World Food Day 2022 with CARE

World Food Day 2022 with CARE

Hello World Moms!  

We are back this week from our extended summer break and have been up and running behind the scenes in October planning out our next year! Today, we have a special call to action for World Food Day…read on!

Sunday, October 16, 2022, I was in Philadelphia with the CARE foundation for World Food Day at the hip Taiwanese restaurant, Bao·logy, with the amazingly talented and inspirational Chef Judy. And I don’t use those adjectives lightly – Judy’s bao buns, dumplings, noodles, and more were delicious!

Local public servants, CARE volunteers, and people working on humanitarian initiatives that help feed those who need it most in Philadelphia attended the event. There, Chef Judy encouraged guests to join together to help eliminate hunger and powerfully stated that we’re “under-resourcing our most important resources, our people.” Now that Chef Judy and CARE have sounded the alarm and called us to action this World Food Day, I’m calling YOU to action, too. But first, let’s take a deeper look at what food insecurity looks like in my home country, the U.S., and globally. I’ll also provide some simple tips about how we can all help reach SDG #2 from our own corners of the world!

What is the current food insecurity situation in the U.S.?

In 2021 89.8% of the U.S. population was food secure, leaving 10.2% of the population not being able to meet their nutritional requirements. Maybe you think 10.2% sounds small? – Well, that is the equivalent of 13.5 million households, or the 33.8 million Americans living in them, that need food. 

To put it into perspective, that is about only 4 million people less than the ENTIRE population of Canada OR about the same as the entire populations of the countries of Peru or Saudi Arabia!!! This is not ok.

Even though the percentage of food insecure households has decreased slightly in recent years ( in 10.5 % in both, 2020 and 2019, and 11.1% in 2018), we are still leaving way too many people unfed in the United State.

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Graph from: https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-in-the-u-s/key-statistics-graphics/

White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health and the Farm Bill

At Sunday’s event I learned that there was a recent White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health on September 28th. The U.S. government coordinated with leading companies and organizations around the country to tackle the nation’s food insecurity state by state. President Biden is planning to put the U.S. back on track to eliminate national hunger and reduce diet-related diseases such as, diabetes, obesity and hypertension by 2030. 

Some examples are Bowery (an indoor vertical farming company) forging new partnerships with hunger relief organizations increasing its produce donations by thousands of pounds, Chobani’s adopting of 3 schools to end food insecurity and also launching a program to encourage the adoption of 50 schools by additional businesses across the country, Google making the search for SNAP benefits more easily accessible, and the American Academy of Pediatricians focusing on training all of its doctors to better identify malnutrition and referring patients to helpful resources. Organizations are attacking the problem in all different creative ways. Here is a full list of what was pledged at the conference.

Additionally, in the U.S. the Farm Bill, originally passed in Congress in 1930 as part of the New Deal, is also up to be refunded for 2023. It’s original three main goals were: 

“Keep food prices fair for farmers and consumers.

Ensure an adequate food supply.

Protect and sustain the country’s vital natural resources.” 

 Today, the Farm Bill impacts “a multitude of topics, such as health care, poverty, climate change and school foods.” Refunding this legislation is important to farmers and national nutrition programs. 

What does Food Insecurity Look Like Globally?

With all the focus on the U.S., you may be wondering where your country or the entire planet stands when it comes to food security. According to a Standing Together for Nutrition study, in 2019, the UN World Food Programme estimated that 150 million people in 81 different countries needed food assistance. In February of 2022, it rose to 276 million people. The agency predicts that number to increase to 323 million this year alone! 

Sadly, the planet is not on track to reach Sustainable Development Goal #2, to eliminate hunger and all forms of malnutrition by 2030. According to CARE, recent global events such as 1/3 of Pakistan being flooded and staggering inflation in Lebanon ameliorate the global hunger situation. Not to mention, the strains on the global grain supply from the war in Ukraine.

The Global Food Security Reauthorization Act

This past July, I was on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. lobbying U.S. Congress with a fellow CARE advocate, Christina Nhankundela of Mozambique. CARE works in over 100 countries servicing over 90 million people in over 1300 projects relating to crisis, food and water, health, education and work, climate, and equality. Christina and I were both part of an even bigger movement of over 200 CARE advocates (including World Mom, Cindy Levin, too!) on the hill asking our senators and representatives to support the reauthorization of the Global Food Security Act

The Global Food Security Act runs out in 2023 and is not emergency food funding. It provides sustainable programs to mostly women globally. Not only is the act keeping people fed, which is just the right thing to do, but it is a fantastic example of the U.S. working together from both political aisles to make a humanitarian impact. 

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CARE Advocates Christina Nhankundela from Mozambique and Jennifer Burden of the USA lobbied US Congress in July 2022 in support of the reauthorization of the Global Food Security Act.

Think Globally, Act Locally to Meet SDG #2

So, you may be thinking now what you can do from home to help the world reach SDG #2. Here are some ideas! 

1) You can join CARE as a local advocate or donate. 

2) Contact your domestic government representatives to tell them why you think it’s important to eliminate hunger in your country or globally! And ask them what they are doing about it! 

For example, if you’re in the U.S., you can call and write your Congress members to support the Farm Bill and the Global Food Insecurity Reauthorization Act and vote in November for Congress members who support the legislation. Not sure where your representatives or candidates stand on eliminating hunger and what food related policies they support? Pick up the phone, call them, Tweet them, Instagram message them, ask in a Facebook comment, show up at a campaign event — whatever it takes — just ask!

3) And wherever you are on the planet, you can coordinate a local food drive, donate to your local food bank, or find ways in which you can help local organizations carry out the work to help feed people in your community. For example, I will be helping my daughter’s Girl Scout troop organize a local food drive soon to help supply our local food bank.

I hope you will join the World Moms in our call to action, doing what you can when you can, to help feed the people who need it most! Please tell us in the comments or on social media what step you took! We want to hear from you!

This is an original post to World Moms Network from founder, Jennifer Burden, of New Jersey, USA.

Come check out our TikTok (Hey, did you know we’re on TikTok? We are just beginning over there, so give us a follow!), InstagramTwitter, and Facebook posts about what the World Moms have been up to!  

Jennifer Burden

Jennifer Burden is the Founder and CEO of World Moms Network, an award winning website on global motherhood, culture, human rights and social good. World Moms Network writes from over 30 countries, has over 70 contributors and was listed by Forbes as one of the “Best 100 Websites for Women”, named a “must read” by The New York Times, and was recommended by The Times of India. She was also invited to Uganda to view UNICEF’s family health programs with Shot@Life and was previously named a “Global Influencer Fellow” and “Social Media Fellow” by the UN Foundation. Jennifer was invited to the White House twice, including as a nominated "Changemaker" for the State of the World Women Summit. She also participated in the One Campaign’s first AYA Summit on the topic of women and girl empowerment and organized and spoke on an international panel at the World Bank in Washington, DC on the importance of a universal education for all girls. Her writing has been featured by Baby Center, Huffington Post, ONE.org, the UN Foundation’s Shot@Life, and The Gates Foundation’s “Impatient Optimists.” She is currently a candidate in Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs in the Executive Masters of Public Affairs program, where she hopes to further her study of global policies affecting women and girls. Jennifer can be found on Twitter @JenniferBurden.

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CANADA: What Kind Of Mother Am I?

CANADA: What Kind Of Mother Am I?

A few years ago, I went on a retreat for moms of kids with disabilities. I remember being a little skeptical when I signed up: the word “retreat” conjured up mental images of doing yoga, eating nothing but root vegetables, and spending great swathes of time alone in the great outdoors (which is not bad in itself, but it was winter and freezing cold, and the retreat was on the shores of a lake).

The reality turned out to be very different. About twenty of us spent the weekend doing journaling exercises and talking about our lives and the things that were making us feel overwhelmed.

Our stories were all very different, but a common theme ran through all of our narratives: all of us were fantastic at taking care of our families, but we were hopeless at taking care of ourselves.

We were all so caught up in our roles as special needs parents that we never had the time to just be.

A few days ago, while I was frantically scrabbling for the notes I needed to meet a deadline for a client, I came across my scribbled notes from that weekend. The notes included a journal exercise, in which we were asked to write as many sentences as we could that started with the phrase, “I am the kind of mother that…”

It was quite an insightful exercise, and it was quite cathartic. It helped me identify those little gold nuggets that make parenting truly special, as well as the more difficult aspects that needed to be acknowledged and, where possible, changed. Here are the sentences that I came up with, many of which are still true today.

I am the kind of mother that…

…feels guilty about all of the hours she spends working instead of being with her children.

…yells in frustration when things get overwhelming.

…does most of the chores around the house, just so they get done, even though it is exhausting.

…goes to sleep too late and wakes up too early.

…snaps at strangers who stare and say rude things.

…tries to see the positive in even the worst situations.

…takes care of everyone before herself, even though she has her own needs that go unmet.

…blames herself when things go wrong.

…hugs the kids anytime they want, day or night.

…never sends the kids to bed when there is anger or sadness.

…tries hard to be an advocate for her kids in the school system.

…worries about whether her kids are eating healthily enough.

…pretends she needs to pee, just to get a couple of minutes alone.

…sometimes longs for the kids’ bedtime.

…sometimes cleans up the kids’ messes because it’s easier than trying to make them do it themselves.

How would you finish that sentence? What are some of the things that shape your life as a mother?

This is an original post to World Moms Network by Kirsten Doyle. Photo credit to the author.

Kirsten Doyle (Canada)

Kirsten Doyle was born in South Africa. After completing university, she drifted for a while and finally washed up in Canada in 2000. She is Mom to two boys who have reached the stage of eating everything in sight (but still remaining skinny).

Kirsten was a computer programmer for a while before migrating into I.T. project management. Eventually she tossed in the corporate life entirely in order to be a self-employed writer and editor. She is now living her best life writing about mental health and addictions, and posting videos to two YouTube channels.

When Kirsten is not wrestling with her kids or writing up a storm, she can be seen on Toronto's streets putting many miles onto her running shoes. Every year, she runs a half-marathon to benefit children with autism, inspired by her older son who lives life on the autism spectrum.

Final piece of information: Kirsten is lucky enough to be married to the funniest guy in the world.

Connect with her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Be sure to check out her YouTube channels at My Gen X Life and Word Salad With Coffee!

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WORLD VOICE: #NepalEarthquake – How Can You Contribute?

WORLD VOICE: #NepalEarthquake – How Can You Contribute?

Nepal_Earthquake_2015_05

As an Indian, writing about the #NepalEarthquake today, I have to share a few interesting facts about the Indo-Nepal relationship. An Indian National does not need a VISA to travel to Nepal, and an Indian National does not need even a passport to enter Nepal.

An Indian National only needs some sort of ID card on him to show that he is in an Indian National. And then he is free to come and go.

That is the level of friendship, comradeship, and mutual trust and confidence the countries have on each other. It is just like traveling to another state within India.

location-map-of-earthquake-on-25-april-2015-in-entire-india

location-map-of-earthquake-on-25-april-2015-in-entire-india

It was a great shock to hear about the earthquake on Saturday April 25th. On this date, Nepal was hit by earthquake of a 7.8 magnitude that has killed over 7000 people. The death toll is unfortunately estimated to increase up to 10,000 as rescue efforts span out to remote regions of the epicentre. Nepal has experienced over 50+ aftershocks of 4.5 magnitudes or higher after the initial earthquake.

The injured are in need of desperate medical attention. Countless have lost their homes and are on streets in need of food, water, and medical supplies.

Buildings collapsed in Siliguri, North India

Buildings collapsed in Siliguri, North India

I was traveling in North India when I learned about the #NepalEarthquake. Some parts of Delhi, Lucknow, Bihar (all in India) felt the tremors and aftershocks. At least 60 people were killed in North India and more than 100 injured during this period. I frantically checked for all my friends in North India and Nepal. I even got a call from my friend and fellow World Mom, The Human Rights Warrior, Jennifer Prestholdt to help contact the school in Nepal that her organization works closely with. Major telecom provider #Airtel had made all calls free from India to Nepal. You can read her story about when she finally got the news she was hoping for, and when she read the text message “All our SPCS family r safe,” from Anoop Poudel, headmaster at the Sankhu-Palubari Community School (SPCS) in Nepal.

Aftermath and rubble

Aftermath and rubble

Indian government’s Operation Maitri (meaning friendship) aptly called so, has started helping within 15 minutes of the earthquake.

Organizations like Save the Children, Red Cross, UNICEF, WFP and Care are on the ground with supplies and volunteers. These organizations have teams on the ground and are the most capable in immediate rescue and relief work.

1. Save the Children

Save the Children is an international charity that has been in Nepal since 1976. In fact, when the earthquake hit, there were nearly 500 of their aid workers, mostly Nepalese, on the ground who were already doing work in the area. This was a great help when there were difficulties with the airport at first, according to Carolyn Miles, President and CEO of Save the Children. Also, 10% of funds are going to preparations for future disasters. You can donate to their Nepal Earthquake Children’s Relief Fund.

2. Red Cross

The Red Cross has committed an initial $300,000 of aid as well as 19,000 non-food relief kits. You can donate to the Red Cross Nepal Earthquake Relief Fund.

3. Global Giving

Online fund-raising platform Global Giving is running a project to raise $1,000,000 for disaster relief in Nepal and has raised over $570,000 so far.

To make a donation, visit Global Giving here. If you have a U.S. cell phone, you can text GIVE NEPAL to 80088 to make a $10 donation.

4. Friends Service Council Nepal

FSCN is a Nepalese NGO with over 20 years of experience in supporting disaster relief efforts for disasters in Nepal. If you want to give directly to a local charity, get in contact and a volunteer will explain how best to transfer money to them.

5. Oxfam

Oxfam, which works in more than 90 countries, has already dispatched technical experts from the U.K. to Nepal.

To make your donation to Oxfam’s relief effort, go here.

6. Goonj

Goonj is an Indian relief agency with 11 offices and more than 300 employees. Currently, Goonj is readying two trucks of relief material to transfer to Nepal, with more urgent supplies going by air. For more information about how to donate, visit their website.

Additionally, you could also consider donating at the following links/websites.

Sarvodaya USA: Which is a Madison, WI based non-profit organization. They have done some good work in Nepal and Sri Lanka. They now have volunteers helping in relief work.

UNICEF

World Food Program

Care

Global Outreach Doctors

There are local organizations that are on ground taking care of the survivors and injured. If you wish to make contributions to these organizations, please visit their website below.

Nepal ko Yuwa

And you could contribute too, in other ways, by sending your prayers, thoughts of love, unity and world brotherhood to all of them affected there, the survivors and the long passed souls. Let us pray for some peace.

This is an original post from our World Mom and Senior Editor in India, Purnima Ramakrishnan.

Her contributions to World Moms Blog can be found here. She also rambles at The Alchemist’s Blog.

Photo credit to  Krish Dulal Creative Commons, Deccan Chronicle, Maps of India, European pressphoto Agency.

Article has been written with inputs from author’s friend having close ties with relatives on field in Nepal, Time.com and local Indian TV News channels.

Purnima Ramakrishnan

Purnima Ramakrishnan is an UNCA award winning journalist and the recipient of the fellowship in Journalism by International Reporting Project, John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Her International reports from Brazil are found here .

She is also the recipient of the BlogHer '13 International Activist Scholarship Award .

She is a Senior Editor at World Moms Blog who writes passionately about social and other causes in India. Her parental journey is documented both here at World Moms Blog and also at her personal Blog, The Alchemist's Blog. She can be reached through this page .

She also contributes to Huffington Post .

Purnima was once a tech-savvy gal who lived in the corporate world of sleek vehicles and their electronics. She has a Master's degree in Electronics Engineering, but after working for 6 years as a Design Engineer, she decided to quit it all to become a Stay-At-Home-Mom to be with her son!
 
This smart mom was born and raised in India, and she has moved to live in coastal India with her husband, who is a physician, and her son who is in primary grade school.  

She is a practitioner and trainer of Heartfulness Meditation.

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SOCIAL GOOD: Could You Be a Foster Parent?

ChildWe are pleased to share a guest post with you this week from the founders of “Meaningful Volunteer“, a 100% non-profit organization based in Canada that empowers international volunteers to make a meaningful difference in developing communities around the world. Malcolm and Megin Alvarez had a very unique comment that changed their perspective and their life. Their story on fostering is inspiring!

When women thrive, all of society benefits, and succeeding generations are given a better start in life.   — Kofi Annan

Building schools or building businesses and then handing them over to the locals in developing communities  is very satisfying.  At Meaningful Volunteer, we build solar powered schools in developing countries.  That’s what we do and that’s how we empower women. (more…)

World Moms Blog

World Moms Blog is an award winning website which writes from over 30 countries on the topics of motherhood, culture, human rights and social good. Over 70 international contributors share their stories from around the globe, bonded by the common thread of motherhood and wanting a better world for their children.

World Moms Blog was listed by Forbes Woman as one of the "Best 100 Websites for Women 2012 & 2013" and also called a "must read" by the NY Times Motherlode in 2013. Our Senior Editor in India, Purnima Ramakrishnan, was awarded the BlogHer International Activist Award in 2013.

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Friday Question: What recent journey have you helped your child(ren) take?

This week’s Friday Question comes from World Moms Blog writer, The Alchemist.  She asked our writers,

“What recent journey have you helped your child(ren) take?”

Check out what some of our World Moms had to say…

Maggie Ellison of South Carolina, USA writes:
“I taught my son to read before he went into kindergarten because he wanted to know how to do it.  I just followed his lead and guided him to the next level.  When he started kindergarten last year, he was on a 1st grade and 3 month level.  They had a 100 book challenge at school, so every school night we read at least 2 books.  By the end of the year, he wanted to reach his goal of 300 books.  He read over the 300 mark and was so proud of himself.  We celebrated with him!! What a huge accomplishment!!” (more…)

World Moms Blog

World Moms Blog is an award winning website which writes from over 30 countries on the topics of motherhood, culture, human rights and social good. Over 70 international contributors share their stories from around the globe, bonded by the common thread of motherhood and wanting a better world for their children.

World Moms Blog was listed by Forbes Woman as one of the "Best 100 Websites for Women 2012 & 2013" and also called a "must read" by the NY Times Motherlode in 2013. Our Senior Editor in India, Purnima Ramakrishnan, was awarded the BlogHer International Activist Award in 2013.

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