To the countless children and families who dream of a world without hunger. May this story inspire hope, kindness, and the courage to create change.

"Freedom is meaningless if people cannot    put food in their stomach" 

- Nelson Mandela 

FPS Project/ Zero Hunger: A Journey to End Hunger 

María Echevarría, Sabryna Every, Gabriel Fernández & Javier Jaquez

A school cafeteria, where three friends Aaron, Bridget, and Christian sit down for lunch.

The Hunger Problem

 The Hunger Problem

-Aaron frowns at his half-eaten sandwich. “You guys ever wonder how much food we waste here? It’s kinda crazy, right?”

-Bridget shrugs. “Yeah, but there’s so much food. I mean, we always have enough.”

-Christian looks up. “Actually, not everyone does. Did you know that around 735 million people don’t have enough to eat every day?”

-Bridget stares in disbelief. “Wait, what? That’s like… a lot!”

Christian nods. “That’s 1 in 9 people around the world. And the sad part is, a third of the food we produce gets wasted.”

-Aaron shakes his head. “How can that be? There’s so much food in the world. Why can’t everyone just have enough?

The three friends are sitting outside in the park, still talking.

Why Hunger Happens

Christian looks thoughtful. “It’s not just about food being there. Hunger happens for a lot of reasons.”

-Aaron raises an eyebrow. “Like what?”

-“Well,” Bridget says, jumping in, “one big reason is poverty. People just don’t have the money to buy food.”

-Christian nods. “Yeah, and then there’s climate change. Floods, droughts, and crazy weather make it hard for farmers to grow crops. And when farms don’t produce food, people go hungry.”

-“And don’t forget about conflicts and wars,” Bridget adds. “People can’t farm or even buy food when there’s fighting.”

-Aaron sighs. “So, even if there’s food, it’s not getting to the people who need it.”

-Christian nods. “Exactly. And it’s keeping them stuck in a cycle."

The trio is at the library now, doing research on hunger for a school project.

How Hunger Affects Lives

Bridget flips pages of a book. “Hunger does way more damage. It literally affects every part of life.”

-Aaron leans in. “How?”

-“Well,” Christian says, “it weakens your immune system. People get sick more often, and can’t fight off infections.”

-Christian adds, “And for kids, it’s worse. Malnutrition causes almost 45% of deaths in kids under five. Plus, kids who are hungry can’t concentrate in school, so they fall behind.”

-Christian looks up. “So, it’s not just about being hungry   it’s about health, education, and even the economy.”

-Bridget nods. “People who are hungry can’t work well, so they stay in poverty, making it harder to escape hunger. ”

They huddle around a laptop, looking up solutions to hunger.

How We Can Fix Hunger

-Aaron types on the keyboard. “Okay, but what can we actually do to fix it? This seems too big to solve.”

-“There’s hope, but there are real solutions* that can make a difference.”

-Bridget reads from the screen. “We need to distribute food better. If we waste less food and share more, we can feed a lot of people.”

-Christian adds, “We also need to help farmers  grow more food with better tools and seeds.”

-"And fighting climate change,” Aaron says. “Using smart farming methods like planting crops that need less water can make a huge difference, and If we can reduce all of this, we can actually get closer to Zero Hunger by 2030."

They’re sitting in the cafeteria again, inspired by stories of how some countries are fighting hunger.

Success Stories Around the World

Christian tells the others. "In Brazil, they cut hunger in half by supporting family farming. They even created government programs to make sure everyone gets enough to eat.”

-Bridget jumps in. “And in Bangladesh, women farmers are learning how to grow healthy food in their own gardens! It’s helping them feed their families and sell extra food at markets.”

-Aaron raises his hands. “Wait, Ethiopia too! They’ve started using better farming techniques, so even when there’s drought, they still grow enough food.”

-Bridget smiles. “See? It’s already happening in some places. We just need to do more!”