On World Food Day, McGovern Renews Call to End Hunger In U.S. and Around the World

Worcester, MA, October 16, 2015

Today, Congressman Jim McGovern (MA-02), Ranking Member of the Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on Nutrition, and Democratic Co-Chair of the House Hunger Caucus and the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, released the following statement in recognition of World Food Day. Established to commemorate the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in 1945, World Food Day also serves as a time to bring attention to global development and humanitarian programs that fight hunger, malnutrition, and extreme poverty.

“With the advances of today’s global agriculture, there is no excuse for the world hunger we currently see. Whether in the U.S. or anywhere else in the world, no child or family should have to wonder where their next meal will come from.

“Unfortunately, tens of millions of individuals in America and hundreds of millions across the globe face that challenge every day.

In America alone, 48.1 million individuals suffer from food insecurity, including 15.3 million children. Globally, 805 million people feel the effects of hunger day in and day out. This is unacceptable. We, as a nation and as a global population, need to acknowledge that the right to adequate food is a basic human right. 

Solving hunger must be a shared goal. In the U.S., we need to strengthen our investment in SNAP and other anti-hunger programs, and continue to work with a broad coalition of anti-hunger organizations. Globally, we need to work with our international partners, the business community, NGOs and universities to effectively combat, and eventually end, hunger across the world. 

“Together we are making progress in fighting hunger as the world is beginning to meet anti-hunger goals. The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals include the goal of ending hunger by 2030. Solving hunger is possible in our lifetime and I am proud to support this ambitious goal.

“I will continue to fight against hunger to ensure that everyone in the U.S. and around the world has access to the basic human right of adequate food and food security. On this World Food Day, I urge my fellow members of Congress to join me in this fight to end hunger now.”