Sonja Egeland Kelly

As I shift my thoughts toward turkey and stuffing and gravy and green beans and pumpkin pie and cranberries and abundance, I cannot help but think of those that have none. The almost three billion people who live on less than $2 per day have a difficult time getting enough food.

I spent yesterday with a group of high schoolers who were just starting to understand human needs and global inequalities. As we discussed what we could do to help people in our neighborhood who had little, one of the girls piped up with, “I mean, I know my Mom said it to me growing up, but it’s true! We need to start sending food over to those starving kids in Africa!” I probably would have said the same thing in high school.

But then I learned about how dangerous food aid can be to local food markets. And I learned how this practice is disproportionately generous to American farmers who are able to sell their bumper crops and maintain a low supply to demand ratio. And I heard Roger Thurow and Scott Kilman talk about their new book Enough. And I read about the food market crisis in the Economist.

I realize now, as an adult, that the issue is at once more complex but also more simple than we think it is. More complex because there is more at fault than supply and demand and aid and public policy. But more simple because there IS enough food in the world to feed everyone.

This Thanksgiving, therefore, I am not thinking that I should pack up the mashed potatoes and send them over to Africa. I am wondering how I can encourage and support efforts to empower those living in poverty to feed themselves.