Hunger, on its face, would seem one of the simplest of social evils to solve. Provide food. But the issue quickly becomes complicated by multiple factors and causes. At the intersection of gender equity, caring for the environment, economic development, and encouraging values in youth is a way to end hunger and food insecurity.
What do these have to do with each other? For gender equity, it starts with the adage “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for life.” Turns out, if you teach a woman to fish, you feed families and entire villages. Educating women, setting them up in microenterprises, is the best way to make the most of your social capital investment. Likewise, when women like Saroj and children in Madhya Pradesh, India use pellet stoves instead of wood fires for cooking, we all get healthier. How? We prevent deforestation and help heal our ailing planet. It’s a small world, after all, and one we all share. Meanwhile, pellets stoves turn corn husks and chaff into, if not gold, at least clean, abundant fuel. Not bad alchemy.
These seem small steps—a goat, a pellet stove—yet they are life-changing. Now, the Global Farm Challenge, a hunger initiative, is challenging youth and churches across the nation to raise $500,000 to help support small farms in the U.S. and other countries as a means to end hunger. But more than just making a donation, organizers of the Farm Challenge and Lutheran Youth Gathering this summer in Houston want teens to experience first-hand what it’s like to be a small farm holder. Which reminds me of another adage, the one about walking a mile in someone else’s shoes. Or farm boots in this case. Whatever the footwear, personal experience is the biggest driver of why people give, making this a priceless lesson and investment in empathy, sharing, and global stewardship.
Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family,[5] you did it to me. ~ Matthew 25:40
