Some Hunger Realities

My friend Jerry learned of my Ride Against Hunger and brought me a book that he had helped publish back in the 80s. The title and subject of the whole book is ENDING HUNGER. The theme is that we have enough food and know-how to end hunger today...and the book the outlines exactly how it could be done.

Of course it is now 25 years later, and we know that hunger has not ended...and in fact may be worse than it was in the 80's.

I know the statistics in the book may be dated, but read these words very carefully:

"Imagine our concern--and the attention of the world's media--were an earthquake to strike San Francisco, killing 35,000 people in a single day. Imagine our concern were a virus to descend on London, killing 18 children a minute without stop, week after week. Imagine our concern were nuclear weapons to explode in the capitals of the world's major industrial countries, killing 13 million people and maiming and injuring a billion more in the surrounding countryside."

"These are precisely the figures of human devastation resulting from hunger: 1 billion of us chronically undernourished; 13-18 million of us dead a year; 35,000 of us a day; 24 of us (18 of whom are children) a minute. Yet because we view hunger in the background of life, this terrible toll does not enter our headlines, nor, for the most of us, our concerns."

The bicycle ride that I am doing from San Francisco to Portland, Maine is about ending hunger--in Stockton, In Sacramento, in California, in the United States, and in the world. Don't just read this blog and think about us out on the bikes. Read this blog and consider what you can do to help stop hunger at home and abroad. What is missing in this Ending Hunger idea is the will to do so. You and I can help with that.

Had a lot of time to think today. Lots and lots of open roads with very little traffic. I'm absolutely loving this trip. The riding is magnificent and fun and exhilarating. But unless it raises substantial funds for hunger alleviation, it will be a real disappointment. Do what you can...give what you can...to the program feeding the hungry closest to you.