countries the chance
to begin a program towards the elimination of hunger such as those listed above.