Ertharin Cousin Explains Food Insecurity And How To Help Prevent It

Ertharin Cousin, executive director of the United Nations World Food Programme, said her organization is “not doing enough” despite feeding millions of people because they’re only able to feed “the most vulnerable” — and sometimes, even that is a struggle due to insufficient funding.

“What we address are those direct hunger needs of those who are food insecure,” she said.

“Food insecurity means you don’t know where your next meal is going to come from,” Cousin said, noting it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re hungry today, but that you don’t know where you’re getting food tomorrow.

Ertharin Cousin said her organization works in different ways, helping farmers to grow and sustain their food production; helping mothers get food so their children won’t be born malnourished; and more.

“If we can make those kind of development preemptive investments, then people can feed themselves,” she said.

Below, more updates from the 2015 Davos Annual Meeting:

HPLEmbed.load({ targetId: ‘HPLContent’, app: ‘hplive_player’, width: ‘640px’, height: ‘321px’, streamType: ‘live’, autoPlay: ‘true’, mute: ‘true’, playButtonOverlay: ‘true’, thumbnail: ”, sources: { ‘video/hds’: ‘http://hpsnhds-f.akamaihd.net/z/davos2015_1@105680/manifest.f4m’, ‘video/hls’: ‘http://hpsn-i.akamaihd.net/hls/live/207735/davos2015/master.m3u8’ }, comScore: { c4: ‘us.portal’ }, analytics: { title: ‘WEF Davos’, playerId: ‘WEF Davos’ }, AMAConfig:’http://ma180-r.analytics.edgesuite.net/config/beacon-3224.xml’ }); live blog Oldest Newest Share + Today 12:25 PM ESTHow HuffPost Is Working With Global Citizen

Hugh Evans and Jordan Hewson from Global Citizen, along with Arianna, sat down on HuffPost Live at Davos to share how HuffPost and Global Citizen are working together to help end global poverty.

Lesley Silverthorn Marincola, CEO of Angaza Design, writes for HuffPost:

I live in the heart of Silicon Valley and am still dependent on a piece of plastic I have to carry around with me everywhere. From gas to groceries, I pay with my credit card.

Michael Berkowitz, president of 100 Resilient Cities, told HuffPost Live people often recover after natural disasters like Superstorm Sandy in an inefficient way.

“The instinct is to build back as it was, and really, Resilient’s thinking leads you to build back better and build back smarter,” Berkowitz said.

Goings said he’s been practicing transcendental meditation, which he says helps “find your better self,” since he was 22 years old. He said it especially helps while traveling.

“This is one of the most important discoveries of transcendental meditation, proven by research — you gain time,” he said.

Goings said there needs to be a “mindset change” in order to make sure women are empowered and have equal representation.

He said it’s a ridiculous economic decision not to empower women.

Rick Goings, CEO of Tupperware, said his company is the biggest seller of cookbooks in France, a statistic he thinks many will find surprising.

Njideka Harry on HuffPost Live at Davos

Harry said it’s important not only to teach young people good working skills, but also to show young people how to monetize those skills. She encourages reverse migration because of the “power of rural communities.”

She said young people “have the ability to stay in their community, develop a micro-business, hire people from their communities and make those communities better.”

The Huffington Post