Many of us have never experienced the anxiety that comes from not knowing when our next meal will be, but for three UK students, their outlook on hunger will never be the same. Hanna Marcum, a human nutrition major, and Jennifer Norsworthy and Kelsey Fletcher, dietetics students, attended the 7th Annual Universities Fighting World Hunger Summit in Honduras March 2-4, 2012. They were joined by Dr. Kwaku Addo, Associate Professor, Department of Nutrition and Food Science, who served as chair of the panel titled, "Best Practices in Food Security Implementation or Maternal/Child Health."
Universities Fighting World Hunger began at Auburn University in 2005. It is a partnership with the United Nations World Food Programme and was developed to engage higher education in fighting hunger. University of Kentucky has participated since the first summit in 2005. The summit annually provides students an opportunity to learn about strategies currently being implemented to fight hunger in industrial and developing countries.
For the UK students attending, the summit provided an eye-opening look at a country with extreme poverty. They were surprised by the beauty of the country. One citizen remarked to a student, "Honduras is a land of beauty and a land of poverty . . . Look for the beauty."
The president of Honduras was a featured speaker, and he spoke of problems in the educational system, including the lack of a school lunch program. He stated the need to empower females in third-world countries if we hope to end hunger.
Janet Mullins, associate professor in the Department of Nutrition and Food Science has provided leadership to the University of Kentucky involvement in Universities Fighting World Hunger. She shared, "In the seven years since the first summit, UK nutrition and dietetics students have done remarkable things. I think we can say with confidence that our students now have a better understanding of global hunger, and more importantly how to help end it."
To learn more about Universities Fighting World Hunger and view the 2012 summit program, visit http://wp.auburn.edu/ufwh/.