Camp Challenge Crew #2 Defines Myths of Hunger.

Camp Challenge is a part of the Summer Youth Program sponsored by Stearns Benton Employment & Training Council a partner at the MN WorkForce Center-St. Cloud. This year the Summer Youth Program had 48 youth participating in the camp.  The youth were divided into 6 crews and were under the supervision of an adult crew leader.  During Camp Challenge, the crews participated in career exploration, team building, problem solving, journaling and reflection, SCAN Skills (Secretaries Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills), and a service project.  The service project for this year was community hunger.  The main focus for the crews was to increase the capacity and awareness in our communities about hunger.

Crew #2; Front Row (L to R): Amy K., Amber R., Sara K., and Shamere R., Back Row (L to R): Josh C., Amanda K., Abdinasir M., Justin R., and Crew Leader - John W.

Crew Two explored the 12 myths of world hunger and created posters to help explain some of the myths to the community.  They also created an art project involving paint and poetry to address the issues of hunger.  The crew gave their project to a local agency as a gift.  They also volunteered to distribute materials and resources that are available to our communities through the use of an informational booth on the SCSU campus.

The 12 myths of hunger that Crew Two found are:

1. There is not enough food (reality: there is enough food)

2. Nature is to blame for famine (reality: human made forces are making people increasingly vulnerable)

3. There are too many people (reality: poor distribution)

4. Environment versus more food (reality: we don't need to destroy our environment with techniques and chemicals to grow more food)

5. New green revolution is the answer (reality: better seed and higher yields still are not properly distributed)

6. We need larger farms (reality: smaller farms are more efficient)

7. The free market can end hunger (reality: there needs to be a balance between the government and the markets)

8. Free trade is the answer (reality: has failed in 3rd world countries)

9. Too hungry to fight for their rights (reality: if they were truly passive, few hungry people would be alive)

10. More U.S. aid will help the hungry (reality: most U.S. aid works against the hungry because it reinforce the status quo and does not change it)

11. We benefit from them being hungry (reality: we are at risk of losing jobs to countries that can provide cheap labor)

12. Curtail freedom to end hunger (reality: economic security for all the guarantor of our liberty)

Information gathered from:  Francis Moore Leppé, Joseph Collins, and Peter Rosset, World Hunger, Grove Press, 1998.

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