Nation: Fighting Hunger

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For the basic human right

The figures all but defy comprehension: 1.2 billion people in 36 countries —almost 30% of the world's population —barely fend off starvation. They survive on an annual income of less than $200 each.

Last week President Carter confronted the problem by naming a 20-member Commission on World Hunger. Said he: "We cannot have a peaceful and prosperous world if a large part of the world's people are at the edge of hunger." Chaired by former Panama Canal Negotiator Sol Linowitz, 64, the commission has a $3 million budget and a daunting task: to review existing studies on global food shortages, consult with international experts and recommend steps by mid-1979 that the U.S. and perhaps other nations can take to combat the problem.

Linowitz regards the assignment as an engrossing challenge, even though Government bookshelves already hold countless copies of previous reports on hunger. Said he: "I told the President that I didn't want to be chairman of a commission that was going to produce another dust catcher. We are at a time in human history where we know what we have to know and have the resources to put an end to mass hunger by the end of this century."

His fellow commission members include 1970 Nobel Peace Prizewinner Norman Borlaug, developer of new wheat strains and father of the "green revolution," Thomas Wyman, president of the Green Giant food corporation, and Singer John Denver, who has produced a documentary movie on hunger, I Want to Live. Said Carter of Denver:. "While some of us can only reach thousands of people on the problem of hunger, he can reach millions."

Linowitz has no illusions about the difficulties ahead. "Let's face it," he said. "Certain words evoke a glaze in people's eyes. When you say world hunger, you lose them. Not only is it regarded as an insoluble and intractable problem, but it also seems to be far removed." He was particularly impressed by President Carter's insistence that he would fight world hunger "as hard as possible." Linowitz has also been encouraged by the interest shown in the commission by many members of Congress and international agencies. Said Linowitz, echoing one of Carter's favorite themes: "In all that talk of human rights, if you don't preserve the most basic—the right to stay alive—the rest doesn't matter very much."