10th Grade Extended Research Project (ERP): 2 - Zero Hunger

Driven by the question, "Why hunger despite an abundance of food?" authors Frances Moore Lappé and Joseph Collins refute the myths that prevent us from addressing the root causes of hunger across the globe.World Hunger: Ten Myths draws on extensive new research to offer fresh, often startling, insights about tough questions--from climate change and population growth to genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and the role of U.S. foreign aid, and more.

Brimming with little-known but life-changing examples of solutions to hunger worldwide, this myth-busting book argues that sustainable agriculture can feed the world, that we can end nutritional deprivation affecting one-quarter of the world's people, and that most in the Global North have more in common with hungry people than they thought. For novices and scholars alike,World Hunger: Ten Myths will inspire a whole new generation of hunger-fighters. AVAILABLE: Kitsap Regional Library and Port Townsend Library

What should we have for dinner? In The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan confronts readers with this seemingly simple question. Pollan follows the three major food chains that feed humans--industrial, organic, and hunter-gatherer--from the earth to four meals, exploring the ethical and political effects of one's food choices. The book offers insight into food consumption in the twenty-first century, and demonstrates that how we answer it today may determine not only our health but our survival as a species. In the years since, AVAILABLE: WSA Library, Kitsap Regional Library, Port Townsend Library, and Ms. Garvin's classroom

A fascinating, multilayered analysis. Russell describes the physiological effects of hunger, starting with what occurs in the digestive system while the subject is watching a commercial for the Olive Garden restaurant and ending with the body's processing of the last bit of pasta and anchovy. Her discussion of the biological aspects is concise, interesting, and free from scientific jargon. After covering what happens when the body has food, Russell gives a sobering account of what occurs in the mind and body when food is withheld. Using fasting periods from 18 hours to 30 days, the author shows the extraordinary ways in which the deprived body tries to save itself. Her choices for the historical overview of hunger include hunger artists, religious and politically motivated fasting, therapeutic fasting, famines, experiments on starvation, anorexia, and efforts to combat world hunger. The short essays on the Warsaw Ghetto, the potato famine in Ireland, Colin Turnbull's studies of the Ik tribe, and the industrialization of China are interesting, well written, and invite further research. AVAILABLE: Seattle Public Library

An examination of the food we buy and eat: where it comes from, how it's produced, and whether it was raised humanely. The authors explore the impact our food choices have on humans, animals, and the environment.

The authors examine the eating habits of three American families with very different diets. They track down the sources of each family's food to probe the ethical issues involved in its production and marketing. What kinds of meat are most humane to eat? Is "organic" always better? Wild fish or farmed? Recognizing that not all of us will become vegetarians, Singer and Mason offer ways to make the best food choices. As they point out: "You can be ethical without being fanatical."

Five Principles for Making Conscientious Food Choices
1. Transparency: We have the right to know how our food is produced.
2. Fairness: Producing food should not impose costs on others.
3. Humanity: Inflicting unnecessary suffering on animals is wrong.
4. Social Responsibility: Workers are entitled to decent wages and working conditions.
5. Needs: Preserving life and health justifies more than other desires.

AVAILABLE: WSA Library