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By Rick Steves
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
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
While
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
At War with the Weather: Managing Large-Scale Risks in a New Era of Catastrophes
© Rick Steves
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