It’s a Scandal That People Living in the Sixth Largest Economy in the World Are Going Hungry

We’re a complex generation with some significant strengths and weaknesses. There are also people in our country, in your town, hey, maybe even in your street, going hungry today. It is heart-breaking and frustrating in equal measure.

More than 8 million people in Britain live in households that struggle to put enough food on the table, with over half regularly going a whole day without eating, according to the analysis of UN data by the Food Foundation thinktank.  

Really, just stop and think about that for a moment.

Lib Dem leader Tim Farron said that for such a rich country to have so many people dying of hunger is ‘a national scandal’

The UK is one of the richest countries in the world. And yet tonight, thousands of people will go to bed hungry. It may be your child’s schoolmate who is undernourished and has difficulty learning on an empty stomach. Or it could be a co-worker, a working mother whose low-wage job doesn’t make ends meet. Perhaps it’s an elderly neighbor who has to make a decision whether to delay filling a prescription or buying groceries.  

The faces of hunger are as broad as the faces of the UK  

Figures from the Office of National Statistics show that 391 people died from malnutrition in 2015 – a leap of 27% compared with nine years earlier which highlights the poverty facing families in 21st Century ‘Breadline Britain’.

While  it is “always right” to help those that are seeking it, despite there being “many excuses”, perhaps the most frequently noted problem is the simple lack of time we have as a society to donate in service. Most thirtysomethings are busy people—we want to do it all, so we take on demanding careers, hobbies, social activities and diversions of all sorts. When all is said and done, we have very little time to spare, so while many Christians feel the call to serve, they are at a loss for how to fit this into their hyper-schedules.

Here are 19 quotes that discuss how Christians should treat the poor and those in need of help.

1. “The world’s hunger is getting ridiculous, There is more fruit in rich man’s shampoo than in a poor man’s plate.”  ’- Unknown
2. “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.”  ’- Proverbs 19:17 ESV
3. When you give food to the poor, they call you a saint. When you ask why the poor have no food, they call you a communist.” ’- Archbishop Helder Camara
4. We need to stop the dying and start the living; stop the hunger and start the hoping.” ’- Unknown Penelope Cruz
5. Feel what it’s like to truly starve, and I guarantee that you’ll forever think twice before wasting food.” ’- Criss Jami
6. There are genuinely sufficient resources in the world to ensure that no one, nowhere, at no time, should go hungry.” ’- Ed Asner
7. “If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.” Mother Teresa
8. “There’s enough on this planet for everyone’s needs but not for everyone’s greed.”’-  Unknown
9. “Hunger is not a problem. It is an obscenity. How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” ’- Anne Frank
10. “In this country that grows more food than any other nation on this earth, it is unthinkable that any child should go hungry.” ’- Sela Ward
11. Hunger is actually the worst weapon of mass destruction. It claims millions of victims each year.”’- Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil
12. “Find out how much God has given you and from it take what you need; the remainder is needed by others.” ’- Saint Augustine
13. “If we are going to stop wars on this earth, we are going to have to make war on hunger our number one priority.” ’-  David W. Brooks, member, Presidential Commission on World Hunger
14. “I have repeatedly stressed that we have the knowledge to reduce hunger and poverty.”’- Gro Harlem Brundtland
15. “Who we listen to determines what we hear. Where we stand determines what we see. What we do determines who we become.”’- Robert McAfee Brown, a 20th-century theologian
16. When you go to the store and you happen to see a homeless man why not buy him something to eat?” ’-  Unknown
17. “UNICEF is helping mothers realize their dreams for the future — a future in which the basic needs for a child’s survival: food, clean water, and simple health care — are guaranteed.” ’- Jane Curtin
18. “What you do next determines who we become – as individuals, as families, and  as a nation.” ’- Unknown
19. “This is the first generation in all of recorded history that can do something about the scourge of poverty. We have the means to do it. We can banish hunger from the face of the earth.” ’- Unknown

Visit Us

Godinterest Community Fellowship is dedicated to proclaiming Christ and set apart to save and empower lives. Sign-up to receive inspiration to draw closer to God each day.

Our Location: The Advent Centre, Crawford Place, London, W1H 5JE

Regular Meetings Divine Service: Every Saturday from 11:15 AM

Godinterest is sponsored by Jamaica Homes