A child dies of hunger every five seconds. That means a child has died of hunger since you started reading this. People are dying all over the world due to hunger related causes. The worst aspect about this is that we have the ability to stop it. There are many obstacles, though, such as transportation and politics. World hunger is a horrible problem, but it can be solved or greatly reduced.

In many third world countries where a lot of the population is suffering from malnourishment, surplus food is actually produced. Industrialized countries also produce surplus food. If there is so much surplus food and people are still hungry, then where is all of it going? These third world countries sell the food overseas. This shows that hunger is not due to the world not producing enough food. In fact, everybody in the world can be provided with 3,500 calories a day. The problem is distributing the food properly among the population.

In some places, twenty-five cents can buy a child all the nutrients they need for a day. If this is true, then why are so many people starving? Why can't industrialized places like America help them? I think the answer is simple: people. We do send food, but in many cases it doesn't get to whom it was intended for. This is because of politics. Armed conflict can prevent people from receiving food aid. I think that this is silly. Political quarrels should be set aside for the greater good. At least countries with conflict should allow help to reach their malnourished population.

Although all of these points contribute to the problem, the real issue to consider is where money is spent. The amount paid to buy one missile could provide lunch for a school of children for five years. This means that countries are paying to support pointless conflict instead of paying to keep their people alive. This may make you wonder, which is more important; living or winning?

Some people think hunger will always be in the world. They think that with 7 billion people in the world and 840 million of them malnourished, even Plumpy'nut (an organization giving a peanut butter substance to malnourished babies) won't help. This is the way of thinking that gets nothing done. Procrastinating and thinking that maybe someone else will work it out won't do anything. The world needs to team up to get things done.

Contrary to popular belief, world hunger is not due to a scarcity of food. It is due to countries not having their priorities straight. Every single person can make a difference by donating and helping those in need. If we confront and educate people about this problem, we can work to stop hunger. Hopefully, in a next generation, the world will be educated about this problem and working to help others.