According to the United Nations, 25,000 people die of starvation everyday; 16,000 of them are children. That's one child every 5 seconds. Amidst these horrifying numbers, Oxfam warns that millions of people in Africa "are fast being pushed towards severe hunger and destitution."  

Unfortunately the formula that causes the hunger crisis in African is being repeated thousands of times around the globe. Drought conditions, sustained growth in demand (both from biofuels and growing economies), higher fuel prices, and cultivation of cash crops like sugar, cotton, and tobacco versus food crops like yams, rice, and wheat have combined to drive food prices up and force those living in poverty into a deadly situation. "In previous droughts most people on the margins found ways to cope," said Peter Smerdon, of the World Food Programme. "But the simultaneous increase in food prices this time around means they are cutting down on meals and taking their kids out of school in order to try to get by. More people are falling over the edge."

Compounding the problem, relief organizations cannot buy as much food aid as they did in previous years due to inflation:

The U.N. agency chief says the cost of food that the WFP buys for distribution has risen by more than 50 percent in less than a year. She says that is forcing the WFP to either raise more money or cut its services. - Voice of America

The World Food Program feeds 87.8 million people annually in 78 countries including India, Myanmar , and North Korea.

With inflation surging in developed nations, donations to organizations like the World Food Programme will be harder to come by as more people struggle to make ends meet. However impossible the current global food crisis appears, it is equally unimaginable to sit on our hands and do nothing. You can always scrape together the change under the couch and donate it to innovative programs like Project Peanut Butter. PPB saves children's lives with peanuts and they say, "You can save thousands more for peanuts." Dr. Mark Manary, the founder of Project Peanut Butter, developed a Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) with a peanut base that offers a 95% recovery rate for severely malnourished children and is administered in the home. The old milk-based formulas offered dismal recovery rates of 25% - 40% and required hospitalization, subjecting children to additional infectious agents which their malnourished bodies could not fight.   

Even if you spent all your change on gas and food, you can still make a difference by visiting the internationally lauded website www.FreeRice.com. The World Food Programme created the computer game FreeRice to raise money to buy rice and improve your English vocabulary.  For every vocabulary word you get right 20 grains of rice will be donated to fight hunger. They are able to donate the rice because of advertisers who buy space on the site based on hits - so visit today. Plus it's always a good idea to know what the words tumefy, milquetoast and exhortation mean.

Lastly don't be wasteful and be thankful for every bite you take. If you have one full meal a day you're better off than almost 1 billion people in the world today.