25. Phi Beta Delta: The World's Problems

The number of hungry people has been increasing according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. The UN reports that one out of every seven people in the world are malnourished. And that number has been growing. The UN also says that it isn't that the food can't be grown -- it is a matter of will, not agriculture.

To think that so many are so hungry not because of any enormous technical problem in growing food but because of the failure to spread knowledge, the lack of expertise, the lack of marketing and distribution -- problems that could be solved -- should make us reflect on what we are doing to influence leaders. For example, the Congo is an enormous area with fertile land but seventy-five percent of its population is undernourished.

With so many agencies, and with so much new science, it is time that people had enough to eat. It is great to talk about international understanding, but nearly one billion people are perhaps less interested in our philosophy and more interested in food. So Phi Beta Delta chapters have a role to play in sponsoring discussion and action about this continuing crisis.

prev next