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UN: Hunger Affects Record 1B

Food program directors warn that hunger crisis threatens world peace

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Jun 20, 2009 8:17 AM CDT

(Newser) – United Nations food officials warn that a record 1 billion people worldwide aren't getting enough to eat, the BBC reports. The UN said the number of people affected by hunger—defined as getting less than 1,800 calories daily—has jumped by 100 million people over the last year because of the "devastating combination" of wars, high food prices, drought, and the global financial crisis.

Food prices are down from their peak last year but remain "stubbornly high" in many areas, the UN said, warning that the hunger crisis poses a serious risk to world peace. "A hungry world is a dangerous world," said the head of the UN's World Food Program. "Without food, people have only three options: They riot, they emigrate or they die. None of these are acceptable options."

[Images (3)]

[Quotes (2)]

Indian workers are seen silhouetted as they load rice sacks onto a truck at a grain market on the eve of World Food Day in Amritsar, India, last year. (AP Photo/ Altaf Qadri )

Frmer Nelci de Fatima Goncalves pulls a cow across a dry field in Passo Fundo, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. (AP Photo/Vagner Guarezi, Agencia Freelancer)

Students eat lunch at school as a part of a food program in schools in Gonaives, Haiti. Food shortages last year caused riots that killed dozens of people in Haiti. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

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The silent hunger crisis—affecting one-sixth of all of humanity—poses a serious risk for world peace and security. - Jacques Diouf, director of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization

It's the first time in human history that we have so many hungry people in the world. And that's a contradiction, because a lot of the world is very rich despite the economic crisis. - Kostas Stamoulis, director of the Food and Agriculture Organization's development department.

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UN: Hunger Affects Record 1B