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Global Malnutrition A topic report presented to the 2015 National Federation of High Schools
Topic Selection Committee
New Orleans, Louisiana
Summer 2015
Presented by:
Roy R. Rodriguez (Coach), Alena Kang-Landsberg (Student), and Eric Pillai (Student)
A&M Consolidated High School, College Station, Texas
Representing the University Interscholastic League
2
Introduction
The United Nations World Food Program (UNWFP) noted that 805 million people in
the world are undernourished, roughly translating to one in nine individuals in the
world. Hunger kills more people than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined. By
solving for global malnutrition, cases could obtain many potential advantages ranging
from peace in unstable regions to vast economic benefits. Sustainable nutrition is
critical to child development and growth. When a person's nutritional needs are met
their ability to pursue education is enhanced. Some sources even note that 3.5 trillion
dollars is drained from the global economy due to global malnutrition. It is through
solving for global malnutrition, research could uncover new breakthroughs in science
and technology. Global malnutrition is a solvable problem, especially since our world
produces enough food to provide nourishment the entire globe.
When looking to solve global malnutrition, one could attempt to solve for its root causes.
The UNWFP considers the following six reasons why global malnutrition has occurred:
Poverty trap
People living in poverty cannot afford nutritious food for themselves and their families.
The lack of nutrition makes them weaker and less able to earn the money that would
help them escape poverty and hunger. This is not just a day-to-day problem: chronic
malnourishment will “stunt” a child’s growth, affect their future income, and condemn
them to a life of poverty and hunger. In developing countries, farmers often cannot
afford seeds, so they cannot plant the crops that would provide for their families. They
may have to cultivate crops without the tools and fertilizers they need. Others have no
land or water or education. In short, the poor are hungry and their hunger traps them in
poverty.
Affirmative Ground:
Affirmative teams might choose to create a case providing direct or indirect nutritional
assistance to the poor. Advanced teams might go for the angle of alleviating global
poverty and reducing malnutrition as a result. This resolution is intended to allow a
wide range of affirmative topics that address the issue of global malnutrition from a
wide variety of perspectives.
3
Negative Ground:
Negative teams will have the ability to argue against traditional economic and aid
models with Capitalism Kritiks, Imperialism Kritiks, and Ableism Kritiks, to name a few.
Traditional politics and global relations disadvantages will be in play with either UN or
US agents of action, and regional disadvantages based on shifting power structures in
affected nations will also have weight in round.
Lack of investment in agriculture
Too many developing countries lack key agricultural infrastructure, such as sufficient
roads, warehouses, and irrigation. The results are high transport costs, lack of storage
facilities, and unreliable water supplies. All limit agricultural yields and access to food.
Investing in improving land management, using water more efficiently, and making
more resistant seed types available can bring big improvements (in agriculture).
Research by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (UNFAO) shows that
investment in agriculture is five times more effective in reducing poverty and hunger
than investment in any other sector.
Affirmative Ground:
Affirmative teams might go for the angle of constructing various forms of agricultural
infrastructure or providing business incentives to do so.
Negative Ground:
Negative teams have the option of running imperialism or governmental structure
(Capitalism/Communism) Kritiks. Private Counterplans also have significant weight
against infrastructure affirmatives.
Climate and weather
Natural disasters such as floods, tropical storms, and long periods of drought are
increasing -- with calamitous consequences for the hungry poor in developing countries.
Drought is one of the most common causes of food shortages in the world. In 2011,
recurrent drought caused crop failures and heavy livestock losses in parts of Ethiopia,
Somalia and Kenya. In 2012 a similar situation occurred in the Sahel region of West
Africa. In many countries, climate change exacerbates already adverse natural
conditions. Increasingly, erosion, salinization, and desertification threaten the world's
fertile farmland. Deforestation accelerates the erosion of potential agricultural land.
4
Affirmative Ground:
The Affirmative team can run weather modification plans or anti-desertification
affirmatives such as the currently proposed idea to build a wall of trees to stop the
advance of the Sahara.
Negative Ground:
The obvious Kritiks about environmental modification and destruction of the natural
world will provide fertile critical opportunity for negative teams. Additionally,
Disadvantages relating to the wide scale changes caused by environmental modification
will also be effective against affirmative cases dealing with climate challenges.
War and displacement
Across the globe, conflicts disrupt farming and food production. Fighting forces millions
of people to flee their homes, leading to hunger emergencies as the displaced lack the
means to feed themselves. In war, food can become a weapon. Soldiers starve opponents
into submission by seizing or destroying food and livestock and systematically wrecking
local markets. Fields are mined and water wells became contaminated, forcing farmers
to abandon their land. Ongoing conflict in Somalia and the Democratic Republic of
Congo has contributed significantly to the level of hunger in the two countries. In
contrast, hunger is retreating in more peaceful parts of Africa such as Ghana and
Rwanda.
Unstable markets
In recent years, the price of food products has been very unstable. Roller-coaster food
prices make it difficult for the poorest people to access nutritious food consistently.
People need access to adequate food all year round. Price spikes may temporarily put
food out of reach, which can have lasting consequences for small children. When prices
rise, consumers often shift to cheaper, less-nutritious foods, heightening the risks of
micronutrient deficiencies and other forms of malnutrition.
Food wastage
One third of all food produced (1.3 billion tons) is never consumed. This food wastage
represents a missed opportunity to improve global food security in a world where one
eighth of the population is hungry. Producing this food also uses up precious natural
resources that we need to feed the planet. Each year, food produced but not eaten
consumes a volume of water equivalent to the annual flow of Russia's Volga River.
Furthermore, producing this food adds 3.3 billion tons of greenhouse gases to the
atmosphere, with consequences for the climate and, ultimately, for food production.
5
Resolutions:
During the 2014 Topic Selection meeting in South Dakota, the Wording Committee
requested that an international agent be considered as the main actor within the
resolution for the next topic selection meeting.
The question remains; which agent would create the most substantive debate?
The United Nations (UN) is an excellent potential actor because they have experience
with alleviating malnutrition worldwide. The United Nations World Food Programme
(UNWFP), United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UNFAO) and the World
Health Organization (WHO) have made significant strides in highlighting the issues
surrounding hunger and malnutrition. By exploring what these UN programs have
already done, debaters can discover many creative potential Affirmative cases.
Furthermore, having the UN as the main actor would allow for debaters to gain a better
understanding of the UN and how it functions as an organization, essential knowledge
in today’s society.
Additionally, having
With that said, here we provide several potential resolutions for review by the Marshall
Committee and the Final Wording committee.
Options 1-3 have the United Nations as the main agent of action.
Options 4-6 have the United States as the main agent of action
Option 7 consider the world as a whole, allowing affirmative teams so select their own
actor.
1. Resolved: The United Nations should substantially reduce global malnutrition.
2. Resolved: The United Nations should substantially increase its support of global
malnutrition reduction efforts.
3. Resolved: The United Nations should substantially increase its support of World
Food Programme nutrition policies.
4. Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially reduce
global malnutrition.
5. Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its
support of global malnutrition reduction efforts.
6. Resolved: The United States Federal Government should substantially increase
its support of World Food Programme nutrition policies.
7. Resolved: The world community should substantially reduce global malnutrition.
6
DEFINITIONS
To gain a better understanding of the issue of hunger, one must consider the
terminology. The goal of this section is to give as many possible definitions that relate to
the resolutions.
Malnutrition
Malnutrition: defined as a state in which the physical function of an individual is
impaired to the point where he or she can no longer maintain natural bodily capacities
such as growth, pregnancy, lactation, learning abilities, physical work and resisting and
recovering from disease. The term covers a range of problems from being dangerously
thin (see Underweight) or too short (see Stunting) for one's age to being deficient in
vitamins and minerals or being too fat (obese). (UNWFP, 2014)
"malnutrition, n." OED Online. Oxford University Press, December 2014. Web. 9 March
2015.
Nutrition which is not adequate to maintain good health, whether through insufficient
or excessive intake of food, lack of essential dietary components, or (rarely)
malabsorption; a condition of poor health resulting from this
Malnutrition Quantifying the health impact at national and local levels.
Monika Blössner & Mercedes de Onis. World Health Organization Nutrition for
Health and Development Protection of the Human Environment Geneva 2005
http://www.who.int/quantifying_ehimpacts/publications/MalnutritionEBD12.pdf
The term malnutrition generally refers both to undernutrition and over
nutrition, but in this guide we use the term to refer solely to a deficiency of nutrition.
Many factors can cause malnutrition, most of which relate to poor diet or
severe and repeated infections, particularly in underprivileged populations.
Inadequate diet and disease, in turn, are closely linked to the general
standard of living, the environmental conditions, and whether a population
is able to meet its basic needs such as food, housing and health care.
Malnutrition is thus a health outcome as well as a risk factor for disease and
exacerbated malnutrition (Fig. 1.1), and it can increase the risk both of
morbidity and mortality. Although it is rarely the direct cause of death
(except in extreme situations, such as famine), child malnutrition was
associated with 54% of child deaths (10.8 million children) in developing
countries in 2001 (Fig. 1.2; see also WHO, 2004). Malnutrition that is the
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direct cause of death is referred to as “protein-energy malnutrition” in this
guide.
Alderman H, Shekar M. "Malnutrition: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia."U.S National
Library of Medicine. U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2011. Web. 10 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000404.htm>.
Food provides the energy and nutrients you need to be healthy. If you don't get enough
nutrients -- including proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, and minerals - you may
suffer from malnutrition. Causes of malnutrition include: Lack of specific nutrients in
your diet. Even the lack of one vitamin can lead to malnutrition. An unbalanced diet.
Certain medical problems, such as malabsorption syndromes and cancers Symptoms
may include fatigue, dizziness, and weight loss. Or, you may have no symptoms. To
diagnose the cause of the problem, your doctor may do blood tests and a nutritional
assessment. Treatment may include replacing the missing nutrients and treating the
underlying cause.
Micronutrient deficiency: A lack or shortage of a micronutrient (vitamins or minerals)
that is essential in small amounts for proper growth and metabolism. People are often
said to suffer from “hidden hunger” when they consume enough calories, but suffer from
micronutrient deficiencies. This form of hunger may not be visibly apparent in an
individual, but it increases morbidity and mortality and also has negative impacts on
other aspects of health, cognitive development and economic development. Hidden
hunger affects over 2 billion people worldwide. (UNWFP, 2014)
Protein energy malnutrition: a form of malnutrition measured not by how much food is
eaten but by physical measurements of the body - weight or height - and age (see
Stunting, Wasting, Underweight). (UNWFP, 2014)
Stunting: reflects shortness-for-age; a indicator of chronic malnutrition and calculated
by comparing the height-for-age of a child with a reference population of well nourished
and healthy children. According to the UN Standing Committee on Nutrition's 5th
Report on the World Nutrition Situation (2005) almost one third of all children are
stunted. (UNWFP, 2014)
Undernourishment: describes the status of people whose food intake does not include
enough calories (energy) to meet minimum physiological needs. The term is a measure
of a country's ability to gain access to food and is normally derived from Food Balance
Sheets prepared by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). (UNWFP, 2014)
8
Protein energy malnutrition: It results from a diet lacking in energy and protein because
of a deficit in all major macronutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats and proteins.
(UNWFP, 2014)
Marasmus: is caused by a lack of protein and energy with sufferers appearing skeletally
thin. In extreme cases, it can lead to kwashiorkor, in which malnutrition causes swelling
including a so-called 'moon face'. (UNWFP, 2014)
Iron deficiency: is the most prevalent form of malnutrition worldwide, affecting millions
of people. Iron forms the molecules that carry oxygen in the blood, so symptoms of a
deficiency include tiredness and lethargy. Lack of iron in large segments of the
population severely damages a country's productivity. Iron deficiency also impedes
cognitive development, affecting 40-60 percent of children aged 6-24 months in
developing countries (source: Vitamin & Mineral Deficiency, a global damage
assessment report, Unicef). (UNWFP, 2014)
Reducing
Blacks Law
What is REDUCE? In Scotch law. To rescind or annul.
Merriam-Webster
reduce verb re·duce \ri-ˈ düs, -ˈ dyüs\
: to make (something) smaller in size, amount, number, etc. : to cause (someone) to be
in a specified state or condition : to cause (something) to be in a specified form by
breaking it, burning it, etc.
re·ducedre·duc·ing Full Definition of REDUCE transitive verb
1 a : to draw together or cause to converge : consolidate <reduce all the questions to
one> b (1) : to diminish in size, amount, extent, or number <reduce taxes> <reduce the
likelihood of war> (2) : to decrease the volume and concentrate the flavor of by boiling
<add the wine and reduce the sauce for two minutes> c : to narrow down : restrict <the
Indians were reduced to small reservations> d : to make shorter : abridge
2 archaic : to restore to righteousness : save
3 : to bring to a specified state or condition <the impact of the movie reduced them to
tears>
4 a : to force to capitulate b : force, compel
5 a : to bring to a systematic form or character <reduce natural events to laws> b : to
put down in written or printed form <reduce an agreement to writing>
6 : to correct (as a fracture) by bringing displaced or broken parts back into their
normal positions
7 a : to lower in grade or rank : demote b : to lower in condition or status : downgrade
9
8 a : to diminish in strength or density b : to diminish in value
9 a (1) : to change the denominations or form of without changing the value (2) : to
construct a geometrical figure similar to but smaller than (a given figure) b : to
transpose from one form into another : convert c : to change (an expression) to an
equivalent but more fundamental expression <reduce a fraction>
10 : to break down (as by crushing or grinding) : pulverize
11 a : to bring to the metallic state by removal of nonmetallic elements <reduce an ore
by heat> b : deoxidize c : to combine with or subject to the action of hydrogen d (1) : to
change (an element or ion) from a higher to a lower oxidation state (2) : to add one or
more electrons to (an atom or ion or molecule)
12 : to change (a stressed vowel) to an unstressed vowel
Oxford
[WITH OBJECT]
1. Make smaller or less in amount, degree, or size: 1.1 [NO OBJECT] Become
smaller or less in size, amount, or degree: 1.2Boil (a sauce or other liquid) in
cooking so that it becomes thicker and more concentrated. 1.3 [NO OBJECT]
chiefly North American (Of a person) lose weight, typically by dieting: 1.4 archaic
Conquer (a place), in particular besiege and capture (a town or fortress). 1.5
Photography Make (a negative or print) less dense. 1.6 Phonetics Articulate (a
speech sound) in a way requiring less muscular effort. In vowels, this gives rise to
a more central articulatory position.
2. (reduce someone/something to) Bring someone or something to (a lower or
weaker state, condition, or role):2.1 (be reduced to doing something) (Of a
person) be forced by difficult circumstances into doing something desperate:
2.2Make someone helpless with (an expression of emotion, especially with hurt,
shock, or amusement): 2.3Force into (obedience or submission): he succeeds in
reducing his grandees to due obedience
3. (reduce something to) Change a substance to (a different or more basic
form):3.1Present a problem or subject in (a simplified form): 3.2Convert a
fraction to (the form with the lowest terms).
4. Chemistry Cause to combine chemically with hydrogen. 4.1Undergo or cause to
undergo a reaction in which electrons are gained by one atom from another. T
5. Restore (a dislocated part) to its proper position by manipulation or surgery.
Remedy (a dislocation) by manipulation or surgery.
10
Oxford English Dictionary
1. Chem. That causes, permits, or promotes reduction (reduction n. 11c).The action of
reduce v. (in various senses); reduction.
Significantly
Black’s Law
A measurement of how well a company is performing against its competitors.
Merriam-Webster
1: in a significant manner : to a significant degree <the salaries differed
significantly>2: it is significant <significantly, they were on time>
Oxford
1In a sufficiently great or important way as to be worthy of attention: energy bills have
increased significantly this year[AS SUBMODIFIER]: their situation is significantly
different from ours 2In a way that has a particular meaning:[AS SENTENCE
ADVERB]: significantly, he has refused to give a straight answer to this question 2.1In
a manner that suggests a meaning or message that is not explicitly stated: he paused
significantly
Oxford English
In a significant manner; esp. so as to convey a particular meaning; expressively,
meaningfully. As a sentence adverb: importantly; notably. As a sentence adverb:
importantly; notably.
Global
Merriam-Webster
Global: 1: spherical 2: of, relating to, or involving the entire world : worldwide <a global
11
system of communication>; also : of or relating to a celestial body (as the moon) 3: of, relating
to, or applying to a whole (as a mathematical function or a computer program) : universal <a
global search of a file>
Oxford
1Of or relating to the whole world; worldwide: the downturn in the global economy
1.1Relating to or embracing the whole of something, or of a group of things: some
students may prefer to be given a global picture of what is involved in the
task1.2Computing Operating or applying through the whole of a file, program, etc.
Global searches
Oxford English
1. Having a spherical form; globular. rare in later use. 2. (a) Relating to or
encompassing the whole of anything or any group of things,
categories,etc.;comprehensive, universal, total, overall. (b) Of, relating to, or involving
the whole world, worldwide; (also in later use) of or relating to the world considered in a
planetary context (see sense 4).3. Math. Occurring or valid at every point of a space or
every value of a variable; relative to every point of a space, etc. 4. Astron. Of or relating
to the (whole of) a planet other than earth 5. Computing. Relating to or affecting the
whole of a program, text, etc.
Increasing (Increase)
Merriam-Webster
to become larger or greater in size, amount, number, etc.: to make (something) larger or
greater in size, amount, number, etc.
Oxford
Become or make greater in size, amount, intensity, or degree
Oxford English
That increases; growing, augmenting, enlarging, etc.: see the verb. Esp. in law of
12
increasing return(s) : the observed fact that in certain manufactures and industries the
expenditure of labour or capital up to a certain point produces a more than
proportionate corresponding return.
Establish
Merriam-Webster
: to cause (someone or something) to be widely known and accepted : to put
(someone or something) in a position, role, etc., that will last for a long time : to
begin or create (something that is meant to last for a long time)
1: to institute (as a law) permanently by enactment or agreement 2 obsolete :
settle 3 a : to make firm or stable b : to introduce and cause to grow and multiply
<establish grass on pasturelands> 4 a : to bring into existence : found
<established a republic> b : bring about, effect <established friendly relations> 5
a : to put on a firm basis : set up <establish his son in business> b : to put into a
favorable position c : to gain full recognition or acceptance of <the role
established her as a star>6: to make (a church) a national or state institution7: to
put beyond doubt : prove <established my innocence
Oxford
1.1Initiate or bring about (contact or communication):the two countries established
diplomatic relations 2 Achieve permanent acceptance or recognition for: the principle of
the supremacy of national parliaments needs to be firmly established he had established
himself as a film star 2.1Introduce (a character, set, or location) into a film or play and
allow its identification: establish the location with a wide shot 3Show (something) to be
true or certain by determining the facts:[WITH CLAUSE]: the police established that the
two passports were forgeries
13
Oxford English
1. To render stable or firm.a. To strengthen by material support (obs.).b. To ratify,
confirm, validate (obs.).c. To confirm, settle (what is weak or wavering); to restore
(health) permanently; to give calmness or steadiness to (the mind).d. catachr. To calm
(anger), to settle (doubts). a. To fix, settle, institute or ordain permanently, by
enactment or agreement. Sometimes with obj. clause. Also (rarely) to impose
(something) upon.†b. To secure or settle (property, privileges, etc.) to or upon persons.
Obs. 3. To set up on a secure or permanent basis; to found (a government, an
institution; in mod. use often, a house of business).c. To impute (guilt) to. Obs.
[Compare ‘ne statuas illis hoc peccatum,’ Acts vii. 30 in Vulgate.] 3. To set up on a
secure or permanent basis; to found (a government, an institution; in mod. use often, a
house of business).†b. To provide for the maintenance of (persons). Obs. Cf. SETTLE v a.
To set up or bring about permanently (a state of things); to ‘create’ (a precedent); to
introduce and secure permanent acceptance for (a custom, a belief). Also, to secure for
oneself, gain permanently (a reputation, a position).b. To erect into (a rule, etc.). †Also
(with complement), to secure in a certain condition. c. Cards. to establish a suit (see
quot.). d. Cinematogr., etc. To introduce and secure the identity or position of (a
character, set, etc.).a. To place beyond dispute; to prove (a proposition, claim,
accusation); rarely with personal obj. and complement. b. To affirm judicially the
validity of (a disputed will).7. From 16th c. often used with reference to ecclesiastical
ceremonies or organization, and to the recognized national church or its religion; in
early use chiefly pass. in sense2 (esp. in phrase by law established, i.e. ‘prescribed or
settled by law’), but sometimes with mixture of senses 3 – 5. Hence in recent use: To
place (a church or a religious body) in the position of a national or state church.
14
United Nations
"UN at a Glance." UN News Center. UN, n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2015.
<http://www.un.org/en/aboutun/>.
The United Nations is an international organization founded in 1945 after the Second
World War by 51 countries committed to maintaining international peace and security,
developing friendly relations among nations and promoting social progress, better living
standards and human rights. Due to its unique international character, and the powers
vested in its founding Charter, the Organization can take action on a wide range of
issues, and provide a forum for its 193 Member States to express their views, through
the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council and other
bodies and committees.The work of the United Nations reaches every corner of the
globe. Although best known for peacekeeping, peacebuilding, conflict prevention and
humanitarian assistance, there are many other ways the United Nations and its System
(specialized agencies, funds and programmes) affect our lives and make the world a
better place. The Organization works on a broad range of fundamental issues, from
sustainable development, environment and refugees protection, disaster relief, counter
terrorism, disarmament and non-proliferation, to promoting democracy, human rights,
gender equality and the advancement of women, governance, economic and social
development and international health, clearing landmines, expanding food production,
and more, in order to achieve its goals and coordinate efforts for a safer world for this
and future generations.
Oxford English
United Nations n. in the war of 1939–45, the Allied nations who united against the Axis
powers; hence, an international peace-seeking organization of these and many other
States, founded by charter in 1945 (in full, United Nations Organization ), with a
permanent headquarters in New York; abbrev.UN
15
Oxford
The members of the United Nations, originally the countries that fought against the Axis
Powers in the Second World War, now number 193 and include most sovereign states of
the world. Administration is by a secretariat headed by a secretary general. The chief
deliberative body is the General Assembly, in which each member state has one vote;
recommendations are passed but are not binding on members and generally have had
little effect on world politics. The Security Council bears the primary responsibility for
the maintenance of peace and security and may call on members to take action, chiefly
peacekeeping action, to enforce its decisions. The UN’s headquarters are in New York
City
United States Federal Government
Oxford Learner’s Dictionary
http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/federal-government
(in the US) the system of government as defined in the Constitution which is based on the
separation of powers among three branches: the executive, the legislative and the judicial. This
system provides a series of checks and balances because each branch is able to limit the power of
the others. The executive branch consists of the President and Vice-President, based in the
White House in Washington, DC, and government departments and agencies. The President can
approve or stop laws proposed by Congress, appoints senior officials, such as heads of
government departments and federal judges, and is also Commander-in-Chief of the military
forces. There are 15 government departments, the heads of which make up the Cabinet which
meets regularly to discuss current affairs and advise the President. The legislative branch is the
Congress which is made up of the two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives
which both meet in the Capitol Building in Washington, DC. The main job of Congress is to
make laws, but its other responsibilities include establishing federal courts, setting taxes and, if
necessary, declaring war. The President and members of Congress are chosen in separate
16
elections. The Senate has 100 members, two from each state, both of whom represent the whole
state and are elected for six years. The House of Representatives has 435 members, who are
elected every two years. The number of members from each state depends on the population of
the state, with larger states divided into districts, each with one representative. The judicial
branch of government has three levels: the Supreme Court, 13 courts of appeal and many federal
district courts. The Supreme Court has nine members, called justices who are chosen by the
President and headed by the Chief Justice. The Supreme Court has the power to influence the
law through a process called judicial review.
US Legal Dictionary
http://definitions.uslegal.com/u/united-states-federal-government/
The United States Federal Government is established by the US Constitution. The Federal
Government shares sovereignty over the United States with the individual governments of the
States of US. The Federal government has three branches: i) the legislature, which is the US
Congress, ii) Executive, comprised of the President and Vice president of the US and iii)
Judiciary. The US Constitution prescribes a system of separation of powers and ‘checks and
balances’ for the smooth functioning of all the three branches of the Federal Government. The
US Constitution limits the powers of the Federal Government to the powers assigned to it; all
powers not expressly assigned to the Federal Government are reserved to the States or to the
people.
United States Federal Government
http://www.usa.gov/Agencies/federal.shtml
The Constitution of the United States divides the federal government into three branches to
ensure a central government in which no individual or group gains too much control:
1. Legislative – Makes laws (Congress)
2. Executive – Carries out laws (President, Vice President, Cabinet)
3. Judicial – Evaluates laws (Supreme Court and Other Courts)
Each branch of government can change acts of the other branches as follows:
● The president can veto laws passed by Congress.
17
● Congress confirms or rejects the president's appointments and can remove the
president from office in exceptional circumstances.
● The justices of the Supreme Court, who can overturn unconstitutional laws, are
appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.
The U.S. federal government seeks to act in the best interests of its citizens through this system
of checks and balances.
World Community
MacMillan Dictionary
http://www.macmillandictionary.com/us/dictionary/american/the-international-community
political leaders and important organizations from all parts of the world
Collins Dictionary
http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/global-community
the people or nations of the world, considered as being closely connected by modern
telecommunications and as being economically, socially, and politically interdependent
18
Timeliness This resolution will remain current. Malnutrition is a major problem that will not
disappear in the next few years; if anything, it will increase. In a recent statement from
the UNWFP on climate change, they note that “Without considerable efforts made to
improve people's climate resilience, it has been estimated that the risk of hunger and
malnutrition could increase by up to 20 percent by 2050.” There are hundreds of
millions of people hungry today, and with population increase, political instability,
increasing inequality, and climate change, those numbers will not decrease.
EVEN WITH THE PROGRESS THAT HAS BEEN MADE, HUNGER IS STILL
A MAJOR PROBLEM AND HAS THE POSSIBILITY OF GETTING WORSE
DUE TO THE INCREASING CLIMATE CHANGE
WFP, UN, 2013, https://www.wfp.org/stories/10-hunger-facts-2014
1. About 842 million people in the world do not eat enough to be healthy. That means that one in every eight
people on Earth goes to bed hungry each night. (Source: FAO, 2013) 2.The number of people
living with chronic hunger has fallen by 17 percent since 1990–92. If the trend continues, we will fall just short of
the hunger target in the Millennium Development Goals. (Source: FAO, 2013) 3. Most of
the world’s undernourished people are still to be found in Southern Asia, closely followed by sub-Saharan Africa and Eastern Asia.
(Source: FAO, 2013) 4. A third of all deaths in children under the age of five in
developing countries are linked to undernutrition. (Source: IGME, 2011) 5. In the
developing world, one child in four is stunted, meaning that their physical and mental growth is
impaired because of inadequate nutrition. (Source: The Lancet, 2013) 6. The first 1,000 days of a child’s life,
from pregnancy through age two, are critical. A proper diet in this period can protect children from the mental and physical stunting that can result
from malnutrition. (Source: IGME, 2011) 7. If women farmers had the same access to resources as men, the number of hungry in the world could be
reduced by up to 150 million. (Source: FAO, 2011) 8. It costs just US $0.25 per day to provide a child with all of the vitamins and nutrients he or she
needs to grow up healthy. (Source: WFP, 2011) 9. By 2050, climate change and erratic weather
patterns could have pushed another 24 million children into hunger. Almost half
of these children would be in sub-Saharan Africa. (Source: IFPRI,2009) 10. Hunger can be eliminated in our lifetimes. The Zero
Hunger Challenge, launched by the UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon, works to galvanize global support around this very
objective.
Hunger and malnutrition is prevalent around the world and climate change will likely
cause hunger to increase. The current organizations are not sufficient enough to
eliminate hunger and malnutrition even as it stands today, without increase due to
climate change.
19
HUNGER IS A MAJOR PROBLEM AND ITS CAUSES ARE NOT GOING
AWAY
FREEDOM FROM HUNGER, 2015 https://www.freedomfromhunger.org/world-hunger-facts Among this group of poor people, many have problems obtaining adequate, nutritious food for themselves and their families. As a
result, 1.02 billion people in the developing world are undernourished. They
consume less than the minimum amount of calories essential for sound
health and growth.4 Undernourishment negatively affects people’s health, productivity, sense of hope and overall well-
being. A lack of food can stunt growth, slow thinking, sap energy, hinder fetal
development and contribute to mental retardation.5 Economically, the effort of constantly
securing food consumes valuable time and energy, allowing poor people less time for work and earning income.4 Pregnant women
and new mothers who breastfeed infants and children are among the most at risk of undernourishment.4 What Causes Chronic
Hunger? Chronic hunger affects more than 925 million people in the world and
is, in and of itself, a potentially deadly condition. You may be surprised to learn that it has little
to do with food shortages. Global supplies of food far outstrip demand. Far more people die from causes related to chronic hunger
than to famine. Chronically hungry people are exceptionally vulnerable when famine strikes. They have fewer resources to protect
themselves and their families and are already living on the margin of survival. Five things contribute to most
of the world's hunger1: Poverty: Poor people do not have the resources—whether land, tools or money—
needed to grow or buy food on a consistent basis. Armed Conflict: War disrupts agricultural production, and
governments often spend more on arms than on social programs. Environmental Overload: Over-consumption
by wealthy nations and rapid population growth in poor nations strain natural resources and make it harder for poor people to feed
themselves. Discrimination: Lack of access to education, credit and employment—a recipe for hunger—is often the
result of racial, gender or ethnic discrimination. Lack of Clout: In the final analysis, chronic hunger is caused by
powerlessness. People who don't have power to protect their own interests are hungry. The burden of this condition falls
most acutely on children, women and elderly people.
No matter how much work is done to eliminate global malnutrition, the causes that
contribute most are not about to disappear. Poverty, war, environmental overload,
discrimination, and powerlessness are continual problems that will not vanish in the
next couple years.
THERE IS STILL CONSIDERABLE PROGRESS NEEDED IN REDUCING HUNGER State of Food Insecurity in the World, FAO, UN, 2014 http://www.fao.org/3/a-
i4037e.pdf
Despite this overall progress in developing countries as a whole, there is still considerable room to reduce
undernourishment and improve food security. SOFI 2014 shows that advances in
reducing global malnutrition require political commitment expressed
through appropriate policies, programmes, legal frameworks and sufficient
resources. SOFI 2014 highlights examples of successful national efforts to reduce hunger, but also identifies factors that can
act as bottlenecks to progress. Global progress in hunger reduction mainly reflects
achievements made in the countries that have already met the MDG 1c
target of halving the proportion of undernourished people by 2015; of these 63 countries (out of a total of 136 countries and territories monitored by FAO), 25 have
already met the more ambitious World Food Summit (WFS) goal of halving the number of undernourished people between 1990 and 2015. Regional efforts to reduce hunger are
gaining traction, especially in Latin America and the Caribbean and Africa. In July 2014, at the African Union summit in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, African Heads of State
committed to end hunger on the continent by 2025. Last year, at the first summit of the Community of Latin America and the Caribbean States (CELAC), Heads of State and
Government endorsed the 2025 zero hunger target by reaffirming a regional commitment to the Hunger-Free Latin America and the Caribbean Initiative to end hunger by 2025,
20
launched in 2005. Together, these two regions include nearly 90 states and over 1.5 billion people. This commitment sends a powerful message to their citizens and to the rest of
the world. The decision of the Latin American and Caribbean Community to end hunger by 2025 underpins the national and regional action to promote food security that has
resulted in the achievement for the region as a whole of the First Millennium Development Goal hunger target. In addition, Latin America has also met the World Food Summit
target. The African commitment to end hunger by 2025 also acts on this principle and strengthens the ongoing efforts within the framework of the Africa-led Comprehensive
Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). The commitment made at Malabo also builds on the region´s
decision to increase South-South Cooperation efforts within Africa, as signalled by the Africa Solidarity Trust Fund for Food Security established in 2013. FAO Director-General
José Graziano da Silva welcomed the increased commitment and action to promote sustainable food security and the fact that many countries and regions are responding to the
Zero Hunger Challenge: “Political commitment of governments is increasingly being translated into comprehensive and effective action, with strengthened engagement of non-
state actors. Timor-Leste recently launched its national Zero Hunger Challenge. India has recently approved its National Food Security Act scales up the country’s effort to end
hunger, could create one the world’s biggest family farming food purchase programme and is scaling up financial inclusion for direct transfers.Regional efforts are also giving
important support to national action to bring the goal of achieving food security in our lifetime closer to reality. Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean are examples of this
The African commitment to end hunger by 2025 also acts on this principle and strengthens the ongoing efforts within the framework of the Africa-led Comprehensive Africa
Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). The commitment made at Malabo also builds on the region´s
decision to increase South-South Cooperation efforts within Africa, as signalled by the Africa Solidarity Trust Fund for Food Security established in 2013. FAO Director-General
José Graziano da Silva welcomed the increased commitment and action to promote sustainable food security and the fact that many countries and regions are responding to the
Zero Hunger Challenge: “Political commitment of governments is increasingly being translated into comprehensive and effective action, with strengthened engagement of non-
state actors. Timor-Leste recently launched its national Zero Hunger Challenge. India has recently approved its National Food Security Act scales up the country’s effort to end
hunger, could create one the world’s biggest family farming food purchase programme and is scaling up financial inclusion for direct transfers.Regional efforts are also giving
important support to national action to bring the goal of achieving food security in our lifetime closer to reality. Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean are examples of this
Despite overall progress in developing countries as a whole, large differences remain across regions. In general, Africa is making slow
progress in achieving international hunger targets, with the sub-Saharan region especially
lagging behind global trends. The region has been afflicted by conflict and natural disasters, and one in
four people remain undernourished in sub-Saharan Africa – the highest prevalence of all the
regions. The most populous region in the world, Asia, has reduced the number of hungry people by 217 million since 1990-92. The three countries that
have made the most progress reducing the absolute number of undernourished people are in Asia: there are 138 million fewer hungry people in China,
while there are 20 million fewer hungry people in India and in Viet Nam today, as compared to 1990-92. However, Asia is still home to two-thirds of
the world’s hungry people: in the region as a whole, 526 million people remain undernourished. Western Asia saw the number of undernourished
people increase by 10.5 million since 1990-92, from 6.3 to 8.7 percent. In Southern Asia, 276 million people were chronically undernourished in 2012–
14, only marginally fewer than the number in 1990–92. Much more rapid progress has been achieved in Eastern Asia and in South-Eastern Asia. In
fact, South-Eastern Asia has already met the WFS hunger target.
Even in a report intended to report positive progress, hunger is acknowledged as a
persistent problem. Therefore, significant policy action beyond the status quo will be
required to remedy global malnutrition.
THE UNITED STATES STILL HAS MANY HUNGRY, AND NOT MANY ARE
AIDED BY THE CURRENT PROGRAMS
NO KID HUNGRY, 2011, http://www.nokidhungry.org/sites/default/files/2011-childhood-hunger-facts.pdf All data refer to the year 2010. They are collected in 2010, and reported in September 2011.
48.8 million Americans—including 16.2 million children—lack the means to
get enough nutritious food on a regular basis. They live in food- insecure households and as a
result, they struggle with hunger at some time during the year. Food-insecure families Food insecurity—the limited or
uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe food—exists in 17.2 million households in
America, 3.9 million of them with children. Rates of food insecurity are substantially higher than
the national average among households with incomes near or below the Federal poverty line, among households with children
headed by single parents (35.1% of children living in a single-mom household are food-insecure), and among Black and Hispanic
households. Food insecurity is most common in large cities but still exists in rural areas suburbs and other outlying areas around
large cities. − 25 % of children living in large cities are food insecure The typical (median) food-secure
household spends 27 percent more for food than the typical food-insecure household of the same size and composition. 57% of
food-insecure households report that in the previous month they had
participated in one or more of the three largest Federal food and nutrition
assistance programs: SNAP (food stamps), School Lunch and WIC. The full USDA report, Household Food Security
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in the United States, 2010, including state food insecurity data, is available at http://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/err125/
Children struggling with hunger (i.e. children living in food-insecure households) More than 16 million
children (nearly one in five children in America) struggle with hunger. They
live in families that lack the means to regularly put enough nutritious food on the table for everyone to live healthy, active lives. They
are considered “food-insecure.”
The USA has several programs devoted to lessening hunger. However, millions remain
hungry even with the current programs in place. Clearly, the current programs are not
enough to end hunger soon enough for it not to be a current topic in the 2016-17
scholastic year.
22
Scope This resolution has a substantially large scope, considering how many people are
affected each day by hunger related issues. The 2014 UN Food and Agriculture report, “
The State of Food Insecurity in the World” notes that the biggest issues are with
developing countries. The numbers do not lie: 526 million in Asia and the Pacific, 227
million in Africa, 37 Million in Latin America and the Caribbean and 15 million in
developed countries are hungry and malnourished. Debaters will have many options for
case areas to look into with hunger being such a significant issue worldwide.
AFRICA REMAINS BEHIND IN GLOBAL HUNGER TRENDS
UN FAO 2014 UN Food and Agriculture report, “ The State of Food Insecurity in the world” http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4037e.pdf Despite overall progress in developing countries as a whole, large differences remain
across regions. In general, Africa is making slow progress in achieving international
hunger targets, with the sub-Saharan region especially lagging behind global trends. The
region has been afflicted by conflict and natural disasters, and one in four people remain
undernourished in sub-Saharan Africa – the highest prevalence of all the regions.
HUNGER IS AN ISSUE IN ASIA
UN FAO 2014 UN Food and Agriculture report, “ The State of Food Insecurity in the world” http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4037e.pdf The most populous region in the world, Asia, has reduced the number of hungry people by 217
million since 1990-92. The three countries that have made the most progress reducing the absolute number of undernourished
people are in Asia: there are 138 million fewer hungry people in China, while there are 20 million fewer hungry people in India and
in Viet Nam today, as compared to 1990-92. However, Asia is still home to two-thirds of the world’s
hungry people: in the region as a whole, 526 million people remain
undernourished. Western Asia saw the number of undernourished people
increase by 10.5 million since 1990-92, from 6.3 to 8.7 percent. In Southern
Asia, 276 million people were chronically undernourished in 2012–14, only
marginally fewer than the number in 1990–92. Much more rapid progress has been achieved in
Eastern Asia and in South-Eastern Asia. In fact, South-Eastern Asia has already met the WFS hunger target.
LATIN AMERICA IS A “POLICY LABORATORY”IN FIGHTING HUNGER,
BUT MANY ARE STILL HUNGRY
January 2013
Wainer, Andrew- Immigration Policy Analyst at Bread for the World Institute “Hunger and Development in Latin America http://notes.bread.org/2013/03/hunger-and-development-in-latin-america.html
"There can be no sustainable development in the world while millions of
people go hungry." FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva, January 2013, Community of Latin American and
Caribbean States-EU Summit This summit, which included representatives of about 60 nations in Latin America, the Caribbean, and
the European Union, focused on food security as a key component of sustainable development. In the past decade, Latin America
has been a leader in both rhetoric and action to make reducing hunger and poverty a top priority.Graziano pointed
23
out that Latin America was one of the first regions to take on the challenge
of eradicating hunger, launching the Hunger Free Latin America and the
Caribbean Initiative in 2005. Latin America has been a “policy laboratory”
whose anti-poverty and -hunger campaigns include Fome Zero (Zero
Hunger) in Brazil as well as the Crusade Against Hunger in Mexico,
launched in January 2013. The political commitment of the past decade has
been accompanied by significant progress against hunger and poverty in
many countries in the region. Governments have harnessed strong economic growth to support anti-poverty
and hunger reduction programs that combine market-based economic growth with an emphasis on addressing social problems and
inequality. Brazil has been the most visible example of using strong economic growth to address social problems; its combination of
growth and social spending has helped lift tens of millions of people out of poverty over the past decade. Hunger has also been
reduced in the region as a whole over the past two decades. In 1990-1992, 14.6 percent of the population, or 65 million people, were
hungry, while by 2010-2012, 8.3 percent, or 49 million people, were hungry. Graziano said that in Latin
America, as a middle-income region, hunger is fundamentally a lack of
access to food, not the availability of food. "Latin America and the
Caribbean, with a population of 600 million people, produce enough food
to feed 750 million people. However, 49 million of the current population
still suffers hunger," he said. As in other regions, women and children in
Latin America suffer from poverty and hunger more than men. For example, in
Colombia, there are 110 women ages 20 to 59 in poor rural households for every 100 men. In Chile 114 women live in such
households for every 100 men. Despite the progress in Latin America, hunger, poverty,
and lack of economic opportunity still push people to look for work in the
United States. Historically, a large majority of immigrants to the United States have been men seeking economic
opportunity to support their families at home. But today more Latin American immigrants than ever are female – 51 percent – since
women, too, often need to support children who remain in their home countries.
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Solvency
UN PROGRAMS HAVE BEEN BENEFICIAL IN SOLVING FOR HUNGER
Lederer, Edith M. "UN Says Hunger in Africa Can Be Eradicated by 2025 with Help of
Leaders." CTVNews. The Associated Press, 11 Nov. 2013. Web. 29 June 2015.
<http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/un-says-hunger-in-africa-can-be-eradicated-by-2025-
with-help-of-leaders-1.1556456>.
Eradicating hunger in Africa by 2025 is achievable -- if Africa's leaders champion it and promote
improved crop production and healthy eating, the head of the U.N. food and agriculture agency said
Friday.Jose Graziano da Silva went even further in an interview with The Associated Press, saying the Food and
Agriculture Organization believes that hunger can be eradicated around the globe
"in a generation -- in our lifetime" if there is a political commitment by world
leaders to ensure that all their citizens get access to nutritious food."We are not
talking about sending a man to the moon or something that complicated," he said.
"We have the technology. We have the expertise. We have the things that we need
to do it." Graziano said the World Food Programme looked at how the 62 countries
that have achieved the first U.N. Millennium Development Goal -- reducing
extreme poverty by half -- did it before the target date of the end of 2015, and it found three
key factors.First, he said, was "political will" and leadership, because improving food security involves improvements not only in
agriculture but in nutrition, health, water supplies and storage facilities, to name a few."If the president doesn't take the lead, or the
prime minister ... it doesn't work," he said.Second, Graziano said, is improving agricultural performance and access to
food."According to FAO, we have more than enough food produced nowadays to avoid hunger," he said. "People are hungry today
because they don't have access to food ... because they cannot pay for the food or they cannot produce it any more as we did in the
past."One problem is that one-third to one-half of the food produced today is lost or wasted for a variety of reasons including bad
storage, poor transportation and cultural issues, including the move from traditional cuisine to fast food, he said. A lot of food that
could be consumed is thrown out, often because of huge portions.Third, Graziano said, is improving the nutritional value of the food
people eat."We are seeing more and more malnutrition rise in developed countries ... because of the quality of what (people) are
eating," he said.When children are listed by income, for example, "you see in families with the lowest income a proportion of obese
and malnourished (youngsters) similar to the families that have high level income," he said.Graziano said the FAO is
promoting the best practices collected from around the world to eradicate hunger,
especially in Africa, "where we have the worst situation at the moment." He
expressed hope that an African Union summit in January will set a target to
eradicate hunger in Africa by 2025."All countries in Africa can do it ... with the
proper assistance FAO is giving them," he said.For example, the FAO in early 2012
declared a famine in Somalia, but Graziano said "we have been able to pull
Somalia out of famine in six months" with improvements in agriculture and
livestock raising and a cash-for-work program aimed primarily at women because
they provide food for the family. This program was based on the FAO's experience
in Brazil, Vietnam and other countries, he said.Graziano was in New York to
launch the "International Year of Family Farming" in 2014.There are almost
500,000 family farms, mostly in Africa where 95 per cent of farmers are small or
subsistence farmers, many of whom don't produce enough to eat, he said.Graziano
said the FAO is promoting family farms because they are "the most efficient" when
it comes to using land and water resources and because the agency wants to
25
promote local production and local use of food, which avoids increasingly high
transportation costs.Graziano is also still promoting this year's International Year
of Quinoa -- "the unique cereal that has all the proteins and amino acids that the
human being needs" and requires 100 per cent less water than any other cereal.
That makes it perfect for dry areas, and it can be cultivated at any altitude. The
FAO achieved its goal of introducing quinoa in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa,
where countries are testing different varieties, as well as in Yemen, he said. "It takes one or two years of testing and choosing the best one," Graziano said, "but after that ... the wind helps a lot because it
spreads the seeds all around -- you don't need to pay Monsanto for the seeds! So it will be really amazing to see the Sahel and many
drought areas of the world cultivated with quinoa in the future, and we are working on that."
UN IS A KEY PLAYER IN PROMOTING PROGRAMS TO REDUCE
MALNUTRTION AND HUNGER
"United Nations Millennium Development Goals." UN News Center. UN, n.d.
Web. 29 June 2015.
<http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/Zero_Hunger_Challenge.pdf>
The United Nations Secretary General gives top priority to the elimination
of hunger. This requires comprehensive efforts to ensure that every man,
woman and child enjoy their Right to Adequate Food; women are
empowered; priority is given to family farming; and food systems
everywhere are sustainable and resilient. The challenge of Zero Hunger
means: • Zero stunted children less than 2 years • 100% access to adequate
food all year round • All food systems are sustainable • 100% increase in
smallholder productivity and income • Zero loss or waste of food
Eliminating hunger involves investments in agriculture, rural development,
decent work, social protection and equality of opportunity. It will make a
major contribution to peace and stability and to the reduction of poverty. It
will contribute to better nutrition for all – especially women from the
beginning of pregnancy and children under the age of two. The UN
Secretary General encourages all partners to scale up their efforts and turn
the vision of an end to hunger into a reality. He appreciates the bold
leadership by many from government, civil society, business, labour unions,
consumer groups and the scientific community. They succeed through
working together. They encourage participation by a range of organizations,
social movements and people around a common vision. They promote
effective strategies, more investments and increased development
cooperation, in line with existing national and international agreements.
26
They strive for results and are accountable for their efforts – particularly to
those who are hungry. "Our world has enough food to feed every man,
woman and child. Yet 870 million people – one of every eight members of
the human family – go hungry. People across the world share my outrage
and are taking up the challenge to end hunger in our lifetime.” United
Nations Secretary General Ban Ki moon 870 million (1 in 8) people hungry
165 million malnourished children At least 20 countries talking about Zero
Hunger 23 High Level Task Force Agencies aligned with the Zero Hunger
Challenge Hunger can be eliminated in our lifetimes. We are already seeing
progress taken in that direction. Since the Zero Hunger Challenge was
launched by the Secretary‐ General at the Rio+20 Sustainable
Development Conference in June 2012, governments, NGOs, private sector
companies, religious leaders, and citizens around the world have taken up
the call. Underlining the fact that strong political leadership and the right
policies can produce dramatic reductions in levels of hunger and
malnutrition, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) announced in
June that 38 countries have already halved either number or percentage of
their population who is hungry before the deadline for the Millennium
Development Goals in 2015. Achieving MDG1 is the first step towards zero
hunger. “When it comes to hunger, the only acceptable number is zero.”
FAO Director General José Graziano da Silva Programmes in line with the
Zero Hunger Challenge are taking shape or being discussed in some 20
countries around the world, as governments set their own goals and work
out plans with UN agencies and other partners. Regional multistakeholder
programmes, including the HungerFree Initiative for West Africa, La
Iniciativa América Latina y Caribe sin Hambre, and the Zero Hunger
Challenge for Asia & the Pacific, bring global actors together to create
operational programming. From monetary commitments from
governments, civil society and the private sector, including over US $25
billion at the “Nutrition for Growth” event in London, to political
commitments by parliamentarians, the African Union, London and Mexico
City, the world is coming together to form effective partnerships for the
eradication of hunger. NOW is the time to take up the Challenge Political
and societal to eliminating hunger is higher than ever. The moment for
leaders from government, business, and civil society to come together is
27
now. Successful partnering involves working together in support of national
authorities – examples include the Movement for Scaling Up Nutrition,
with 41 countries and hundreds of organizations and agencies working to
end child malnutrition, and the “Think. Eat. Save” initiative which aims to
reduce food waste and loss. Countries are driving the response, with bold
commitments from their political leaders, and continuous sharing of
experiences. Political and thought leaders are exchanging proposals for
accelerating the achievement, in 2015, of the MDG hunger reduction target.
Together we can build the world the future we want – a future with Zero
Hunger. UN HAS A PROVEN TRACK RECORD OF HELPING THOSE WHO ARE
HUNGRY AND MALNOURISHED
"World Food Programme." Preventing Hunger. World Food Programme, n.d. Web.
29 June 2015. <https://www.wfp.org/preventing-hunger>.
WFP's post-emergency and development operations are built around projects focused
on preventing hunger taking hold in the future and breaking the cycle of hunger which is
at its root.WFP's innovative projects allow the weak and poor to stop worrying about
their next meal and build a sustainable future for themselves, their families and their
communities. Here are some of the ways in which we work to prevent hunger in the
future:
School meals-As well as directly addressing hunger, school meal projects encourage
families to keep their children in school and so help them build better futures. If
children are not hungry they will also concentrate better on their lessons. With a solid
education growing children have a better chance of finding their own way out of hunger.
These projects benefit girls especially.
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Food for Assets-WFP's Food for Assets projects pay the hungry with food to lay the
foundations for a better tomorrow. When poor farmers no longer have to worry about
the next meal, they have the time and energy to build irrigation systems that can
boost production. Similarly, Food for Training projects allow the poor to devote time
to learning skills that will sustain them economically in future
HIV/AIDS-WFP uses its food rations to soften the blow of HIV and AIDS. The
agency distributes its rations to people living with HIV and AIDS, so they can keep
providing for their families for longer and have time to transfer vital knowledge and
skills to the growing number of AIDS orphans - the next generation of food providers
in developing countries.
Purchase for Progress (P4P)-WFP already buys large amounts of food in
developing countries. P4P harnesses this purchasing power and uses it to help poor
farmers connect to reliable markets where they can get competitive prices for their
produce. With secure markets, farmers will be encouraged to produce more and
innovate. The knock-on effect is more food security for everyone.
Focus on Women-WFP has long believed that women are the first and fastest
solution to reducing hunger and poverty. In both its emergency and development
projects, WFP has a special commitment to helping women gain equal access to life's
basic necessity.
US INITIATIVES SUCH AS FEED THE FUTURE HAVE HAD EARLY
SUCCESS
USAID, April 13, 2015, http://www.usaid.gov/sustaining-ftf-progress
For generations, the United States has been a leader in providing
development assistance across the globe to alleviate suffering and build
shared progress and prosperity. But global food price spikes and resulting instability in 2007 and 2008 were a wake-up
call: More needed to be done to break the vicious cycle of hunger and poverty. The answer: Unlock the potential of agriculture as the key to reducing
hunger, extreme poverty, and malnutrition through a movement that became Feed the Future. Feed the Future, the U.S.
Government’s global hunger and food security initiative, has pioneered a
comprehensive approach to ending global hunger that draws on
partnerships across sectors, country leadership, and a focus on achieving
results. With an emphasis on supporting smallholder farmers to strengthen global food security and nutrition, Feed the Future
is building on early success to drive real change at a large scale. The momentum to
achieve the long-term vision of Feed the Future – a world where the scourge of hunger, poverty, and malnutrition no longer threaten the peace and
prosperity of millions – is strong. U.S. leadership and bipartisan commitment have been integral to driving the progress that Feed the Future has made
in just a few years. The ongoing Ebola crisis emphasizes the urgent need to secure progress toward eliminating extreme poverty and chronic hunger,
29
which are key drivers of such crises. Poverty can allow a single case to become an outbreak and turn an outbreak into an epidemic. Long-term food
security, which the U.S. Government supports through Feed the Future, is essential to combating poverty in developing countries. It helps provide for
long-term stability and security and serves to mitigate the impacts of future crises. An Urgent Need Food, fuel and financial turmoil in 2007 and 2008
pushed millions of people around the world back to the precipice of poverty. Food prices hit all-time highs, sending prices for basic staples like rice and
wheat beyond the reach of the world’s most vulnerable people. The resulting spike in food insecurity worldwide and its destabilizing effects served as a
wake-up call to policy makers about the depth of the problem. More needed to be done to address not just the symptoms of food insecurity, but the root
causes to break the cycle of poverty, hunger and crisis. Investing in agriculture was integral. Under the Bush Administration, the United States allocated
resources for a near and longer-term response to the food price crisis focused on boosting agricultural productivity, strengthening supply chains, and
promoting sound market-based principles for agriculture sector development and regional trade. This approach built on ongoing efforts by African
leaders to invest in and revitalize agriculture as a proven means for pulling people out of poverty. Early success provided a
near-term boost to agricultural productivity in West Africa and increased
food availability. What began on a modest scale in several countries through the Initiative to End Hunger in Africa provided the
foundation for a more comprehensive, global response to address the underlying causes of food insecurity and malnutrition. Following the food price
crisis, the United States mobilized a movement that is increasing investments
in agriculture and approaching implementation of these resources in a new
way: One that coordinates efforts across donors and sectors, supports country-owned plans for improving food security and nutrition, and is highly
accountable for achieving results. Through Feed the Future, the U.S. Government
contributes to this global effort, working hand in hand with partner
countries to develop their agriculture sectors and improve global food
security. Putting “whole-of-government” into practice, Feed the Future draws on the agricultural, trade, investment, science, development, and
policy resources and expertise of departments and agencies across the U.S. Government. In just a few years, this U.S. Government
initiative is already delivering results that are helping reduce poverty and
hunger while also improving nutrition for millions of children and families around the world. More Results: U.S.
Government Initiative Reduces Hunger and Poverty for Millions “In the past, we thought our job was done when we taught a farmer how to plant a new
crop. Today, our job isn’t done until we also help her – and her neighbor – learn how to run a successful business. We don’t want our impact to stop at
just one family, business or community. We want communities around the world to see real change at a large scale.” Sustaining Progress In March
2015, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN), along with 11 other co-sponsors including House Committee on Foreign Affairs
Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) and Ranking Member Eliot Engel (D-NY), introduced H.R. 1567, the Global Food Security Act of 2015. The legislation
would authorize and codify international food security programs and is similar to the bill that passed the U.S. House of Representatives last Congress.
The legislation would codify the U.S. Government’s commitment to the productivity, incomes and livelihoods of small-scale producers, particularly
women, by working across agricultural value chains and expanding farmers’ access to local and international markets. It would strengthen the Feed the
Future initiative’s existing accountability mechanisms and establish parameters for robust Congressional oversight, monitoring and evaluation of
impact toward this commitment. What Has Feed the Future Achieved? As the U.S. Government’s global hunger and food security initiative, Feed
the Future has been led by USAID since 2010 in concert with 10 other
federal departments and agencies. We have built a broad network of
stakeholders to advance global food security and nutrition through
agriculture-led development as a means for sustainable, broad-based economic growth that reduces extreme poverty. Feed
the Future is the signature U.S. Government initiative contributing to this global effort. There is broad bipartisan
support for sustaining Feed the Future due in large part to tremendous
gains made over the past few years.
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WAYS FEED THE FUTURE HAS HELPED SOLVE
HUNGER/MALNUTRITION
Ramundo, Kelly, May 19th, 2014, http://blog.usaid.gov/2014/05/10-ways-america-is-
helping-feed-the-world/
In this environment, President Obama was determined to reverse course and give millions of people a pathway out of
extreme poverty. In his first inaugural address, the president outlined his vision of a
world without hunger. “To the people of poor nations,” he said, “we pledge
to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean water flow;
to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds.” His remarks marked the
beginning of renewed global attention that brought poverty, hunger and
undernutrition back to the top of the international agenda. As one of his first foreign
policy acts, President Obama launched Feed the Future. Its aim: to strengthen food
security and nutrition for millions of people by focusing on the smallholder farmers at the
foundation of the world’s agriculture system. This week, Feed the Future marks four years of progress and has just released a report
on its impact to date. In the spirit of this progress, here are some of the ways that Feed the Future
is helping grow a more prosperous future for the 842 million people who
will still go to sleep hungry tonight. 1. By Empowering Farmers Farmers working
small plots of land are the backbone of the world’s agricultural system, but often struggle to feed their own families. In the past year
alone, Feed the Future has helped nearly 7 million farmers and food producers use new technologies and management practices on
more than 4 million hectares, or over 15,000 square miles, of land to boost their harvests. 2. By Helping Families
Nourish their Children Poor nutrition is a stealthy killer and the underlying cause of one out of every three deaths
of young children in developing countries. Conversely, good nutrition in the 1,000-day window from pregnancy to a child’s second
birthday lays the foundation for health, development, and even prosperity for the next generation. In 2013, Feed the Future, in
collaboration with the Global Health Initiative, reached more than 12.5 million children with nutrition interventions that can help
ensure a stronger and more successful future. Feed the Future also supported nearly 91,000 women farmers in homestead
gardening, improving access to nutritious foods and increasing income for women and children. 3. By Encouraging
Banks to Loan to “Risky” Borrowers The ability to borrow money is what allows farm families to make
the investments needed to grow more for their families and communities. Working with Feed the Future, local banks are using
innovative finance mechanisms to lend to more smallholders, often considered too “risky” by banks. Last year in Senegal alone,
more than 17,000 farmers and small entrepreneurs benefited from nearly $20 million in rural loans and grants which helped them
access better seeds and modern equipment, as well as weather-indexed crop insurance, and helped negotiate favorable contracts
with commercial mills. The results? Farmers’ profits for rice rose by 56 percent and for maize by 173 percent between 2012 and
2013. 4. By Involving the Private Sector in the Fight Against Global Hunger A
food-secure world will not become a reality without a combination of public and private sector investment. Last year, Feed the
Future assistance created 1,175 public-private partnerships, up from 660 the previous year—8 out of 10 involved local small and
medium-sized firms. That same year, U.S. Government investments also leveraged more than $160 million in private sector
investment, a 40 percent increase from 2012. These alliances foster growth in emerging markets by commercializing new
technologies; helping to create policy environments that enable even greater growth; increasing opportunities for investment,
finance and risk mitigation; and improving market access and trade. 5. By Promoting Responsible
Investment It’s not enough to just encourage investments that “do no harm.” The U.S. Government works to ensure that the
countries we partner with to improve food security adhere to specific policy measures so that the investments benefit women and
smallholder farmers as well as investors. 6. By Helping Farmers Become Entrepreneurs Feed the
Future reflects a new model for development—one that emphasizes partnership, linkages and access to tools, technologies and the
global economy. Whereas in the past, success meant helping farmers grow more crops, success today means also helping them learn
how to be entrepreneurs. 7. By Reforming Food Aid to Save More Lives In addition to Feed the
Future, in 2014, President Obama proposed changing our largest international food assistance program to allow more flexible,
efficient and effective food aid through the purchase of local commodities and the provision of cash vouchers. The goal was to enable
the United States to reach 4 million more people in crisis, with the same resources, and speed response time to emergencies.
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Combined with other legislation, reforms in the 2014 Farm Bill now mean USAID can reach an additional 800,000 chronically food-
insecure people with no extra funds. The 2015 Budget seeks additional reforms for emergency food aid that would allow around 2
million more people in crises to be helped without additional resources. 8. By Involving U.S. Students and
Universities in the Fight against Global Hunger The United States boasts some of the world’s
cutting-edge agricultural research facilities. Feed the Future fosters strong partnerships with both U.S. and international agricultural
research institutions, such as the University of California, Davis; Virginia Tech and the Consultative Group on International
Agricultural Research (CGIAR) to, for example, help develop new strains of cowpea that can fend off common pests and to help
India control the papaya mealybug pest that was decimating its horticulture sector. So far, 23 Feed the Future Innovation Labs made
up of 70 of the United States’ top academic research institutions have been created. 9. By Sending Some of our
Best and Brightest Abroad The Peace Corps has a long history of being on the front lines of the U.S. fight to end
global poverty. Partnering with USAID as part of the Feed the Future initiative, the Peace Corps has fielded more than 1,200 Peace
Corps Volunteers in countries overseas to help people make sustainable changes in how they cultivate their food, address water
shortages and feed their families. 10. By Helping Farmers Weather the Weather Maize is the
major staple and an important cash crop for farmers in East and Southern Africa, but it is threatened by climate change. U.S.
Government-supported projects have contributed to the release of 140 drought-tolerant maize varieties in 13 countries since 2006.
Building on this work, Feed the Future strengthens public and private sector seed systems to ensure that new varieties can reach
smallholders at scale. In 2013 as a result of U.S. Government investments, farmers planted more than 28,000 hectares, or nearly 90
square miles, of land with improved high-yielding varieties across the key maize-producing countries of Tanzania, Ghana and Kenya.
Balance AFF Cases The following is a list of potential case areas with an explanation and some examples for each
area. Not all areas may be applicable to all resolutions. Also many cases address the causes of
malnutrition rather than directly addressing malnutrition. ● Vitamin Deficiency-One of the major problems related to global malnutrition is
vitamin deficiency. There are many ways to solve vitamin deficiency ranging from
completely solving hunger to developing new cheaper genetically modified foods.
a. Bugs
b. GMO Rice
c. GMO Bananas
d. Vitamin Distribution
e. Infant and Prenatal nutrition
f. Palm Weevils
● Food Sources/Technology-One suggested way to solve for hunger, and thus
malnutrition, is to develop more sources or cheaper methods of gathering food. The
basic idea is that more food means less hunger.
a. Aquaculture
b. Vertical Farming
c. Unconventional Food Sources (Bug Meat, Jellyfish, Seaweed, etc)
d. Breadfruit
e. Hydroponics
f. Urban Farming
g. Improve crop yields
h. Agroecology
i. Improve farming tech/availability of tech
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● Money-Many problems (including hunger) can be solved with the addition of more
money or money related incentives. Also many organizations devote themselves to
ending hunger, so especially for novice debaters, simpler cases could just be to pick an
organization to fund.
a. Help assorted organizations
b. Local business giveaways
c. Subsidize low income farmers
d. Tax Breaks for donations alleviating hunger
e. Microloans
f. Gramin Banks
● Education-Education is a major part of quality of life, and schools have had a large
impact on hunger in more developed countries through school lunches and acting as a
distribution center. Expanding education means expanding that infrastructure.
a. Encourage education
b. School lunches
● Addressing Poverty/Standard of living-Most organizations agree that the root
cause of hunger is poverty and unstable environments. Although these cases would
straddle the line of FX topicality, they allow for a wide variety of substantive debate,
especially among older debaters.
a. Encourage job creation
b. Improve Education
c. Empower Women
d. Raise Minimum Wage/International Minimum Wage
e. Increase spread of basic sanitary and medical care
f. Refrigeration
g. Encourage stability
● Prioritization-Solving hunger could also be done by ensuring quality land for
agricultural purposes, or by improving current land usage. These cases would require
research on current land use as well as research on malnutrition.
a. Land usage
b. Limit speculators
c. Local farmers
d. Agroecology
● Promotional Campaigns-In these cases students could argue about changing people’s
mindsets through promotional campaigns. In these cases, simple changes in the lifestyle
of large groups of people could have a large effect on lessening global malnutrition.
a. Shift Crop Production from Biofuels to Food
b. Vegetarianism/Veganism
c. Reduce Beef Consumption
d. Limit desertification
e. Help farmers organize
f. Agroecology
● Redistribute food/Change current distribution system-Most organizations agree
that plenty of food exists, but skewed distribution causes the majority of global
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malnutrition. While reasonable plans for this area may be difficult to write, the result
would be a completely topical plan that solves global malnutrition.
a. Food drops
b. Localizing food production
NEG Ideas
The following arguments could be run on just about any affirmative case: ● Capitalism Kritik
● Funding Tradeoff Disadvantage
● Non-Inherent-Malnourishment is simply a symptom of hunger/food insecurity
● Solving hunger is bad
○ social structure/destabilization
○ environmental concerns
○ overpopulation (quasi-Malthusian Theory)
● Solvency: Local forces prevent
● US Agriculture Economy DA
● The US Model of agriculture is bad/Spreading said model is bad
● Pesticide arguments
● Globalism Kritik
The following is a chart describing potential negative arguments depending on the resolution
and the case area. An explanation will follow.
Topic Area w/ UN actor w/ US actor w/ WFP
Vitamin
Deficiency
● S-Doesn’t solve
distribution
● DA-politics
● S-UN=unsuccessful
● CP-Actor
● Vitamins are not
Calories
● Doesn’t completely
solve malnutrition,
ex. protein
deficiency
● GMOs bad
● Environmental K
● Monoculture is bad
● S-International
problem
● DA-politics
● CP-
NGO/International
actor
● S-Doesn’t solve
distribution
● K-Imperialism
● Vitamins are not
calories
● Doesn’t completely
solve malnutrition,
ex.protein
deficiency
● GMOs bad
● Environmental K
● Monoculture is bad
● S-Doesn’t solve
distribution
● Vitamins are
not calories
● Doesn’t
completely
solve
malnutrition,
ex.protein
deficiency
● GMOs bad
● Environmental
K
● Monoculture is
bad
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Food
Sources/Tech
● S-Enough food
worldwide, more
food/tech is not the
same as better
distribution
● S-Expensive
● Bad for
environment
● DA-politics
● S-UN=unsuccessful
● CP-Actor
● Taste preferences,
dissatisfaction, civil
unrest
● Environmental K
● Monoculture is bad
● S-International
problem
● S-Enough food
worldwide, more
food/tech is not the
same as better
distribution
● DA-politics
● CP-
NGO/International
actor
● S-Expensive
● Bad for
environment
● Taste preferences,
dissatisfaction, civil
unrest
● K-Imperialism
● Environmental K
● Monoculture is bad
● S-Enough food
worldwide,
more food/tech
is not the same
as better
distribution
● S-Expensive
● Bad for
environment
● No current
section of the
WFP does it
● Taste
preferences,
dissatisfaction,
civil unrest
● Environmental
K
● Monoculture is
bad
Money ● Not the UN’s
jurisdiction
● DA-politics
● S-UN=unsuccessful
● CP-Actor
● CP-Private
donorship
● Environmental K
● S-International
problem
● DA-politics
● CP-
NGO/International
actor
● Not the US’s
jurisdiction
● K-Imperialism
● CP-Private
Donorship
● Environmental K
● the WFP
doesn’t have the
power
● CP-Private
donorship
● Environmental
K
Education ● DA-politics
● S-UN=unsuccessful
● CP-Actor
● Environmental K
● Monoculture is bad
● Western styles of
education is bad
● S-International
Problem
● DA-politics
● CP-
NGO/International
actor
● K-Imperialism
● Environmental K
● Monoculture is bad
● Western styles of
education is bad
● Environmental
K
● Monoculture is
bad
● Western forms
of education are
bad
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Poverty/
Standard of
living
● DA-politics
● S-UN=unsuccessful
● CP-Actor
● Environmental K
● S-International
Problem
● DA-politics
● CP-
NGO/International
actor
● K-Imperialism
● Environmental K
● Not part of
WFP
● Environmental
K
Prioritization
of resources
● Destroys free
markets
● DA-Politics
● S-UN=unsuccessful
● CP-Actor
● Environmental K
● S-International
Problem
● Destroys free
markets
● DA-politics
● CP-
NGO/International
actor
● K-Imperialism
● Environmental K
● Destroys free
markets
● Not part of
WFP
● Environmental
K
Promotional
Campaigns
● K-Ad campaigns are
evil
● DA-Politics
● S-UN=unsuccessful
● CP-Actor
● Environmental K
● S-International
Problem
● K-Ad campaigns
are evil
● DA-politics
● CP-
NGO/International
actor
● K-Imperialism
● Environmental K
● K-Ad
Campaigns are
evil
● Environmental
K
Distribution of
food
● Consult Amazon CP
● DA-Politics
● S-UN=unsuccessful
● CP-Actor
● Environmental K
● Monoculture is bad
● S-International
Problem
● Consult Amazon
CP
● DA-politics
● CP-
NGO/International
actor
● K-Imperialism
● Environmental K
● Monoculture is bad
● Consult
Amazon CP
● Environmental
K
● Monoculture is
bad
Arguments that can be run depending on the actor(s): ● The UN
○ The UN is inefficient
○ The UN has no real power
○ Actor Counterplan- USFG/China/India/Private Corporation
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○ politics Disadvantage depending on whatever international crisis arises in 2016
○ Eurocentrism Kritik
○ Environmental K
● The United States Federal Government
○ global malnutrition is an international problem
○ global malnutrition occurs mainly in Asia and Africa
○ politics Disadvantage
○ International Actor/Privatization/Charity counterplan
○ Imperialism Kritik
○ Environmental K
● The World Food Programme
○ Not within WFP Jurisdiction
○ The WFP is ineffective, (past performance demonstrates)
Arguments that can be run depending on the case area: ● Vitamin Deficiency
a. It doesn’t solve for the distribution
b. Solving for vitamin deficiency means that while people might receive enough
nutrients they might still not receive enough food
c. Doesn’t solve all forms of malnutrition- ex. protein deficiency
d. GMOs are bad
e. Environmental K
f. Monoculture is bad
● Food Sources/Technology
a. There is enough food worldwide, more food or technology will not solve for the
hungry because of unequal distribution
b. Development of new sources or technology will be expensive
c. New sources or technology may be bad for the environment
d. Taste preferences leads to dissatisfaction-leads to civil unrest-leads to nuclear
war
e. Monoculture is bad
f. Environmental K
● Money
a. Counterplan-Private donorship
b. Solvency-Throwing money at a problem doesn’t necessarily indicate a solution
will be found
c. Inefficiency
d. Environmental K
● Education
a. Inability to reach some of the most unstable areas meaning inability to solve
global malnutrition
b. Environmental K
● Addressing Poverty/Standard of living
a. Doesn’t solve for hunger caused by war
b. Environmental concerns
c. Environmental K
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● Prioritization
a. Destroys free markets
b. Environmental K
● Promotional Campaigns
a. Kritik-Ad campaigns are telling people what to think
b. Campaigns don’t have a significant enough impact
c. Environmental K
● Redistribute food/Change current distribution system
a. Counterplan-Consult Amazon for their distribution system
b. Free trade
c. Environmental K
d. Monoculture is bad
Fundamental Negative Clash An important element for substantive debate is that a true ideological clash exist
between the affirmative and negative sides as a matter of principle in round. Otherwise, one
team will always be at a significant advantage since they have to essentially concede that the
other team is correct in their fundamental outlook. While World Hunger may seem to be the epitome of this problem (who could possibly
argue for letting children die miserable deaths without seeming like a monster?), the Kritikal
ground provided to the negative under our resolution ensures that even if the negative team has
to concede that human life has value, they are still left with significant ground to attack the idea
of “ending world hunger” as an institution rather than being pigeonholed into accepting the
affirmative’s worldview. A key element of what made last year’s ocean topic easy to debate was that the oceans
are, for the most part, fairly neutral ground. There is a wealth of arguments on both sides, both
advocating for and against human intervention, exploration, and infrastructure development.
This year’s surveillance topic exists in a significantly more polarized area, yet the core of the
debate is split into two fairly clear areas- the affirmative arguing for the philosophical concept of
civil liberties and the negative arguing for ruthless pragmatism in the face of existential threats. While there are some fringe arguments about not solving world hunger due to
overpopulation concerns, the vast majority of organizations dealing with the issue are in support
of providing nutritional aid to those affected rather than allowing them to die. This adds a new
dimension of complexity to the World Hunger topic because it requires each individual team to
take a position somewhere on a fairly fuzzy spectrum of what level of involvement is acceptable.
This rewards advanced debaters because it allows high-level rounds to come down to
argumentation of what constitutes “affirmation” and “negation” of the resolution, since the most
advanced negative teams will most likely rely on agent of action counterplans with some degree
of overlap with the agents specified in the final resolution. However, the fuzzy scale also helps
novice debaters because it both fosters strong topicality argumentation skills as well as allows
novice teams to
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Sources The amount of information available concerning global malnutrition seems endless.
Debaters will not have any issues finding evidence for this topic. Should the wording
committee choose the UN as the actor debaters must become familiar with UN sources.
Regardless, the UN sources will play a critical role in this topic as they are a major
source for hunger statistics. Below are some important organizations that focus on the
issues of global malnutrition.
UN World Food Programme: http://www.wfp.org/hunger
UN Food and Agriculture Organization: http://www.fao.org/home/en/
The State of Food Insecurity in the World: http://www.fao.org/publications/sofi/en/
Australian Centre for International Agriculture Research: http://aciar.gov.au/AIFSC
Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition: http://www.barillacfn.com/en/
Bioversity International: http://www.bioversityinternational.org
The Chicago Council on Global Affairs:
http://www.thechicagocouncil.org/globalagdevelopment
CGIAR: http://www.cgiar.org/
Food and Water Watch: http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/
Food First: http://foodfirst.org/
Heifer International: http://www.heifer.org/
IFAD: http://www.ifad.org/
ONE Campaign: http://www.one.org
The World Vegetable Center: http://avrdc.org/
Norman Borlaug Institute: http://borlaug.tamu.edu/
Food Tank: http://foodtank.com/
World Food Prize: http://www.worldfoodprize.org/
UNICEF http://www.unicef.org/
This Website has a list of 99 organizations fighting global malnutrition
http://mswonlineprograms.org/poverty-hunger/
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Interest
The countless charity programs, food drives, and aid initiatives run by people from all
walks of life demonstrate that a debate resolution about global malnutrition would be
interesting and engaging for a wide variety of debaters, judges, parents, school officials,
and donors.
Young People are involved in fighting world hunger "#YouthNow: Commemorating the 20th Anniversary of the World Programme of Action For Youth." #YouthNow: Commemorating
the 20th Anniversary of the World Programme of Action For Youth. United Nations, 2015. Web. 27 Feb. 2015.
<httpwww.un.org/pga/youth
Weekly, in partnership with UN agencies and global stakeholders, #YouthNow will
release relevant materials to raise awareness about youth development
opportunities and challenges based on the 15 cross-cutting youth priority areas
outlined in WPAY including: Education, Employment, Hunger and Poverty,
Health, Environment, Full and effective participation of youth in the life of society
and in decision making, Youth in conflict, Girls and young women, Armed
Conflict, HIV/AIDS, and Information and Communications technology. The
WPAY+20 campaign will come to an end in September 2015, with the General
Assembly Summit to adopt the post-2015 development agenda.
The YouthNow conference demonstrates the significant investment that youth have in solving
the pressing issues of the day, including world hunger and malnutrition. Just as the issue of
world hunger appeals to these youth, it will appeal to debaters as well.
Teens Get Involved in Fighting Hunger Amishai Gottlieb, Jewish Exponent Newpaper, Nov 21, 2014 http://jewishexponent.com/headlines/2014/11/philly-jewish-teens-raise-hunger-awareness-at-hunger-games-preview Just before the lights dimmed at an exclusive showing of the newest Hunger Games movie the night before its mass release,
Evan Finkelstein and Leah Kay led a theater filled with about 200 of their
teenage peers in a pledge to fight global malnutrition.Teens from grades six
through 12 also brought canned food to be donated to Philabundance to the event, hosted by
Jewish youth movement BBYO. The Nov. 20 showing at an AMC theater in Plymouth Meeting was part of a national BBYO initiative,
a “collaborative adventure” that in Philadelphia involved partnering with 10 other Jewish community groups to
help raise teens’ awareness of hunger, said Arielle Weisberg, the group’s local associate regional director. A
grant from the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia also helped subsidize the event.“Jewish teens really do care
about issues in their community,” Weisberg said. "They’re helping in hunger relief
while also doing something that’s really social and fun and exciting.”Finkelstein,
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an 18-year-old senior at William Tennett High School and BBYO’s regional co-president, has been involved with local
initiatives combatting hunger over the last couple of years and said he
recognized the importance of teen involvement in social action
leadership.He volunteers every few months with the Jewish Relief Agency through his synagogue, Reform Congregation
Keneseth Israel in Elkins Park, helping to box and deliver food packages to the needy. “It expanded my horizons
to learn that there’s more to life than just my life, and we’re fortunate
enough to have food on the table so we should be helping out everyone else
that doesn’t,” said the Bucks County native.Though event-goers filled two tall boxes with canned foods, Finkelstein
explained that the main goal was to bring new faces into the Jewish youth movement
fold and open their eyes to the helping roles they can play in the future.“To be
honest, I think for the majority of them it’s just an event, but the follow-up is what matters to us,” he
said.Weisberg agreed with that assessment and noted that using pop culture events and social media is the way “to really get teens
involved” in volunteering. Another example is BBYO’s upcoming text campaign, which will be the youth group's first foray into
#GivingTuesday, a national and international movement focused on charitable giving following the post-Thanksgiving spending
sprees of Black Friday and Cyber Monday.For that campaign, teens will text their family and friends asking for money pledges,
similar to a telethon, only using text messages.“Teens are more comfortable texting,” Weisberg said, likening the text campaign to
Federation's Super Sunday, but with a slight twist. “I think that we’re seeing more than ever that this is the way to really get teens
involved. The passion is there, we just have to find out the right outlets.”However teens get involved,
Weisberg continued, it’s important that they do so because hunger is “not
just affecting countries across the world, but it’s also right in our
backyard.”Some 12 percent of families in the Keystone State lived in food insecure households between 2011-2013,
according to the Coalition Against Hunger’s website. That's roughly 1.5 million families — and the numbers aren’t improving.The
statistics can seem daunting, Finkelstein said, "but if you really want to
help” out in the community “there’s a way to do it." Kay, Finkelstein’s fellow regional BBYO
co-president, said that when she was in middle school she used to volunteer one Sunday night a month at the University of
Pennsylvania Hillel, serving food to the homeless.
Just as the UN organized youth movements to combat global issues, teenagers
themselves have organized efforts to tackle hunger and malnutrition in their own
communities. These small-scale efforts demonstrate that youth take a personal interest
in the issue of hunger.
Both large and small scale initiatives to combat hunger and malnutrition have been
started and participated in by teens and youth. These initiatives offer irrefutable proof
that young people are interested in solving malnutrition. This real-world commitment
translates to interest in world hunger as a debate topic.
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Community:
Many Food-Based Charities Exist Feeding America 2015 http://www.feedingamerica.org/our-response/how-we-work/food-bank-network/
Feeding America is a nationwide network of 200 food banks and 60,000 food
pantries and meal programs that provides food and services to people each year. Together, we are the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief organization. Our network serves virtually every community in all 50
states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. Thousands of charities, food banks, and other nutritional aid organizations exist and gather
support from members of their communities. These broad-based aid organizations exist as a
result of the interest in solving for malnutrition by adults. This interest in real-world action
translates to interest in malnutrition as a debate topic.
Quality Hunger and malnutrition affects everyone. As such, it is of immediate relevance to those
debating the topic. Additionally, hunger and malnutrition are real and pressing issues that
future leaders will need to address. As such, this debate topic will expose debaters to the issues
that will have to be confronted as well as give them experience in critically evaluating plans and,
when writing affirmative cases, solve problems.
Global Malnutrition Statistics UN World Food Program 2015 http://www.wfp.org/hunger/stats
Some 805 million people in the world do not have enough food to lead a healthy
active life. That's about one in nine people on earth.The vast majority of the world's hungry people live in
developing countries, where 13.5 percent of the population is undernourished.Asia is
the continent with the most hungry people - two thirds of the total. The percentage in southern Asia has fallen in recent years but in
western Asia it has increased slightly. Sub-Saharan Africa is the region with the highest prevalence (percentage of
population) of hunger. One person in four there is undernourished.Poor nutrition causes
nearly half (45%) of deaths in children under five - 3.1 million children each year.One out of
six children -- roughly 100 million -- in developing countries is underweight. One in four of the
world's children are stunted. In developing countries the proportion can rise to one in three.If women
farmers had the same access to resources as men, the number of hungry in the
world could be reduced by up to 150 million.66 million primary school-age children attend classes hungry
across the developing world, with 23 million in Africa alone.WFP calculates that US $3.2 billion is needed per year
to reach all 66 million hungry school-age children.
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Malnutrition affects millions of people around the world. Therefore, debating solutions to it is of
immense real-world value to debaters. Since debaters will grow up to be the leaders of the
future, exposing them to the real and pressing issues of the day will inform their future choices
and possibly lead to real and lasting change in the world.
Hunger Affects Everyone Sodhexo Foundation, 2007 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070605120859.htm
While thirty-five million Americans feel the physical effects of hunger each day,
every household and individual in our nation feels the economic effects. So finds a new
study released today by the Sodexho Foundation and researchers affiliated with Harvard University School of Public Health,
Brandeis University and Loyola University.The study, titled "The Economic Cost of Domestic Hunger: Estimated Annual Burden to
the United States," finds that the U.S. pays more than $90 billion annually for the direct and
indirect costs of hunger-related charities, illness and psychosocial dysfunction and
the impact of less education/lower productivity. These costs are borne by all
Americans.Distributed on an individual basis, it means that on average, each person residing in the U.S. pays $300 annually
for the hunger bill. Distributed on a household basis, it means that the annual cost is closer to $800 each year. And calculated on a
lifetime basis, each individual's bill for hunger in the nation is nearly $22,000.The study
found that the lion's share of the overall cost, $66.8 billion, resulted from illness associated with hunger, said Brandeis health
economist Donald Shepard, who led the economic analysis. These illnesses included iron deficiency, colds and depression, and other
causes of fair and poor health. "What was unusual about hunger was the wide range of problems associated with it, which included
not only the illness burden, but also expenses on food pantries and other charities to mitigate the problem, and lost productivity due
to hunger's adverse impact on learning," said Shepard."The Cost of Hunger study is a call to action for communities, legislators, the
private sector and individuals to look at hunger as more than a social issue -- hunger also is an economic issue," said Stephen J.
Brady, president of the Sodexho Foundation. "As such, it is everyone's responsibility to end hunger.
The first step is to be aware of the magnitude of the impact of hunger on every
American."
A solution to global malnutrition has not yet been found. People still go to bed malnourished.
Therefore, since the issue hasn’t been solved in the real world and since there are many
competing ideas, opportunities will be available for varied debate on both the affirmative and
negative side throughout the year. Affirmative teams have a plethora of options available to
them, each with its own positives and negatives, creating a varied set of debates. Repetitive
debates occur when the topic area is limited, as both affirmative and negative teams are forced
to find unique and unpredictable cases in order to secure the maximum competitive advantage.
43
Range A resolution focusing on global malnutrition will allow for all debaters, from novice to
experienced to have fruitful debates. The idea of solving for world hunger and malnutrition is
not a difficult concept to understand and has the potential of attracting new and diverse
students to debate.
General Public: -Global malnutrition is an issue that often comes up when discussing charity work and problems
facing the world. As such, presenting a global malnutrition topic for Policy Debate will interest
those who are currently not a part of Policy Debate, bringing fresh blood into the event, helping
to secure private sponsors, and generating increased respect for the event.
Novice Debaters: -Since global malnutrition is a well-researched topic area as it is a major issue facing the world,
novice debaters will have no trouble finding evidence for both the affirmative and negative sides.
Additionally, the emotionally charged nature of the topic provides an easy way for novices to
learn the concept of the Kritik in an environment which lends itself strongly to critical debates.
Advanced Debaters: -Global malnutrition has numerous scholarly articles and research from every imaginable
perspective. While this mass of information helps novices find evidence, it also provides an
enormous amount of ground for warrant debates and analytical arguments that force advanced
debaters to make analytical arguments extemporaneously, contributing to their overall
educational experience and creating a skillset that will be applicable to them throughout their
lives.
UNICEF Has Volunteers From All Demographics UNICEF, 2014, http://www.unicefusa.org/supporters/volunteers
Supporting UNICEF From Within the United States Our volunteers are of all ages, gender and
race/ethnicity living in the U.S. who educate,advocate and fundraise on behalf of UNICEF in their
communities. Our vast network of volunteers across the United States have increased awareness on issues of child survival,
advocated on behalf of, and raised or leveraged funds for UNICEF for nearly 60 years.
44
Children volunteer to curb Detroit area hunger Gleaners Community Food Bank, 2012 http://www.gcfb.org/site/PageServer?pagename=pg_edutraining_kidshelpingkids
Hunger can be reduced by the deeds of children. That was the philosophy of Gleaners' board members
Kathryn Michalak and Ruth Ellen Mayhall, who together with staffers Peg Roberts and Jack Griffo developed the Kids
Helping Kids® Hunger Awareness Program in 1986 and presented the idea of involving school-
age children in hunger relief to Detroit area schools.KHK OverviewToday KHK invites students to
Gleaners for volunteering and education. Students visiting Gleaners begin with an introduction to the history of the food bank, a tour
of the warehouse, and an education session, followed by a hands-on experience. The educational focus is on the importance of good
nutrition and hunger awareness. Over the years, KHK has introduced thousands of school-aged children
to community service helping their fellow students.
International Rugby Board and UN World Food Program Team Up World Food Program, Sept 2014 https://www.wfp.org/news/news-release/wfp-and-irb-team-tackle-hunger-rugby-world-cup-2015
The focus of the drive in the build up to the world’s third-largest sporting event, which kicks off on September 18, 2015 will be a Million Meal Challenge, to raise funds for WFP to provide meals to school
children in developing countries.The Rugby World Cup Tackle Hunger
partnership has been hugely successful in raising awareness and support of WFP’s work feeding the
world’s hungry. And with England 2015 set to be the biggest Rugby World Cup to date, fans are digging deep to
support the Million Meal Challenge.More than US$21,000 has already been raised by voluntary online
donations through the English Rugby Community ticket sales phase, and with global public ticket sales set to launch on September
12, the Rugby family is set to get behind the campaign.“There is a powerful connection between good nutrition and sporting
excellence and as the world’s largest humanitarian organisation, WFP is instrumental in ensuring that young children get the food
they need to reach their full physical and intellectual potential,” said WFP Executive Director, Ertharin Cousin. “The Tackle
Hunger partnership with the IRB shows how the global rugby community
can play an instrumental role in supporting our work on the frontlines of
hunger.”
As for veteran debaters, there is a significant amount of Kritik potential from avenues such as
Malthusian Theory, Capitalism Kritik, and Ecological Kritik, just to name a few. Additionally,
hundreds of potential plan areas exist, allowing for engaging and varied debates throughout the
course of the year.
45
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