I just enjoyed a fascinating little vacation in a place I'd never been: Des Moines, Iowa. I shared my time off with a thousand people from 65 nations who were attending the World Food Prize Award Ceremony.

I was there to help honor one of the prizewinners: David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, whose goal is to encourage our government to consider the needs of the poor. Simply put, it lobbies for hungry people. As a friend of David's and a longtime supporter of Bread for the World, I was invited to the festivities, which included a daylong international symposium on hunger.

The dinner conversation was curious. People shared tips on getting African villagers to embrace their new drought-resistant corn seeds, even though the kernels were yellower than normal. Someone else was excited about a new strain of rice with a "snorkel gene" so that it can grow tall enough to survive floods. And all marveled at how the chocolate cake was soy-based and still tasted fine.

The reason why we were all in Des Moines is because Iowa is where Norman Borlaug, the father of the Green Revolution, was born -- and where the World Food Prize Foundation has its headquarters. Borlaug, who bred new strains of wheat to get disease-resistant varieties with higher yields, is credited with dramatically reducing hunger in South Asia.

Along with powerful leaders like former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, I also met heroic and inspirational pew sitters and soccer moms like Elaine VanCleave -- an avid supporter of Bread for the World from Alabama. Elaine was moved to help hungry people in Africa. She personally met with her U.S. representative, Spencer Bachus, a Republican who prides himself on his conservatism. He admittedly had never given Third World debt and its consequences on hungry people much thought. For debt relief to even get to first base, Bread for the World needed the support of Bachus, who chairs a key committee. Elaine mobilized her neighbors, and together they educated Bachus.

Congressman Bachus eventually did more than just say OK. He enthusiastically embraced the cause, helping spearhead a multi-billion-dollar debt relief bill that gave the world's most heavily indebted nations a chance to rise out of poverty. The human benefits of this are mind-blowing; literally millions of poor Africans now have schools, clinics, and seeds with money that would have otherwise gone to the First World for interest payments on debt. Elaine demonstrated fighting hunger is neither liberal nor conservative. It's simply the right thing to do in a world where there's plenty of food -- and issues of buying-power and distribution are all that stand between a billion people and freedom from hunger.

The climax of the World Food Prize festivities was under the dome of the grand Iowa State Capitol. In addition to David, the other laureate this year is Jo Luck, president of Heifer International. Under her creative leadership, the group provides livestock, seeds, and training to extremely poor families so that they have better nutrition and can start a small business.

While Heifer International provides direct aid, Bread for the World is a new type of honoree. This is the first time the leader of an advocacy group has been given this prize. Advocacy, as explained in David's new book "Exodus from Hunger" (www.exodusfromhunger.org), is channeling energy to change government policy for a cause -- rather than dealing directly with the cause. In his book, he explains how private U.S. aid for the world's hungry amounts to just 6 percent of our governmental aid. So a drop in governmental aid of just 6 percent negates all the good generated by those hard-earned and well-meaning charitable contributions. Conversely, an increase in governmental aid of just 6 percent doubles our nation's philanthropic will. (A common misperception among the American electorate is that we are more generous with foreign aid than we actually are. Less than 1 percent of our national budget goes to developmental aid.)

I appreciate Bread for the World because it has taught me the economics of hunger and structural poverty. With all my travel experience, I've gained empathy for the struggles of people in developing nations, but my concern used to be confused and directionless. Understanding the basics of structural poverty put my compassion into clear focus. I believe the vast majority of Americans (whether regular citizens or politicians) are good and caring people, but we often need help when it comes to putting hunger in perspective.

Beckmann's acceptance speech was inspiring. He concluded, in a soft voice that filled that grand hall, with powerful challenge: We need to change the politics of hunger. In the privacy of the voting booth, we should vote not for our economic self-interest, but for candidates who will help the hungry.

 

Available at Amazon.com:

The End of the Free Market: Who Wins the War Between States and Corporations?

Running Out of Water: The Looming Crisis and Solutions to Conserve Our Most Precious Resource

Bottled and Sold: The Story Behind Our Obsession with Bottled Water

Water: The Epic Struggle for Wealth, Power, and Civilization

The Great Gamble

At War with the Weather: Managing Large-Scale Risks in a New Era of Catastrophes

 

 

(C) 2010 Rick Steves