Ikeda 1

Megan Ikeda
U.S. Government P3
Burchett
23 October 2015
Help the Hungry
Celebrity Chef Tom Colicchio once said, I think having enough food to eat is a basic
human right (Browning). As Colicchio advocates that food is a right, millions of people
around the world are stripped of this. To be precise, around 800 million people around the world
suffer from hunger and severe malnutrition, where ninety five percent of these people live in
developing countries (Overview). While this is a large problem, the United States is doing little
to help to solve this problem. Currently, about sixteen percent of the federal budget goes towards
defense spending (Defense). In comparison, less than one percent is being spent on foreign aid
(The Solution). Despite this statistic, U.S. citizens often have a false perception about the
amount of money spent on foreign aid, thinking that the U.S. spends too much money helping
other countries. Thus, the Ikeda Hunger Act of 2015 has the goal of reducing hunger by
diverting defense funds into a program that provides solutions to end hunger internationally.
Money should be diverted from the Department of Defense into USAID because helping the
malnourished will improve economies, food is a necessity for human life, and because of the
effect on children who will be the future global leaders and work force.
As an economy often affects the lives of citizens, prevalent hunger in developing
countries has a strong correlation on these countrys economies, thus affecting trade with the
United States. Professor William W. Murdoch once wrote about the relationship between foreign

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aid and countries in need of economic growth. After analyzing the factors for general economic
development, he proclaimed, Basic changes within developing countries must be accompanied
by changes in their relationships with rich nations (Murdoch). Murdoch discusses that rich
nations have the ability to provide the necessities and basic changes for improved economic
development in third world countries that suffer with high poverty and hunger rates. If these
basic necessities were to be provided, the symptoms of poverty can slowly diminish. Similar to
Murlochs opinion, research shows that in developing countries, hunger has a negative effect on
the economy, which then prolongs poverty (Sustaining). While poverty continues to worsen, so
do economies. Providing aid to foreign developing countries can help to boost their economy
through including more people in the work force. At the same time, rich nations can also benefit
themselves from aiding foreign countries. Recently, Britains strong foreign aid has benefitted
its economy. The United Kingdom has been increasing its foreign aid and international
development. The effects of this have been an increased amount of jobs to people, and
opportunities to earn a living for themselves. Therefore, economies are then growing in foreign
countries, creating new countries for Britain to trade with (Mitchell). By aiding those in poverty
as well as those in need of food, Britain is benefitting those who need help, as well as the helper.
Therefore, if the United States increased its aid, its likely that the outcome may be similar to that
of Britains. In relation to this, economies of developing countries benefit from aid because this
aid improves nutrition. Studies show that improving nutrition creates better workforce
productivity (Morris). This workforce productivity is vital to an economy, as it leads to the job
production, higher incomes, and thus more money to spend on consumption, improving the
economy of a country. Where foreign aid assists the lives of hungry individuals, it can
additionally assist a country, and the countrys impact on the world through trade. As food has

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an effect on the economies of countries, it also has a direct effect on the health and life quality of
individuals.
Its logical to conclude that without food, humans would die as it is a basic necessity to
sustain life. As stated by the LIVESTRONG website, without proper nutrition, your body
doesnt survive (Mack). While this is a basic concept that is commonly known, many people
also dont know that there are lasting effects if one does not have proper nutrition. Despite this
common knowledge, around eight hundred million people are hungry and lack the means of
accessing food. These people who suffer from malnutrition are the symptoms of poverty. The
lasting effects of poverty include a decrease in work productivity, overall health, and increase
chances of not surviving deadly diseases. In addition, hunger has a greater health impact on
health than malaria, AIDS, and tuberculosis combined (Hunger). The prevalence of hunger that
is found largely in developing countries clearly leads to death and makes people more
susceptible to catching deadly diseases. Thus, it leaves people in a cycle of poverty, where their
poverty and hunger is only passed down to their children. Each human deserves to eat in order
to survive. While the cycle of poverty seems difficult to fix, ending poverty and hunger seems
more costly than it is. In The End of Poverty, author Jeffrey Sachs claims that the United States
could end poverty by only using five percent of the federal budget (Sachs). If only five percent
of the U.S. budget would end poverty, the percent to end hunger would be near that, as hunger is
only one of the effects of poverty (Sustaining). While millions remain hungry, ending hunger is
achievable, and developing nations should strive to help keep millions of people alive. Millions
around the globe lack a basic necessity to live, and this conflict is passed down to future
generations, creating a devastating effect on the future working generations.

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Children become our future leaders, workforce, innovators, and more. They are our
future, and they are the people who will bring change into the world. However, it is a problem
when 3.1 million children each year are dying due to a lack of nutrition (Hunger Statistics). This
large number corresponds with the large majority of children from this statistic that comes from
developing countries, where hunger is most prevalent. However, these are not the only children
affected. Around the world, twenty five percent of the children are underweight (Morris). In
total, this means that one child out of every four, will be forced face the negative effects on their
ability to learn, their growth, and their health. Combined, this effects their life chances. They
will be less likely to be chosen for a job due to early childhood development issues, as they must
compete with those who are stronger and have been well-fed their entire lives. Children who
also suffer from hunger tend to earn less money. Thus, they are more susceptible to remaining
hungry or remaining in poverty throughout their lives (Morris). While these children will face
poverty and fewer life opportunities, those who survive hunger and suffer from long term affects
are luckier than other hungry children. Hunger is the cause for fifty percent of child deaths in
developing countries (Global). In addition, Morris claims that ninety-five percent of people
who are hungry come from third world countries (Morris). With these drastic statistics, it is clear
that aid is needed in developing countries due to the prevailing hunger. A large number of people
in poorer countries cannot work and contribute to growth of the country if they remain in poverty
and are unable to find job opportunities, or are not chosen for jobs because they are weaker.
Ending hunger can help contribute to the cycle of poverty by helping the youth gain a larger
socio-economic status, and join the work force. It can help the developing countries raise an
average of living per person, and therefore help millions of individuals. While these statistics
and research show that money going towards ending world hunger is beneficial to millions of

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people and suffering children, common incorrect perceptions about aid persist, diminishing
progress towards aiding the malnourished.
For decades, the United States has involved itself in trade, wars, and aid towards other
countries. International diplomacy plays a large role in the U.S. economy and politics. In
todays society, a large amount of United States citizens think that the U.S. government gives too
much money to foreign aid. It is true that developed countries spent 128 billion dollars on
foreign aid in 2012 (Myths). However, study shows that only five percent of people asked in a
survey knew the correct amount to how much the United States spent on foreign aid (Guess).
The correct answer in the survey was that the U.S. spends less than one percent of its budget on
foreign aid. In contrast, the U.S. spends over 500 billion USD on defense (Department).
Additionally, in comparison to other countries, the United States is ranked fourth in the world for
overall amount of resources given to foreign aid (Egendorf). Overall, statistics prove that U.S.
citizens have a misconception about foreign aid, and that the amount of foreign aid in
comparison to the total U.S. budget is miniscule, and that the U.S. does not spend as much as
some other countries. Another belief is that current population growth is too large, and there just
isnt enough food to feed everybody. While it is true that population is growing rapidly in both
developing and developed countries, this belief is wrong. Most countries with its people
suffering from malnutrition have a food surplus (Shah). Therefore, there is a sufficient amount
of food to feed everybody, but enough socio-economic inequality to create a social class gap
wide enough to strip the poor of a basic necessity to live. Overall, the United States society has
several misconceptions about foreign aid which negatively impact the amount of money being
spent towards helping other countries.

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If money is diverted from the U.S. Department of Defense into helping to aid the
malnourished across the globe, it well help the economies and trade of both developed and
developing countries, it will provide a basic necessity to sustain life for millions of people, and
will help the future generations of a low socio-economic status join the workforce and contribute
to the economy of their country. The United States spends hundreds of billions on defense
spending, and has done so for decades. Meanwhile, less than one percent of the federal budget is
given to foreign aid. Millions of people are in desperate need of aid in order to survive, to get
out of the despairing cycle of poverty, and to benefit their children. The first step to helping
these people is through attempting to end hunger by aiding third world countries. Diverting
funds into USAID in order to help the malnourished in foreign countries should be occur in order
to accomplish goals of ending global hunger and saving millions of lives.

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Works Cited
Browning-Blas, Kristen. "Food Documentary." The Denver Post. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2015.
<http://www.denverpost.com/ci_22716732/place-at-table-examines-hunger-colorado-nation>.
"Defense and National Security." Congressional Budget Office. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2015.
<https://www.cbo.gov/taxonomy/term/17/featured>.
"Department of Defense." The White House. The White House, n.d. Web. 20 Sept. 2015.
<https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb>.
"Global Hunger and Food Security Initiative: Consultation Document." U.S. Department of
State. U.S. Department of State, 28 Sept. 2009. Web. 20 Sept. 2015.
<http://www.state.gov/s/globalfoodsecurity/129952.htm>.
"Guess How Much." NPR. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2015.
<http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2015/02/10/383875581/guess-how-much-ofuncle-sams-money-goes-to-foreign-aid-guess-again>.
"Hunger." World Food Programme. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2015.
<https://www.wfp.org/hunger>.
Hunger Statistics | WFP | United Nations World Food Programme - Fighting Hunger
Worldwide." Hunger Statistics. World Food Programme, n.d. Web. 15 Sept. 2015.
< https://www.wfp.org/hunger/stats>.
Mitchell, Andrew. "Spending More on Foreign Aid Makes Britain Richer, Safer and Morally
Better." The Telegraph. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2015.
<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/greenpolitics/developingworld/11463658/Spendingmore-on-foreign-aid-makes-Britain-richer-safer-and-morally-better.html>.

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Morris, James T. The Economic Impact of Hunger (2004): 1-6. Web. 15 Oct. 2015.
< http://documents.wfp.org/stellent/groups/public/documents/newsroom/wfp076510.pdf>.
Mack, Stan. "Why Does the Human Body Need Food to Survive?" Livestrong. N.p., n.d. Web.
<http://www.livestrong.com/article/466201-why-does-the-human-body-need-food-tosurvive/>.
Murdoch, William W. "The poverty of nations: The political economy of hunger and population."
(1980).
< http://www.popline.org/node/467856>.
"Myths About Aid." Giving What We Can. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2015.
<https://www.givingwhatwecan.org/get-involved/myths-about-aid>.
"Overview of World Hunger." Students Against Hunger. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2015.
<http://studentsagainsthunger.org/page/hhp/overview-world-hunger>.
"Sustaining Feed the Future Progress." Sustaining Feed the Future Progress. N.p., n.d. Web. 20
Sept. 2015.
< https://www.usaid.gov/sustaining-ftf-progress>.
Shah, Anup. "Population and Feeding the World." Global Issues. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2015
< http://www.globalissues.org/article/200/population-and-feeding-the-world>.
"The Solution." Malaria No More. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2015.
<https://www.malarianomore.org/pages/the-solution>.

Book Sources
Egendorf, Laura K. The Third World. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven, 2000. Print.

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Sachs, Jeffrey. The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time. New York: Penguin,
2005. Print.