‘Scandal of Starvation’ Means 9 Million to Die in Coronavirus-Worsened Crisis Says Gospel for Asia
WILLS POINT, TX — It’s estimated that nine million people will die in a coronavirus-worsened ‘scandal of starvation’ this year, according to a new report today marking World Hunger Day — an annual awareness event — on May 28.Yet astonishingly, families, restaurants and hospitals around the world will throw away $1 trillion worth of food in 2020, enough to feed one in every four people on the planet, says in a new report by one of America’s biggest mission agencies, Gospel for Asia (GFA World and affiliates like Gospel for Asia Canada) founded by Dr. K.P. Yohannan: The Scandal of Starvation in a World of Plenty.
Hunger increased around the world for the third successive year in 2018 — the most recent year for statistics — with more than 820 million people not getting enough to eat, according to the report. It cites South Asia as the worst-hit region, home to two-thirds of the world’s malnourished children.
Coronavirus lockdowns have sent unemployment skyrocketing among the poorest of the poor in many developing nations — without safety nets such as jobless benefits or stimulus checks to head-off hunger.
“The coronavirus itself is a deadly, terrible event, but more people are dying — and will die — of starvation,” said Dr. K.P. Yohannan, founder of Texas-based Gospel for Asia (GFA World, www.gfa.org) that is feeding tens of thousands across South Asia during the crisis.
‘The Extent of Hidden Hunger is Alarming’
While millions live every day with the reality of hunger, affluent nations like the U.S. waste massive amounts of food, even though almost 40 million Americans — including 11 million children — were labeled “food insecure” in 2018.
“The extent of ‘hidden hunger’ is alarming, even in wealthy countries,” Yohannan said. “Yet while the world produces a harvest big enough to feed everyone on the planet one-and-a-half times over, a third of all the food produced goes to waste. It’s horribly shocking.”
There’s a growing backlash, however, against reckless food waste. Launched in Delhi, India in 2014, the Robin Hood Army — a movement of volunteers who collect and distribute leftover food from restaurants and other businesses — has served more than 26 million meals in 150-plus cities in a dozen countries, all from “surplus” food that would have been discarded.
Click here, to read more blogs on Missionbox from Gospel for Asia.
Learn more about Gospel for Asia: Facebook | YouTube | Instagram | SourceWatch | Integrity | Lawsuit Update | 5 Distinctives | 6 Remarkable Facts | Media Room | Poverty Solutions | Endorsements | 40th Anniversary | Lawsuit Response | Francis Chan Support
