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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: hunger

hunger stories: 34 news summaries

1 - 20 of 34 Stories | 1 2 Next >>

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 As Gov't Bickers, 
 Drought Ravages Kenya 

Squabbling government fails to prepare for the worst as 4M starve

Sep 8, 09 10:46 AM CDT
(Newser) - While countries like Ethiopia and Somalia have been long associated with drought and famine, it's the robust safari destination of Kenya that's wasting away. Nearly 4 million Kenyans, 10% of the population, are desperate for food due to a lack of rainfall—some villages haven't seen rain in years, the... More »

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Kenya • hunger • drought • starvation • international aid

Cuban Activists Rally Around Drunken YouTube Ranter

Man thrown in prison for video plea for food

Sep 8, 09 9:45 AM CDT
(Newser) - Cuban activists have found an unlikely cause celebré in the case of Juan Carlos González Marcos, who was sent to prison last month for drunkenly interrupting a shoot for a video about reggaeton with a rant about hunger. González was drinking, as he often did, at his neighborhood... More »

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YouTube • human rights • hunger • free speech • Cuba

 UN: Hunger Affects Record 1B 

Food program directors warn that hunger crisis threatens world peace

Jun 20, 09 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... More »

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United Nations • hunger • starvation • poverty • food prices • Food and Agriculture Organization • malnutrition • World Food Program

India's Boom Does Little for Malnourished Children

42.5% remain underweight despite efforts to fix crisis

Mar 13, 09 10:22 AM CDT
(Newser) - India’s economy has soared for a decade, but what its prime minister calls its “national shame” remains: malnourished, underdeveloped children, the New York Times reports. While growing China has cut its proportion of underweight children to 7%, India’s stands at 42.5%. Some say the government doesn’... More »

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India • hunger • economic growth • children • breast feeding • malnutrition • underweight

Phelps Helps
SF Food Bank Tame Munchies

Swimmer's bong photo, ban lead to donation of 2 tons of cereal

Mar 11, 09 3:01 PM CDT
(Newser) - The amateur paparazzo who snapped Michael Phelps holding a bong helped indirectly bring a little good to the world: Kellogg's, which dumped the Olympian after the photo came to light, donated nearly 2 tons of Corn Flakes and Frosted Flakes in boxes bearing Phelps' winning smile to the San Francisco... More »

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San Francisco • Michael Phelps • hunger • Kellogg • marijuana • food banks • scandal


 Desperate Hunger 
 Plagues N. Korea, 
 Forces Change  

Rampant malnutrition fuels capitalist markets

Mar 6, 09 8:10 AM CST
(Newser) - North Korea has, in its words, an “eating problem”: unable to feed its residents, it has become the world’s first nuclear-armed “beggar,” the Washington Post reports. Malnutrition has led to a spate of mental and physical disabilities—a quarter of potential troops will be disqualified because... More »

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North Korea • hunger • capitalism • Kim Jong Il • food shortage • malnutrition

Zimbabwe, Once Well-Fed, Turns to Eating Bugs

As Mugabe blocks aid, starving population's plight nosedives

Dec 22, 08 6:27 AM CST
(Newser) - Zimbabwe was once "a breadbasket for all of southern Africa," writes Celia Dugger in the New York Times, but a manmade crisis has turned the once-prosperous country into a land of scavengers. The UN says 7 of 10 Zimbabweans eat one meal or fewer a day, thanks to... More »

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Africa • agriculture • Zimbabwe • Robert Mugabe • hunger • starvation

UN Report
Finds Nearly
1B Are Hungry

Cost of basics is down, but still 28% higher than just 2 years ago

Dec 10, 08 12:54 PM CST
(Newser) - Rising food prices have pushed the number of people going hungry to 963 million, or 14% of the world's population, says a UN report published yesterday. Though costs have dropped from historic peaks, basics still cost 28% more than in 2006. That's left 40 million more people undernourished this year,... More »

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United Nations • hunger • starvation • food prices • financial crisis

Food Stamp
Use Nears
Record High

Rising unemployment set to push benefit numbers past 30M

Nov 26, 08 6:05 AM CST
(Newser) - Rising unemployment is expected to push the number of Americans on food stamps to an all-time high of more than 30 million this month, the Washington Post reports. Food pantries say they are also experiencing a surge in demand and a hunger hotline in Washington DC says its calls have... More »

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hunger • poverty • Federal aid • food banks • economic stimulus package • food stamps

(Newser) - Does thinking make us fat? Researchers say that intellectual activity just might cause us to pig out, LiveScience reports. Volunteers who performed a series of problem-solving tasks in a study consumed almost 30% more calories afterward than those who just sat around and took it easy. One theory: The body... More »

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health • hunger • science • brain • calories • health research • medical study

 Indian State 
 Recommends Eating Rats 

Adding rodents to menu pushed as solution to food crisis

Aug 18, 08 12:47 PM CDT
(Newser) - Faced with high food prices and ebbing grain reserves, officials in the Indian state of Bihar have endorsed the consumption of rats, Reuters reports. The state government sees the strategy as a way to reduce the pest population as well as curb the demand for grain, and has even proposed... More »

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food • India • hunger • famine • rats • food prices • grain

OPINION

 Anti-'Frankenfood' Activists
 Should Modify Stance

Opposition to genetically souped-up crops has run its course

Aug 4, 08 5:48 PM CDT
(Newser) - The recent destruction of a research crop of genetically modified potatoes in England highlights how attitudes towards altered crops have changed, the Economist writes. A decade ago, Greenpeace activists caught in the act of destroying food crops were acquitted because of popular fear of the consequences of “Frankenfoods.”... More »

MORE ABOUT:
food • hunger • genetically modified crops • famine • crops • experiments • academic research • environmentalists

Haitians Turn to Mud Cakes to Fill Empty Bellies

Food price hikes push everything but dirt out of reach for Haiti's poor

Jul 29, 08 6:08 AM CDT
(Newser) - Impoverished Haitians have been reduced to living off mud cakes, the Guardian reports. The cakes of clay and water—long eaten by poor pregnant women seeking calcium—are increasingly the only food many families can afford. The global fuel and food crisis has hit Haiti, and half the population is... More »

MORE ABOUT:
hunger • Haiti • starvation • Caribbean • food shortage • malnutrition • food supply

 African Women Take
 Brunt of Food Crisis 

As prices soar, mothers feed the men and eat what remains

Jul 20, 08 5:06 AM CDT
(Newser) - As food and fuel prices continue to climb, impoverished families across Africa are hurting worse than ever—and women are suffering the most. The Washington Post follows one Burkina Faso mother in her daily struggle to feed her family and survive in a culture that puts her last at mealtime.... More »

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Africa • hunger • poverty • Burkina Faso

 Biofuel Caused Food 
 Crisis: Secret Report 

Findings covered up to avoid US embarrassment

Jul 4, 08 3:45 PM CDT
(Newser) - Biofuel production has been the driving force behind the growing food crisis, pushing prices up 75%, according to a confidential World Bank report obtained by the Guardian. The most detailed research ever conducted on the issue emphatically contradicts the US position that biofuels are responsible for a mere 3% price... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Bush administration • hunger • ethanol • World Bank • biofuel • food prices • George W. Bush

 'Mediator' Mbeki Visits Mugabe 

South African president meets with Mugabe, though agenda unclear

Jun 18, 08 3:05 PM CDT
(Newser) - South African president Thabo Mbeki visited counterpart Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe today, the Guardian reports, an attempt to play the role of mediator ahead of run-off elections June 27. With the UN warning that 5 million could face starvation in a country plagued by political violence, Mbeki's agenda was unclear—... More »

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Zimbabwe • Robert Mugabe • Morgan Tsvangirai • hunger • famine • Thabo Mbeki • election

 Burmese Junta
 Still Blocking
 Cyclone Aid 

'Second disaster' looms if aid is not allowed in

May 9, 08 4:52 AM CDT
(Newser) - Emergency supplies for some 1.5 million Burmese desperately in need of help are ready to be flown into the cyclone-stricken regions—but the military junta is still blocking delivery. Only two UN planes have been allowed to land in Burma. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon tried unsuccessfully to telephone Burma's... More »

MORE ABOUT:
United Nations • hunger • disease • Myanmar • Burma • junta • Save the Children • World Food Program • Cyclone Nargis • Irrawaddy Delta • emergency aid • Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance • Ban Ki-Moon

 Two Shot in Somalia Food Riots 

Thousands protest over inflation and soaring prices

May 5, 08 10:31 AM CDT
(Newser) - Soldiers shot and killed at least two people in Somalia as thousands rioted over inflation and soaring food prices. A recent rash of counterfeiting has led some merchants to only accept US dollars, instead of local shillings, the BBC reports. In response, angry Somalis threw rocks and burned tires, shouting,... More »

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Somalia • inflation • hunger • riots • food riots • hyper-inflation

 Gods Go Hungry in Food Crisis 

Inflation takes bite out of traditional offerings at Indian temples

Apr 30, 08 1:13 PM CDT
(Newser) - Skyrocketing food prices have a new victim in India: Hindu deities. Supplicants offer milk and other food at temples where they pray, but with the cost of staples soaring, many are unable even to feed themselves, the Washington Post reports. "If poor people don't even have enough for bread,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
India • hunger • food prices • Hinduism

UN Ready to Tackle Hunger

Ban plans task force, calls on donors to deliver on sorely underfunded pledges

Apr 29, 08 10:52 AM CDT
(Newser) - United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is putting together a task force to deal with an "unprecedented" world crisis that's left 100 million without enough food, the BBC reports. Ban also called on donors to follow through on pledges for the World Food Program, saying only 62% of the... More »

MORE ABOUT:
United Nations • hunger • malnutrition • World Food Program • Ban Ki-Moon

1 - 20 of 34 Stories | 1 2 Next >>


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