Each year ELCA World Hunger provides funding through our Education/Advocacy grants to organizations working to educate Lutherans and others on the root causes of and solutions for world hunger, or organizations advocating on behalf of those who live in hunger and poverty. In 2010, ELCA World Hunger worked with ELCA Outdoor Ministries to provide Education/Advocacy grants to eleven Outdoor Ministry locations. The money is being used to help campers learn about world hunger, its causes, and solutions. Beginning with this post, on second and fourth Fridays we will highlight a few of the projects being conducted with these funds. Today’s post comes from Lutherhill Ministries in La Grange, Texas.

—————————————–

Spiritually Fed

Greetings from Lutherhill Ministries in La Grange, Texas!    The weather is hot and humid here in our neck of the woods, and storm clouds seem to linger overhead daily.  While others grumble as they are called out of the pool – we are quietly elated as the fresh rain soaks our new garden!

As a grateful recipient of an ELCA World Hunger Education/Advocacy grant, we are excited to share our happenings with you! This summer, every Lutherhill camper participates in the Daily Bread Project. The Daily Bread Project includes a garden, compost pile, recycling program, hunger meal, Daily Bread worship and more.  We experience as a community the emptiness that comes with hunger and poverty. And as a community we experience the fullness that comes when we fulfill God’s call to do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with God. Here’s a taste…

Hunger Meal

As campers, staff and sponsors enter the dining hall for Wednesday lunch, each draw a colored marble. These marbles represent their lunch destiny, but more importantly they represent the distribution of food resources across the world.

The lunch-time experience helps youth explore hunger first hand – 65% eat rice on the floor, 20% eat rice and chicken on the floor, 10% eat pasta in chairs and 5% eat a three course meal at a table setting. As campers seated on the floor wait, kitchen staff graciously serve those at the head table. After this upper class is served, the others are haphazardly served their meager meals.

Reactions are intriguing. Some weeks campers are eager to share their food; other weeks campers turn inward, more concerned about eating their own lunch; other times campers linger on the verge of getting it, of pushing themselves beyond their comfort zone.

Food for Thought

The hunger meal becomes a topic for discussion throughout the day.  We walk together in frustration and disappointment and come out on the other side equipped and empowered. Simple lessons from the garden, compost, worship and more give us the tools to abate hunger locally and globally.  To date we’ve collected $560.92 in offerings for ELCA World Hunger and gathered 675 canned goods for local food banks in 9 communities.

Surrounded by abundance, love takes on a different shape than it does in the midst of poverty and hunger. The Daily Bread Project gives us the chance to explore Christ’s love in the middle of both!

For more information on The Daily Bread Project contact Geoff Roach, Daily Bread Coordinator at geoff@lutherhill.org.

The following was written by guest blogger, Mark Goetz.

I love ziplock freezer bags. They are handy and durable, seal well, and don’t take up much space in a drawer waiting to be used. In the freezer and refrigerator they don’t take up any more space than their contents do. I’ve used them to hold meat, chili and spaghetti sauce in the freezer. I’ve used them for the same things in the fridge, although the kids have objected (on aesthetic grounds) to a plastic bag full of gravy or mashed potatoes or chocolate pudding. With the “double zipper, fresh shield: tough on the outside, fresh on the inside” quality they are a delight and at only pennies a bag I can afford to throw them away after a single use.

When we lived in the village of Bohong, Central African Republic, there was no garbage. Everything was used – multiple times. Empty cement sacks were used for writing and wrapping paper. Tin cans became water glasses or storage bins, especially if they had a reusable lid. Bottles, plastic or glass, became canteens. We washed and saved almost every empty everything and periodically, nomadic Fulani herders would stop by and ask if we might happen to have any containers they might use.

Most things in the market, including bread, peanuts and meat, didn’t come wrapped and we (and everyone in the village) had our (their) own tote bags of one kind or another. When we did have a plastic bag, we’d wash it and dry it and reuse it in the kitchen or the market until it wasn’t possible to use anymore.

We had to re-adapt to American culture on our return. In many ways that was harder than adapting to village life. After some months back in the US, empty 2-liter pop bottles spilled out of the pantry when I opened the door. We couldn’t throw bottles away.  I imagine we were still expecting visits from wandering nomads that could use new canteens. Saving what for us was garbage, but for someone else was of value, was no longer a sustainable practice.

We’ve continued to use canvas tote bags for grocery shopping but, for some reason, not for other kinds of shopping. Up until a few years ago we were still washing plastic bags, out of habit, I suppose. But lately I noticed that we’ve been throwing away plastic bags, even our tough durable ziplock freezer bags, after a single use. In some way, it doesn’t seem right.

When our children were little, we used cloth diapers. It was a deliberate decision based on the personal financial situation of a graduate student with a family to support. We did not make a conscientious decision to use canvas market bags and to reuse plastic bags. It was just a lasting habit developed from normal life in another culture and it seemed right. I didn’t make a decision to start throwing away used ziplock bags either. It was just another habit I picked up from our own culture in the last few years. I’m not even sure when I started to do it.

Now, I’m not really thinking about ziplock bags, or the amounts of disposable plastics in American landfills, or the inadequacy of landfills in the developing world, or the great garbage patches found in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. I am really thinking about decision making, or more specifically, choices that I didn’t really make.

We’ve been around the global block so to speak, having lived in a number of countries other than the USA.  And that experience has affected the way I see my world and the way we live. (I suspect that friends think we march to the beat of the different drummer and that she plays in syncopated rhythm.) Some “life style” choices were deliberate decisions e.g., the neighborhood we live in, the vehicles we drive, maybe the clothes we wear. These types of decisions are mostly a balancing act of costs, convenience and some sense of social morality/accountability. But I wonder how many decisions I really don’t make; the decisions I don’t recognize, where I just go with the social/cultural flow.

Mark Goetz is a consultant and mediator in Montana. This post first appeared on The Table, a social network for volunteers working with ELCA World Hunger.

I was recently listening to the soundtrack from Wicked, when a few lines from the song “Wonderful” struck me. The lines were these:

“A man’s called a traitor – or liberator
A rich man’s a thief – or philanthropist
Is one a crusader – or ruthless invader?
It’s all in which label
Is able to persist
There are precious few at ease
With moral ambiguities
So we act as though they don’t exist”

Working in the field of world hunger, it’s not unusual to have conversations with people who are reflexively negative about large corporations. From profit motives, to workers’ rights, to enviornmental exploitation, most of the world’s ills and many of the causes of hunger can be laid in the headquarters of corporations. And without question, some of the criticism is completely deserved and must be called out.

But for all the outrage that is justified, some of it is not. Some of the outrage is applied beyond what is deserved, and I don’t know that it’s helpful. Yes, companies do bad things. But they do good things, too. Standard Oil serves as an iconic historical example. On the one hand, it was a ruthless organization, using boldly smarmy tactics that are now illegal to drive competitors out of business and acquire their assets cheaply.  I don’t know how many people lost their jobs as a result, but I’m sure it’s a large number. On the other hand, they also hired a lot of people. And according to Wikipedia, they did some things that the general population found very helpful, like cutting the price of kerosene in half,  and developing many other useful products including tar, paint, and chewing gum. Then, too, Rockefeller used his (ill-got?) gains to do some extremely good things, like funding research that led to a vaccine for yellow fever and founding the University of Chicago. So what of Standard Oil? Good or evil? And what is gained or lost by declaring it one to the exclusion of the other?

There are, of course, many modern-day examples of corporations doing both good and bad things. Kind of like people. I don’t write this blog to defend the bad; only to acknowledge that corporations are complex and deserving of more careful consideration in our judgements. Ending hunger is a big, complex job. Personally, I think corporations have a role to play in it. Calling them out on the bad is necessary and important. But so is praising and encouraging the good, which requires acknowledging it – and often acknowledging moral ambiguities, too.

-Nancy Michaelis

I sat down to dinner last night feeling quite proud of myself. That lasted all of about 30 seconds. I was proud of myself because I’d found time to make a dinner from scratch that my family really likes – pizza. But then I realized that, technically, to make something from scratch, you have to start from nothing. Ha! A laughable notion! I began thinking about just how much I started with, and how many people and places went into the food I “made from scratch.” Out of curiosity, I even looked at some labels to see where things came from. Here’s what I came up with (and by the way, I live in a northwest suburb of Chicago):

water – Lake Michigan
whole wheat flour – Ted’s Organic Grains in DeKalb, IL
white flour – no idea where it came from, and I no longer have the packaging
canola oil – Canada
salt – U.S.A. (where, precisely? Anyone know where our salt comes from?)
yeast – Canada
parmesan and romano cheese blend – Argentina and Italy
olive oil – Italy
spinach – Sandhill Organics in Grayslake, IL (part of my CSA box)
tomatoes – Canada (a surprise this time of year; I was expecting Mexico or Chile)
goat cheese – no idea and I no longer have the packaging

So, my dinner from “scratch” actually came from at least four countries on three continents, and with a surprisingly strong showing from Canada! And I’m fortunate enough that I can take all of this for granted. I had to look most of it up, and I still don’t know even what country two ingredients came from.

Then I thought about how many people helped make my pizza. How many people did it take to grow and harvest tomatoes, spinach, wheat, olives? How many people did it take to care for the goats and sheep, collect their milk, and turn it into cheeses? How many languages were spoken in the process? What are their lives like? How many people were involved in the packaging, distribution, and eventual stocking of those items? For that matter, how many people are involved in making the water out of Lake Michigan come out of my tap in a safe and appealing way?

Food ties us together in so many ways, and my sustenance – my life – is dependent upon so many others, most of whom I’ll never meet and often don’t even think about. I give thanks for them all, and proceed in the fight against hunger with the humility of knowing how lucky I am to be well-fed, and how much of my feeding I owe to others.

What did you eat for dinner last night? How many countries were represented? Please leave a comment. I’m curious!

-Nancy Michaelis

I”m struggling today with my willingness to contribute to the causes world hunger. I read Peter Sawtell’s “Eco-Justice Notes” from Friday, April 24. In it, he talks about the eruption of Ejyafjallajokull and the ash that disrupted flights around the world. Mr. Sawtell says:

“The interconnection of commerce, culture and climate has become real. I made a comment to friends last weekend that what we were seeing in Europe may be just a taste of how the world will soon change. The dramatic scale of action that is needed to minimize global heating should mean that the travel and trade that we now take for granted will be seen as luxuries. If we are responsible in dealing with climate change, then we will no longer see fresh produce rushed around the world. The short business trips and quick vacations to far-away lands that now seem routine will be a thing of the past. The quiet skies over Europe may be the new “normal” within a few decades.”

What? I can’t fly anymore!?

Now, I know how bad flying is for the atmosphere and the climate. I’ve known that for a long time. And I know how bad climate change is for everyone, but especially those living in poverty. Still, somehow this particular article hit me more personally than others, and I bristled as I came face to face with a problem: I love to travel, and I’m not ready to give it up. I’d even go so far as to say I value travel. Not only do I find it enjoyable, but I think I’m a more educated, appreciative, and broader-minded person because of the places I’ve seen and people I’ve encountered. Travel has changed my perceptions and enhanced my life. I want to do more of it, and I’m not likely to tell others to knock it off, either. (In fact, I know some folks who could really benefit from some global exposure!) But here Mr. Sawtell tells me my actions are irresponsible. If I’m serious about tackling climate change, I need to stop with the elective flying. And I see his point. I don’t want to trash the planet. I don’t want to add to the burdens already borne by those living in poverty. And I wouldn’t have to go anywhere. Which leaves me wondering: when your values clash, which one wins? How do you choose, and then how do you live with the choice?

What do you think? Insights welcome…

-Nancy Michaelis

This is the seventh and final post in a series considering the root causes of hunger. The Millennium Development Goals serve as a helpful framework.

Millennium Development Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development

Because everyone lives on a single planet and participates in a global economy, poor countries and hungry people can’t solve their problems alone, and shouldn’t have to. There are too many ways the problems and solutions are connected to – and in some cases caused by – the rest of the world. Much of Goal 8 has to do with issues of  debt, trade, and aid, and all countries have a role in implementing changes that will give developing countries a better chance at success. Honestly, I’m feeling like I should have an advanced degree in economics to do this topic justice. Since I don’t, I’ll treat it briefly, point to other sources of information, and welcome your comments!

Debt

The debt crisis facing many developing countries is severe. Governments owe billions of dollars of debt to developed countries, and they have no way of paying it. With widespread poverty and insufficient economic output, some indebted governments do not generate even the funds to pay the interest (which is substantial). With so much of their limited money going to developed countries in debt payment, developing countries have little left over for infrastructure like roads and sanitation, or economic development policies like job creation plans and education. That such large amounts of money were loaned in the first place is the fault of both borrowers and lenders, and sometimes go back decades to corrupt regimes that no longer exist. The situation today is that many countries are facing debilitating debt that they have no way of paying and which ensures their continued national poverty. The solution includes working with developed nations on policies of debt relief and cancellation.  Jubilee is an organization doing lots of work on this front, and I recommend checking out their website if you’re interested in learning more.

Trade

Trade is another area where global partnerships between developed and developing nations is needed. Exporting goods is one way developing nations can generate more income. However, there are many barriers to their doing so successfully. First, many developed countries protect their own markets and citizens through tariffs and subsidies. Tariffs on imports increase the purchase cost of foreign goods and therefore make them less desirable than cheaper, domestic goods. The result for the developing country is that, while their production costs may be the same or less, few people in developed nations will buy their products because the final price is higher than competing products. Subsidies are another trade barrier, and agricultural subsidies are especially problematic. American farmers receive government payments for some crops, which encourages them to overproduce.  With lots of, say, wheat available, the price drops. Since American farmers get paid more than the market price through subsidies, low wheat prices aren’t much of a problem for them. But low prices and lots of wheat mean that others in the world who are growing wheat without payments from their governments can’t compete with our low prices. Not only can they not sell it to other countries, they may not even be able to see it in their own. In this example, individuals certainly won’t make a living as wheat farmers, and the country won’t make money as a wheat exporter.

So, some would say, don’t grow wheat. Make and export something else the world needs. That can work, but for a country to move into new or different industries, they need things like investment money, skilled employees, marketing knowledge, and infrastructure. If the country is already poor (and spending much of their GDP in interest on their debt), funding this type development isn’t realistic. Providing assistance for trade development and reducing trade barriers are ways wealthy countries concerned about poverty can and should help developing  countries gain entry into the global economy. Developing countries, in turn, have a role in creating governmental structures and financial policies that encourage and sustain investment and assistance.

The issues surrounding global trade and its effects on developing nations are complex. A few starting places for more information include the One Campaign website’s overview of “the issues,” Bread for the World Institute’s 2009 Hunger Report titled, “Global Development: Charting a New Course, and Paul Collier’s book titled, The Bottom Billion.

Aid

Obviously, the partnership of wealthy countries is required to funnel enough aid money to developing nations to make a difference with things like economic development. But Goal 8 goes beyond sending money. It considers other assets of the developed world and how to more equally distribute them. Of particular interest is developed countries’ possession of technology, especially in the area of computers, and pharmaceuticals. As the developed world continues to advance in these areas, its people live longer and become more sophisticated, educated, and competitive in global markets. Meanwhile, the developing world continues to suffer with preventable and treatable diseases, and lacks the benefits that mobile phone, computers, the Internet, and other technology provides. To end poverty and hunger, the partnership of developed nations must incorporate these less traditional forms of aid.

More information about pharmaceutical assistance, telecommunications, and actually all of Goal 8 – as well as the other MDGs – is available at this UN website.

Conclusion

I started this series of posts by saying that the reasons world hunger exists are complex and interrelated. While that’s very true, the upside is that it also means there are many points of entry and leverage in making a difference. ELCA World Hunger is committed to taking a comprehensive view of the problem of world hunger and tackling it from many directions, including relief, development, education, and advocacy. We hope you’ll join our efforts. To make a donation and/or learn more about how to get involved with ELCA World Hunger, please visit our website at www.elca.org/hunger.

-Nancy Michaelis

This is the sixth post in a series considering the root causes of hunger. The Millennium Development Goals serve as a helpful framework.

Millennium Development Goal 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability

How carefully we manage our natural resources and environment has a direct impact on hunger, especially through issues of employment and health. Here are a few examples:

If we remove fish from our oceans, lakes, and rivers faster than they can reproduce, catches get smaller. As catches get smaller, fisherman make less money and eventually may be driven out of the job altogether. With less income and/or uncertain employment, it is harder to buy food and other necessities. In addition, as we deplete one or more species of fish, it can change the whole ecosystem in that location, affecting additional industries, animals, and people.

When we cut down too many trees too quickly, it exposes soil to erosion. Some of the soil washes away in the rain, causing silting in waterways. Some of it is picked up by wind and carried to other places. In Beijing this month, the sky was orange with dirt. Soil in the air led to a level-five pollution warning, the highest level, with people advised to wear masks and stay indoors. Those with respiratory illnesses were at especially high risk, and people suffering from illness have a difficult time making it to work. In the meantime, where there used to be trees, top soil is lost and root systems no longer hold water, making the land drier, less nutrient-rich, and less able to grow things (like food).

How much garbage did you throw away today? Where will it go? In addition to removing natural resources from the environment, we add many unnatural ones back in. The chemicals. metals, and minerals in our discarded products find their way into the soil and water, which find their way into what we eat and drink. Those who live in poverty and hunger are most vulnerable, as they have fewer resources for acquiring healthier options, and less power to prevent contaminants from being dumped near their homes.

These are just a few examples and a few of the impacts. If you’re interested in learning more, here are some suggestions for additional information that I particularly appreciated:
– The Story of Stuff – a video about consumption and its effects on the environment.
– Collapse, by Jared Diamond – a book that looks at how and why civilizations have caused significant damage to their environments.
– The End of Food, by Paul Roberts – a book that considers how our food production systems affect the environment and us.
– Hot, Flat, and Crowded, by Thomas Friedman – a book that suggests not only how increasing populations and consumerism are a threat to the planet, but also some ideas about how it can be changed.

Do you have additional resources you’d recommend? Please leave a comment!

-Nancy Michaelis

This is the fifth post in a series considering the root causes of hunger. The Millennium Development Goals serve as a helpful framework.

Millennium Development Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and other diseases

Are you familiar with guinea worm disease? It’s a parasitic worm that people get by drinking contaminated water. Here’s what happens to someone who has ingested guinea worm larva. The larva penetrates the stomach walls and grows into a worm as it moves about the body. After about a year, the person gets a painful blister that turns into an open sore. It can happen anywhere on the body, but is often on the legs. The sore can be accompanied by itching, burning, swelling, and fever. Then a full grown worm begins coming out of the sore. It can be up to 3 feet long (!!) and can emerge as little as an inch a day. It is painful and can take weeks to be rid of the whole thing. One of the only ways to relieve the pain (without pain medication, unavailable to many of the afflicted) is to soak the wound in water. This allows the worm to release more larva into the water supply and continue the cycle.

Oh. And you can have more than one worm emerging from different parts of your body at the same time.

I ask: how well would you be able to work or learn during the weeks or months it takes to get the worm(s) out? Would you be able to concentrate? Hold a job? Exercise? Cook meals? Care for your children? At best, a person’s productivity is slowed. At worst, the person is completely debilitated. And if you can’t work, you don’t make money or tend your garden or care for your family. If you can’t learn, you reduce your chances of getting the knowledge you need for a bright future. If a disease like this is afflicting several family or community members at the same time and serially, it can stunt a whole town.

According to the World Health Organization, there were some 50 million cases of guinea worm disease worldwide as recently as the 1950’s. Today, due to a major effort by the international community and affected countries to combat it, the number is under 100,000.  Tremendous progress, but this is just one disease, and many others take a similar toll on the ability of people to make a living, secure food, and end hunger.  What’s more, diseases like guinea worm, malaria, and HIV and AIDS affect the young, most productive workers in a community. In the case of AIDS, not only does productivity slow, but people in their prime working years die, leaving not only a weakened community, but orphans who need support from that community.

In places where people are already hungry and weakened, in places where they must expend inordinate time and energy just to stay alive, in places with minimal access to health care, disease can be the final blow. Helping people maintain their health is a critical component to ending hunger.

-Nancy Michaelis

This is the fourth post in a series considering the root causes of hunger. The Millennium Development Goals serve as a helpful framework.

Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5: Reduce Child Mortality; Improve Maternal Health

Hunger, maternal health, and child mortality form a vicious cycle. Bread for the World’s Frontline Issues in Nutrition Assistance: Hunger Report 2006 (Chapter 3, pg. 77) offers an illustration: A hungry woman is malnourished and lacks good health care. She hasn’t had enough to eat for a long time and is underweight. Now she becomes pregnant. Lacking sufficient food for herself, let alone a baby, she does not gain enough weight or take in enough nutrients for a healthy pregnancy. Between the demands of a growing fetus, insufficient health care, and hunger, her health is further strained. In a state of such physical weakness, her risk of dying during childbirth increases. If she survives, breastfeeding and caring for a baby will make further demands of her body and energy, requiring more food than usual – food that she still doesn’t have.

In the meantime, her baby, lacking adequate nutrition in the womb, is born weighing less than he should. He has a tough start to life. His immune system is weak, so he’s likely to get sick and may not make it to his fifth birthday. If he survives, his physical and mental development may be slowed or even impaired without adequate amounts of milk and food. Without adequately nutrition, as he grows into adolescence and adulthood, he is smaller, weaker, more susceptible to illness, and less productive than he would have been otherwise. This makes it more difficult to maintain employment and secure enough to eat. It is difficult to break out of the cycle of poverty. In the case of a baby girl, the cycle repeats itself with each pregnancy. Sadly, poor maternal health is both a cause and effect of hunger.

On the hopeful side, it is a cycle, which means it can be interrupted. Or even transformed. Appropriate food intake can turn the process from a viscious cycle into a virtuous one. With enough to eat, women are stronger, more able to meet the requirement of pregnancy, and more able to secure food and resources for themselves and their children. Their babies are born healthier, stonger, and more resistant to illness. With properly fueled development, these children grow into fully productive adults, increasing their capacity to maintain employment and feed their own families. Providing food can reduce child mortality, improve maternal health, and eventually, reduce hunger.

-Nancy Michaelis

The following was written by guest author Wesley Menke

———–

I am a youth minister. I am also passionate about issues of world hunger. My greatest hope—vocationally—is to bring these two worlds together. I hope to be a part of empowering a generation of young people to actively live out their faith by ending world hunger. The youth of our church have learned how to serve in New Orleans, they’ve learned how to give at the Souper Bowl of Caring offering, but I wonder if they have learned how to have a prophetic voice.

On January 19 I stood on the Mexican side of the US/Mexico border at the edge of the Pacific. Have you ever seen a 30 foot tall wall run into the ocean? It is bizarre. On this fence hang thousands of small white crosses connected by rope. Each cross represents someone who has died trying to cross the border. This day the wind was blowing and it was stormy. As I walked along the fence I heard the crosses rattling against each other and thumping against the metal fence. This rattling sound reminded me of Ezekiel, a prophet of the Hebrew Bible. God told Ezekiel to prophesy to a valley of dry bones, and Ezekiel responded: “So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone” (Ezekiel 37:7). Then, flesh covers the bones, and eventually the breath of life fills the people.

Many migrants who cross the border die of starvation. But migrants try to cross the border because they are starving to begin with. The result is a valley of dry bones.

God is calling for prophets like Ezekiel. In addition to teaching young people how to give and to serve—two essential traits of Christianity—let’s teach them how to speak prophetically. And like all things the best way to teach is by leading through example.

I discovered more of my own prophetic voice when I visited the border fence during the four days I spent in Mexico in January of this year. I attended the conference, “Developing Hearts that Yearn for Justice” a bi-annual ecumenical and theological conference that takes place in San Diego and Tijuana. I’d like to say thank you to ELCA World Hunger and Transformational World Opportunities for the opportunity to attend.

Wesley Menke is a youth minister at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in San Clemente, CA and first year seminarian seeking ordination in the ELCA.