OPEN LETTER to First Ladies at the G8 Leaders' Summit

Deauville, France
May 26, 2011

Dear First Ladies,

No doubt your lunch today will include conversation about food. The Normandy region of France is famous for the bounty and beauty of its produce and cuisine. Its chefs are renowned and its restaurants are famous.

France, like the U.S. and other G8 countries, is blessed by an abundance of quality food. Hunger rates are low and food has become a pastime and passion for many, rather than a scarcity.

But most of the world is not as fortunate. Almost a billion people in the world today are undernourished. Most are women and young children, living on a dollar or less a day. You can picture this challenge as well as some answers by watching our animated short video, “If I had a dollar.”

When you talk about food today, we ask you to remember these women and children, and the food they will eat today.

As food prices around the world continue to rise, the G8 countries can help families facing hunger by increasing investment in agriculture for poor, small-scale farmers in the developing world. With assistance, families can have enough food to feed their children healthy, nutritious food, while still earning enough money to meet other basic needs.

In response to the 2008 food crisis, your countries moved to help the world's poorest people with the L’Aquila Food Security Initiative. But the threat is not over.

Prices today are again rising to near-record levels and global stocks of key grains are low, putting more poor children and mothers at risk of hunger and malnutrition. This also pushes millions more families into extreme poverty as they struggle to pay for adequate food.

The G8 again has a chance this week to fulfill its commitments to food security assistance, and lead and champion a renewed effort to end global hunger and child malnutrition.

We hope your lunch conversation is enjoyable and productive, and that you will take the opportunity to encourage solutions to hunger and food insecurity with your spouses and other G8 participants.

Sincerely,

World Vision

About World Vision
World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice. We serve the world's poor -- regardless of religion, race, ethnicity or gender. For more information on their efforts, visit WorldVision.org/press or follow them on Twitter at @WorldVisionNews