Welcome

My name is Jon Christiansen. I'm thirty-nine years old and have been living with knowledge of African famines, genocide, disease, corrupt politics and deteriorating or underdeveloped economies since they became boilerplate issues during the famines of the 1980's. The images of starving Ethiopian children were ubiquitous and we were treated to Geldoff's "We are the World", challenging our humanitarian impulses and political consciousness. Foreign aid increased, and there was some abatement of hunger, though the persistence of chronic hunger and the other aforementioned problems led me, and I think others, to accept that Africa has too many problems to solve, which I rationalized with bouts of isolationism or hopelessness in regard to the issue. I remember a 2004 satirical headline in the Onion which read "Nigeria Chosen to Host 2008 Genocides" which seemed to bolster my feelings that I was not alone in throwing my hands in the air.

Africa's many problems seemed endemic to Africa, and it is easier to identify with suffering in my own country, or to environmental challenges both near and far that will lead to scarce resources for the growing world population, a group which includes my family. With the global economic downturn, most people have shifted attention closer to home, to their mortgages, health and well-being of those closest to them. However, it is those at the bottom, living on the margins who have fewer resources to fall back on who suffer the most during these times. Philanthropic dollars dry up, as does the ability of nations to develop programmatic assistance for areas suffering from the myriad of problems leading to starvation . Once again, the Horn of Africa and many in Sub-Saharan Africa are on the verge of a major catastrophe, and I am calling upon any that are able to consider each of the 38 million people in Africa threatened with severe food shortages as individuals and help them as such. Each of them is a person with hopes, aspirations, and fears, and like you, only one life to live them out. They have loved ones they would like to enjoy life with, and grow old with. Like you, they don't care to be seen as a part of an abstracted historical tragedy that presented them with insurmountable hardship that swallowed up their lives. They are individuals, and can be helped, both through sea change and one individual at a time.

I have posted this blog to do a number of things, the first of which is to draw attention to starvation; as a logical auxiliary to that, I am also asking my readers to do any of a number of things, including:

1. Connect with and develop empathy for those in need by educating yourself regarding food insecurity, what can be done and what is being done. I will be posting weekly blogs with pertinent links to help you with your awareness. I will also be limiting my caloric intake to that of the average Ethiopian(see below) and think this is a very effective way to keep the hungry on your mind. Develop empathy. Would you feed a hungry family if you could see them? Would you feed a hungry child sitting on your street corner? Connect with a person in a real way and see if you can ignore their hunger. It is by accident of birth that I am so fortunate as to do this by choice, and that's it. They are far away, but they can be reached.

2. Join me in my hunger challenge to gain an understanding of how it feels to be hungry. The average resident of the United States consumes over 3600 calories daily. The United Nations suggests that a healthy diet consists of 2350 calories, and prolonged intake under 1800 calories causes an active person medical hazard. The average Ethiopian consumes 1550 calories a day. We understand that the average is not everyone and that there are some, say women and children, the sick or elderly that are less able to provide for themselves and are living with less. Keep in mind that the situation is expected to deteriorate.

I will be consuming 1550 calories a day for the next 90 days (I start November 13, 2009). As hunger for most Africans is due to poverty, rather than a distribution problem, or lack of local political will, I will connect that amount to a local measure for poverty related food insecurity of the U.S. SNAP (formerly food-stamps) average eligibility of $25 weekly per person. While this is much greater in dollar amounts than those with whom I am attempting to gain solidarity, it is a local adjustment and will be certain to keep me from eating halibut and light beer for dinner; in order to eat all seven days a week, my budgeting skills will likely lead me toward beans and rice, and cheap carbohydrates. My nutritional equivalence is likely to be better than those in Ethiopia, but without that winter garden planted (darn it!) it looks like I will be eating a lot of filler myself.

It is also worth noting that I am starting at 215 lbs. and not a victim of a lifelong struggle to feed myself, and hence have some reserves. I am also not employed in agricultural production like the majority of Ethiopians and am likely to expend less energy daily, both getting to work, working, and keeping up my household full of gadgets that use energy from the grid, while preserving my own.

Over the course of the next three months, I will be matching my $25 food expenditure to a donation, split between the Borgen Project and the World Food Programme. I ask that you sponsor me, like I am doing a really long walkathon, or join me for a week, or a month and let your gift pay for itself. I'm guessing you spend more the $50 a week on food. I do.


3. Spread the word. Send my blog to your friends, or anyone you think might care. Look at the Borgen Project for a list of bills currently under consideration in congress and call your elected officials. Blog about it yourself.


We live in a prosperous country, regardless of a downturn, or 401ks that were slaughtered recently. Many are wondering if the United States will recover in full, with the pressures of a global economy driving down wages and internal problems like consumer spending trumping savings and the implications for long-term growth, or obesity and associated healthcare costs chewing up too much of the GDP. Regardless, just about everyone I know can go grab dinner out for thirty, fifty or a hundred bucks here and there, buy a new book for $20 (we have libraries), or a couple of drinks with pals or a new winter coat. We have ipods, closets full of clothes and cellphones with expensive monthly plans, and houses full of stuff. Not all of us, but many of us, have plenty. Meanwhile, people are suffering from starvation. I hesitate to say "is allowed to persist" because we are not all powerful; we do however have significant opportunities in the transfer of technology, information and resources to help people that are starving and lack sustainable systems to find a way out of the morass. I am not asking anyone to eat gruel or wear sackcloth, but simply asking you to consider what all your stuff is worth to you, and what you can forego.

This is similar to what the Hunger Challenge has pushed for in recognizing domestic poverty; the lengthy time period is intended to bring a perspective of permanence regarding the reality of prolonged hunger that many face without needed help in the developing world.

Recently, I have begun work for the Borgen Project, a Seattle based non-profit that advocates on behalf of the starving with pressure on legislators to use smart aid to develop agricultural solutions in Africa so they can feed themselves and in the process become a less volatile region. It is moral, it is strategic. There is a little something in there for everyone.

Wish me luck, follow my blog, and give a little yourself. Sponsor me, join me. Create solidarity with some of the world's poorest people. Yes it will take the fun out of eating, and put a real dent in Thanksgiving (save for the truly heartfelt thanks this go-around). As previously mentioned, do it for a week or more and match your food expenditure with a gift so it pays for itself, and gives back to you tenfold. The empathy you gain will be a hunger that feeds you.