Facts and Links on Hunger & Poverty

Since beginning the 30 Hour Famine in 1992, the number of children who die each day from hunger and related diseases has fallen from 40,000 to 29,000.

In the U.S. alone...

• 38.2 million people—including 13.9 million children—live in households that experience hunger or the risk of hunger. This represents more than one in ten households in the United States
• 3.9 percent of U.S. households experience hunger. Some people in these households frequently skip meals or eat too little, sometimes going without food for a whole day  

Around the world...

• 852 million people go hungry
• More than a billion people earn less than $1 a day
• A lack of food can stunt growth, slow thinking, sap energy, hinder fetal development and contribute to mental retardation
• Every year, nearly 11 million children die before they reach their fifth birthday, 3/4 of them in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia

But there is hope...

The world produces enough food to feed everyone. World agriculture produces 17 percent more calories per person today than it did 30 years ago, despite a 70 percent population increase. This is enough to provide everyone in the world with at least 2,720 kilocalories (kcal) per person per day

Source: World Hunger Facts

One of the main goals of the 30 Hour Famine is to provide food, agricultural education and sources of income for poverty-stricken children and their families.