Starving in the Garden
As Thanksgiving approaches and American families gather around the table, almost 1 in 4 households will have experienced food insecurity this year with the rise of COVID-19 and the economic crisis. This doubles the number of households who experienced food insecurity last year in the U.S.
This is a hard subject to ponder because so many of us are blessed to be surrounded with an abundance of food. But, many children here and even more in developing nations around the world are asking, “Can I even eat today?” Every day, parents have to wrestle with how to tell their children that they must go to bed with empty stomachs, again.
The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a massive toll on the U.S. economy, and it has wreaked havoc on the global food supply. The virus has made already scarce food sources even less accessible to those living in poverty.
While many in the U.S. aren’t sure where their next meal will come from, it is estimated that more than 265 million worldwide will be facing a food crisis by the end of this year.
For Guatemala, a Central American country roughly the size of Tennessee, the reality of food insecurity already existed before any of us ever heard of the coronavirus.
Now, they are facing a second crisis: extreme food shortage
Due to plummeting employment and decreased welfare aid, it is estimated that 1.2 million Guatemalans are in need of emergency food rations. For impoverished families, the story only worsens. This reality has dramatically increased chronic malnutrition across the country and, sadly, children are suffering the most.
According to the World Bank, 59% of Guatemalans live below the poverty line without consistent access to food. To combat this, children who were part of the public education system received at least one meal per day at their local schools.
Government-funded programs allowed meals to be prepared on-location, but, unfortunately, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, all schools have remained closed since March 15th.
Government funds and critical resources that were once accessible through these programs have been re-distributed, and, as a result, most school-aged children have been left without access to their only guaranteed daily meal.
Guatemala is ranked by the World Bank as the country with the 6th highest level of chronic malnutrition in children under 5. On top of that, over 80% of the indigenous Mayan population suffer from malnutrition. This is a direct result of extreme poverty and a diet based on cheaply acquired maize.
Though their country is agriculturally rich, most of the produce is exported, leaving locals with only the shell of what is produced. As a result, Guatemalans are essentially ‘starving in the garden,’ causing irreversible damage to people’s development and future.
The effects of COVID-19 have devastated impoverished Guatemalan families without them even catching the virus. Massive employment cuts have created a serious lack of resources, low agricultural productivity, and a steep rise in fuel and food prices. Mayan families have lost almost 50% of their crops, causing malnutrition rates to skyrocket since July.
According to the Guatemalan Ministry of Health, malnutrition rates tripled in just five short months between January and May of 2020. When you read the facts, it’s easy to feel the overwhelming sense of loss this country is facing.
For the past two decades, our organization, the Shalom Foundation, has been pouring resources into the fight against hunger and malnutrition in Guatemala.
Our Nashville-based non-profit has launched a social enterprise in Guatemala City that develops ready-to-eat peanut-based nutritional products as a response to the growing chronic malnutrition crisis the country is facing.
Starving families across Guatemala have literally been waving white flags outside of their homes as a call for help. In response to this, The Shalom Foundation has created the White Flag Survival Kit initiative to provide critical aid to the country’s most vulnerable.
The need to find a solution for preventing malnutrition in Guatemala is vital. We don’t have the luxury of sitting back and doing nothing when children are literally starving.
Vulnerable families don’t have the resources they need to survive, so it has become my personal mission to change their reality by educating as many people as possible on the issue of global hunger. Together we can change this – one child at a time.
In the midst of these trying times, it’s encouraging to see global hunger issues begin to get the recognition they so desperately need.
With the World Food Programme receiving The Nobel Peace Prize in October 2020 for their fight against global hunger, nutrition-based organizations like The Shalom Foundation are hopeful and encouraged to continue the mission to eradicate food insecurity worldwide – starting with Guatemala.
We’re hopeful that as our collective voices are raised, our senators and congressmen in Tennessee will take note and support the continuation of U.S. global health leadership for the eradication of global hunger as a shared responsibility among all nations.
As we enter into the Thanksgiving season, we invite you to reflect on how blessed so many of us are during the holidays, even amid this COVID-19 pandemic.
During this time, let’s remember our brothers and sisters struggling with food insecurity around the world.
Steve Moore is chairman and founder of The Shalom Foundation.