Blog Post 6 "Creative Ways For Show On World Hunger"

                This week’s article that I chose was a little on the lighter side yet it poses a huge issue in the world. This week article talks about a new puppet created on “Sesame Street” called Lily that introduces the problem of poverty and world hunger. The character on the episodes is insecure about whether or not she and her family will have enough food to eat. The executive of Sesame Street stated that occasionally in the show they will introduce new puppets that talk about SOCIAL ISSUES.

            I think it is amazing that the people of US see a problem and are trying to make others aware of what is happening in the world. Approaching the kids with a friendly puppet that has a deeper meaning is an excellent way to start.  World hunger refers to there being a scarcity in food availability in the country. In countries where there are food shortages there is also the problem of malnutrition in which there is a lack of nutritional elements needed for human health. Many people in third world countries struggle with this problem.  According to World Hunger there are a total of 925 million hungry people in the world and of these millions of people 239 million are from Sub-Saharan Africa and 578 million from Asia and Pacific. Another interesting fact that I found startling was that there are 7 billion people in the world, so this means that 1 in 7 people are hungry. The fact that there are so many people going hungry when there is clearly so many resources available show’s that people- primarily the US are keeping these resources away from those who really need it. With the article I think people are clearly seeing the error in their ways and are trying to change the world for the better. There are many other organizations such as The Hunger Project, Action Against Hunger, and The World Food Program all have set out on a mission to end hunger worldwide. This is a mission that will not be an easy one to conquer however. World Hunger’s Chuck Woolery made an excellent point when it mentioned that what’s missing in the ingredients to fight world hunger is the “political will”. What is political will exactly? I found an article from Charney Research that stated the three components of political will are: opinion plus intensity plus salience. So for hunger, there is a prediction that if we held the opinion that world hunger needs to be fixed and intensify the argument by adding more relevance and media exposure coupled with salience which connects the opinion to the people we will put an end to world hunger. Charney and World Hunger are clearly on to something. There is no doubt that we do have the food to sustain everyone in the world, and there is no doubt that people hold their opinions strongly and in addition, if a problem relates directly to an individual they will solve it. If the opinion/problem is that “world hunger needs to be fixed” in the minds of everyone, in return everyone will want to solve that problem and in return world hunger will no longer be an issue. 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/tv/sesame-street-creates-new-muppet-7-year-old-lily-for-special-show-on-hunger/2011/10/05/gIQAtRnhNL_story.html

http://www.worldhunger.org/articles/Learn/world%20hunger%20facts%202002.htm 

http://www.charneyresearch.com/pdf/09May5_Charney_Newsletter_Political_Will.pdf
http://www.thp.org/home?gclid=CJSV1ZTj1KsCFQ1b7Aod6QzDMg
http://www.actionagainsthunger.org/
http://www.wfp.org/