FIGHT AGAINST WORLD HUNGER BEGINS AT HOME

It's unsettling to watch reports of the starving in Somalia, especially the fragile, wide-eyed children who don't understand the politics of food. But hunger is not limited to the far reaches of the world.

The current recession has forced more Americans out of work; others have had to learn to live with less. The work of food banks such as FISH become all the more critical during economic hard times. There is no single profile of FISH recipients. They are elderly; single mothers; unemployed; and even those working who can't make a sufficient salary to meet all their needs.

FISH is gearing up for its annual fall drive, and it couldn't come at a better time the cupboard is nearly bare.

Cape Girardeau's Christian emergency relief organization operates its food pantry from Maple Avenue United Methodist Church, 624 S. Ellis. The work is far-reaching. In the past three months alone, FISH doled out food to nearly 800 people. Last year, FISH provided more than 3,000 bags of food to more than 1,000 families. FISH provides a seven-day supply of food to those in need.

FISH has been able to quietly go about its good deeds for more than a decade because of a caring community. People just seem to want to reach out to their neighbors in need. That need is very pressing now. The churches have also been very supportive. FISH represents a truly ecumenical effort.

The region recently came together to send emergency food and supplies to the hurricane-ravaged areas of Florida and Louisiana. That outpouring was admirable. But we can't forget our hungry at home. They need us now.

The organization also needs volunteers to handle requests for assistance. Volunteers can answer FISH telephone calls from their homes, through a call-forwarding service. The help of friends and strangers through such programs as FISH can help us avoid the starvation that has devastated many third world countries.

The irony of world hunger is the fact enough food is produced to feed all of mankind, according to a recent U.N. food expert report. Too often, the problem is one of distribution, as is the case in Somalia, and in Ethiopia in the late 1980s.

The world's farmers and the food supply have actually kept up with population growth and exceeded it. Despite the famine in Africa, there are actually 150 million fewer malnourished people in poorer countries than there were two decades ago. Perhaps that's what makes the scenes from Somalia all the more shocking. Too often these distribution problems are directly related to power struggles within the countries.

There are no easy answers to world hunger. It's not a problem that will be solved overnight. The fact the number of malnourished has diminished is encouraging. But people still starve by the millions. The U.N. report says nearly 13 million children under 5 die every year from hunger-related causes. That's a tragic waste of human potential that is avoidable given the world's food supply.

But if we all do our small part, we can chip away at world hunger. There's no better place to start than at home. If every man, woman and child gave one can of food to FISH that would be more than 36,000 cans in Cape Girardeau alone. Most of us can afford to share our bounty. The fall FISH food drive deserves our support.