Myth 1: Not enough food to go around

Reality: Abundance, not scarcity, best describes the world's food supply. Enough wheat, rice and other grains are already produced to provide every human being with 3,200 calories a day.

That doesn't even count many other commonly eaten foods: vegetables, beans, nuts, root crops, fruits, grass-fed meats, and fish. Enough food is available to provide at least 4.3 pounds of food per person a day worldwide: two and half pounds of grain, beans and nuts, about a pound of fruits and vegetables, and nearly another pound of meat, milk and eggs - enough to make most people fat!

The problem is that many people are too poor to buy readily available food. Even most "hungry countries" have enough food for all their people right now. Many are net exporters of food and other agricultural products.

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Additional Resources

What We Do - Gorta

Hunger Task Force - Irish Aid

World Hunger - WFP

Special programme for food security - FAO

World Hunger Facts 2009 - Hunger Notes

World Hunger and Poverty - Global Issues

Hunger Fact File - DevelopmentEducation.ie

Food Crisis - World Bank

Millennium Development Goals - United Nations