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Trevor Schultz

IEP – ENG 1010

Dr. Anderson

May 2, 2016

Exploratory Research Paper

Topic: World Hunger

World hunger is a serious issue. I chose to explore this topic due to it having such a huge

presence in our lives even when it seems like taboo when brought up in conversation. Today,

over 150 million children go to bed hungry not knowing when their next meal will be. World

hunger may sound like an overused term and many initiatives have been proposed to combat

hunger and the underlying causes of it on an international level. Some common thoughts to

potentially end world hunger include genetically modified foods (GMOs), more opportunities

and access to education, increased urban farming, empowering women, and donating food. But

are these programs able to abolish world hunger on their own or do they require additional

support and resources to conquer such an age old problem? What also causes hunger? We can

look at things such as poverty, war, greed, and an unstable infrastructure. Can the proposed

solutions eradicate the causes of hunger along with successfully promoting themselves?

Genetically Modified Foods (GMOs) is one solution to world hunger. John Robbins,

writer for the Huffington Post, published an article questioning whether or not GMOs can help

end world hunger. “One of the main arguments in support of genetically modified foods is that

they are the best option to feed the world’s growing population. Without this remarkable
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technology, the earth will run out of resources and starvation will become endemic. 1 When the

article was written in 2011, the United States was coming down from an economic crash.

During this time, scientists had created a rice breed known as Golden Rice. Its purpose was to

preserve and act as a vessel for required doses of Vitamin A. He stated that many malnourished

people do not consume enough Vitamin A to live a healthy life and that the idea was brilliant.

Unfortunately, this “wonder rice requires heavy use of fertilizers and pesticides and also

requires a lot of water.”2 He also stated that it would have to be up to the developed nations to

provide for the impacted peoples’ relief. I can understand where he is coming from judging

from the economic times and the idea of America and its wealthy cohorts picking up the slack

tastes like vinegar. Robbins then goes on to explain that GMOs could become a corrupted

business, making the availability and disbursement of staple food in the hands of an elite group

of business tycoons. This is such an interesting point of view that I never took into

consideration. It brings out the realism in the author’s personality and the cold hard truth that a

few businessmen could potentially control how, and when, we get fed and what we eat as well.

I wish that the author would of touched more on how the Golden Rice helped starving people,

instead of focusing of the negatives.

“The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) points out the long-term impact of

the lack of adequate food. It makes children less able to learn and therefore makes it unlikely

that they will finish school. This means that fewer people will train to enter the workforce and

help their country’s development.”3 Cornelia Rabitz, columnist at DW, published an article

1
"Can GMOs Help End World Hunger? - Wyebrook Farm." Wyebrook Farm. 30 Apr. 2013. Web. 03 May 2016.
"Can GMOs Help End World Hunger? - Wyebrook Farm." Wyebrook Farm. 30 Apr. 2013. Web. 03 May 2016.
2

3
Rabitz, Cornelia. "Education Is Key to Fighting Hunger | The Hungry World | DW.COM |
14.11.2011." DW.COM. DW, 14 Nov. 2011. Web. 03 May 2016.
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called Education is the Key to Fighting Hunger on November 11, 2011. She believes that

education is the key to abolishing poverty and that it will help create systems in the form of

micro-relief in communities impacted by poverty in hopes of rebuilding the infrastructure. I

really like what she has to say here. She not only cares about the future, sake, and education of

the individual, she cares about the community as a whole, truly being considerate of everyone.

I think that education is one of the most important factors in curing world hunger. I think that if

we give impoverished and hungry people a proper education, they can grow out of poverty and

start businesses/industries based off credit loans and educational achievements as well. As the

saying goes, “If you give a man a fish, he’ll eat for a night. If you teach a man how to fish, he’ll

eat for a lifetime.” This wave of newly educated people could potentially harness the idea of

urban farming, the process of recreating life-like environments in densely populated areas (e.g.

a topiary in Times Square).

In 2011, Fabian Kretschmer and Malte Kollenberg published an article on ABC News

called Urban Farming: Crops Grown Right Downtown? They wanted to state how beneficial

urban farming would be in fighting world hunger, especially since the “population is set to

reach 9 billion by 2050.”4 Oddly enough, this article was also written in 2011. Could America,

and other wealthy nations, afford these types of “vertical farming” methods and could we

initiate it without being a total failure? Kretschmet and Kollenberg say yes. They state that it

would be easier for mankind to farm urbanely because humans are so city-centralized now. So

it would essentially be easier to bring our gardens with us! I think that this is an awesome idea

and that it looks to preserve food and resources for future generations. I believe that it’s a

4
Kretschmer, Fabian, MALTE E. KOLLENBERG, and Spiegel Online. "Urban Farming: Crops Grown Right
Downtown?" ABC News. ABC News Network, 14 Aug. 2011. Web. 03 May 2016.
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practical and logical solution to the food crisis and we need to consider the greatness of that.

This is powerful. We are innovative to the level of producing edible food in traditionally sterile

environments. If you look at the facts, I believe that this would actually influence the food crisis

in a positive way by increasing the amount of women with more liberties in more developed

countries working on growing safe, and edible food in not-so-plant-friendly environment.

“Did you know that women compromise 43% of the world’s agricultural labor force?” 5

It’s nice to hear that not all farmers are male, like you see in more western cultures. *Despite

the important role they play in agriculture, women in developing countries face more extreme

poverty, less education, and lover literacy rates than men. They do not have access or control

over land and reproductive resources.* Olivia Howell published a scholarly article on Global

Citizen on November 11, 2015. She seeks to inform people on the importance of empowering

women, especially since foreign custom is different than the developed world’s. I love how she

narrowed down her topic so well. She took poverty, a major cause of hunger, and thought,

“Who would be impacted by this the most?” She narrowed it down to the people of South and

East Asia and Sub-Sahara Africa. She seeks to empower women to seek higher education to

better their lives. I agree with this 100%. Since women have different time constraints,

competing priorities (raising a family), no land ownership and access to credit, and poor

distribution of reproductive resources makes it extremely difficult for these women to compete

with their male counterparts. I also never looked at world hunger this way and thought that

empowering women could be on the many solutions. I learned how badly women in poverty

have it when it comes to doing the same work as men, especially in agricultural settings. We

5
Howell, Olivia. "How Empowering Women Could End World Hunger." Global Citizen. 14 Nov. 2015. Web. 03
May 2016.
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need to consider all of the hardships that women in these situations endure. They really have

the blunt end of of the stick when it comes to making their way in this world. One way to help

empower women is to donate food. This food can help nourish women and their starving

families and can help support their progress to becoming self-sufficient.

Paul Turner, Director of Food for Life, published a newspaper article in January 1999 to

prove that there is enough food on the planet to feed everyone, but greed gets in the way. He

also points to poor distribution of resources being a factor in causing world hunger. He believes

that donating food is the next best things, because donating is better than not donating at all. I

believe that the man credibility is solid, but this can definitely cause a bias in prioritizing a

solution. I understands that his audience is residents of wealthy and developed nations. He

urges food donations to help out those who are in need. Turner also states that the agricultural

waste that developed nations produce can be put towards feeding the needy. But the

distribution of resources must be unequal in developed nations in order to produce that waste.

If we implement systems to reroute that waste elsewhere (let’s say into sustainable food to

feed to impoverished and hungry?), we could be one step closer to curing world hunger.

I learned a lot from researching this topic. I learned of many methods to end world

hunger and how to rebuild an infrastructure from the base of abolishing it. This assignment not

only educated me on a certain culture, it taught me how to write about it and feel real passion

for the topic. Hopefully, due to the implementation of the proposed solutions, one less child

will go to bed tonight, not clinging on to life or hungry. I plan to see world hunger become a

thing of the past in my lifetime. I believe that this is an issue that we can tame, since it is a

problem that’s of our race.

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Research Journal

1. Genetically Modified Foods

2. Access to Education
3. Urban Farming
4. Empowering Women
5. Food Donations

1. Genetically Modified Foods (GMOs)

-One of the main arguments in support of genetically modified foods is that they are the
best option to feed the world’s growing population. Without this remarkable technology,
the earth will run out of resources and starvation will become endemic.

http://wyebrookfarm.com/can-gmos-help-end-world-hunger/ 

-“Biotechnology is one of tomorrow’s tools in our hands today. Slowing its acceptance is
a luxury our hungry world cannot afford.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-robbins/gmo-food_b_914968.html?
utm_hp_ref=email_share

- huffington post: PRETTY MUCH EXPLAINED HOW GMOS WILL NOT HELP END
WORLD HUNGER DUE TO CORPORATIONS HUNGER FOR WEALTH, GREED, AND
POWER.
THIS AUTHOR BELIEVES THAT MANY BENEFITS CAN COME FROM GMOs, BUT
THAT MANY PEOPLE WOULD WANT TO "CONTROL THE SURPLUS OF THE
WORLD'S STAPLE FOOD."
THE AUTHOR COMPARES IT TO "MONSANTO" WHO WOULD SPLICE A
PARASITIC GENE INTO CROP'S SEEDS SO THAT IT WOULD MAKE ALL OF THEIR
SEED OFFSPRING STERILE.
THIS WOULD FORCE THE FARMERS TO RETURN TO MONSANTO EVERY
SEASON TO BUY AND STOCK UP ON SEEDS INSTEAD OF SAVING SEEDS FROM
THE LAST HARVEST LIKE "80% 
OF FARMS IN THE WORLD."
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-- I believe that they make a valid point, especially since they are pointing out the
corruption that could come from such an innocent initiative.

RJ #1 - 
A. John Robbins
B. Newspaper article
C. Can GMO's Help End World Hunger?
D. Huffington Post
E. 08/01/2011
F. To inform the people on how whether or not GMOs will help or worsen world hunger
and compares to new "Golden Rice."
G. His rhetorical opportunity is that the year is 2011. This was when the US was coming
down from the financial recession
that we experienced in 2008. In his article, Robbins points out the Golden Rice and that
it requires "heavy use of fertilizers
and pesticides and also requires a lot of water." These are few and between in heavily
impacted areas. It would be up to the 
developed nations to support and fund this project. I understand the empathy of the
author due to the economic times,
but an initiative is better than none.
H. Anyone and everyone
I. Refer to G
J. I agreed that GMOs could definitely fall into the wrong hands, but it can also do a lot
of good for mankind. Any type/form of relief should be appreciated,
because you miss 100% of the shots you don't take. And while everyone is sitting
around arguing over which initiative is better, children are becoming blind, paralyzed, 
and even dying. If we even take a stab at GMOs, we're trying. We're trying to help
mankind. We're trying to help and better ourselves as a whole. 
No one can hurt us if we truly tried.
K. I learned a new point of view to GMOs
L. Very valuable. It's sustainable food which is a necessity for ending hunger long term. 
M. I really wish that the author would of touched more on how the Golden Rice can help
starving people instead of being such a pessimist.

2. Access to Education

-The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) points out the long-term impact of
the lack of adequate food. It makes children less able to learn and therefore makes it
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unlikely that they will finish school. And that means fewer people will train to enter the
workforce and help their country's development.

http://www.dw.com/en/education-is-key-to-fighting-hunger/a-15504581

RJ #2 - 
A. Cornelia Rabitz
B. Newspaper Article
C. Education is key to fighting hunger
D. DW
E. 11/14/2011
F. To inform people that education is the key to fighting hunger
G. Just like source #1, it was published back in 2011 and the same social conditions
apply. 
H. Anyone and everyone
I. That education is the key to abolishing poverty and to create systems within
communities impacted by poverty in hopes
of rebuilding the infrastructure. 
J. I believe that education is definitely one of the most important factors in curing world
hunger. I believe that if we give
impoverished and hungry people an education, then they can grow out of poverty and
start businesses/industries based off 
credit loans and educational achievements as well. "If you give a man a fish, he'll eat for
the night. If you teach a man how to fish, he'll eat for a lifetime."
K. I learned that education can definitely help curve the amount of hungry people in the
world. 
L. Very important, in solving hunger you kind of need to know how to solve it so it's very
important to my topic
M. I want to learn more about the long term effects of education and what impact it can
have on poverty. Is American poverty
different than South Asian/Sub-Saharan African poverty?

3. Urban Farming

- http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/urban-farming-feed-hungry-world/story?
id=14293974
A. Fabian Kretschmer, Malte Kollenberg
B. Newspaper Article
C. Urban Farming: Crops Grown Right Downtown?
D. ABCNews
E. 08/11/2011
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F. To state how beneficial urban would be in fighting world hunger, especially since the
population
is only supposed to get bigger and hungrier.
G. Just like the last 2 sources, this was written in 2011, too, oddly enough. Could
America
afford these type of "vertical farming" methods and could we initiate it without being a
total failure.
H. Anyone and everyone
I. Refer to G.
J. I believe that this is such a great idea and can definitely help with ending world
hunger. You see,
that it would be easier for mankind to do that then have to farm rurally. Humans are
more city-centralized now
so it would be more beneficial to bring out gardens with us.
K. That this was actually an initiative. Great job, humans.
L. This is very important because it's a practical and logical solution to the food crisis
M. I think that we need to consider the greatness of this idea. This is powerful. We are
innovative to the level
of producing edible food in traditionally sterile environments. This also points out our
metacognition to our own existence
and how we can better it.

4.  Empowering Women

- Women comprise 43% of the world’s agricultural labor force, a statistic that rises to
over 50% in
Sub-Saharan Africa and Easten Asia. 
https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/how-empowering-women-could-end-world-
hunger/

-Despite the important role they play in agriculture, women in developing countries face
more extreme poverty, less education, 
and lower literacy rates than men. They do not have access to or control over land and
productive resources. 

A. Olivia Howell
B. Scholarly article
C. How empowering women could end world hunger
D. Global Citizen
E. 11/14/2015
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F. To inform people the importance of empowering women, especially since foreign

farming custom is different
than the developed world's.
G. This article was written by a female and it took place about 4 years after my other
sources making it kind of 
a different and rebellious way at ending world hunger, because she's narrowed down
her topic so well and in a time that 
world hunger wasn't really addressed/published.
H. Anyone and everyone
I. Refer to G. 
J. I agree with this 100%. Since women have different time contraints, competing
priorities (raising a family),
no female land ownership, no access to productive resources, no access to credit, etc.
all of the things
that their male counterparts have no trouble is accessing. 
K. I learned how badly women in poverty have it when it comes to doing the same work
as men, especially in agricultural settings.
L. Very important, adds to the whole image of ending world hunger.
M. We need to consider all of the hardships that women in these situations endure.
They really have the blunt end of the stick when it comes
to making their way in the world and trying to grow out of poverty, especially with a
family. I cannot imagine the struggles that they go through.

5. Food Donations

https://ffl.org/emergency-relief/world-hunger/
A. Paul Turner, Director of Food for Life
B. Newspaper article
C. A Practical Solution to World Hunger
D. Food for Life Global
E. January 1999
F. To prove that there is enough food on this planet to feed everyone, but greed gets in
the way and that 
poor distribution methods leads to world hunger. 
G. This is a food for life website so that can definitely be a bias with this solution. The
author is also the director of food for life so that says something, too.
H. Everyone and everyone. Mainly those in developed countries 
I. To inform the people in mostly developed nations to notice that greed is making
people hungry and to participate in food donations to do your part
to help humanity.
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J. I think that this is a great idea, it's an idea that's been around forever. I think that
there needs to be more programs that help support this program
as well as compliment it in order for world hunger to be solved. 
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Evaluative Annotated Bibliography (EAB)

1. http://wyebrookfarm.com/can-gmos-help-end-world-hunger/
 "Can GMOs Help End World Hunger? - Wyebrook Farm." Wyebrook Farm.
30 Apr. 2013. Web. 03 May 2016.

I agreed that GMOs could definitely fall into the wrong hands, but it
can also do a lot of good for mankind. Any type/form of relief should be
appreciated, because you miss 100% of the shots you don't take. And
while everyone is sitting around arguing over which initiative is better,
children are becoming blind, paralyzed, and even dying. If we even take a
stab at GMOs, we're trying. We're trying to help mankind. We're trying to
help and better ourselves as a whole. No one can hurt us if we truly tried.

2. http://www.dw.com/en/education-is-key-to-fighting-hunger/a-15504581
 Rabitz, Cornelia. "Education Is Key to Fighting Hunger | The Hungry World |
DW.COM | 14.11.2011." DW.COM. DW, 14 Nov. 2011. Web. 03 May 2016.

I believe that education is definitely one of the most important

factors in curing world hunger. I believe that if we give impoverished and hungry people
an education, then they can grow out of poverty and start businesses/industries based
off credit loans and educational achievements as well. "If you give a man a fish, he'll eat
for the night. If you teach a man how to fish, he'll eat for a lifetime."

3. http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/urban-farming-feed-hungry-world/story?
id=14293974
 Kretschmer, Fabian, MALTE E. KOLLENBERG, and Spiegel Online. "Urban
Farming: Crops Grown Right Downtown?" ABC News. ABC News Network,
14 Aug. 2011. Web. 03 May 2016.

I believe that this is such a great idea and can definitely help with
ending world hunger. You see, that it would be easier for mankind to do that then have
to farm rurally. Humans are more city-centralized now so it would be more beneficial to
bring out gardens with us.That this was actually an initiative. Great job, humans.
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4. https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/how-empowering-women-could-end-
world-hunger/
 Howell, Olivia. "How Empowering Women Could End World
Hunger." Global Citizen. 14 Nov. 2015. Web. 03 May 2016.

I agree with this 100%. Since women have different time contraints,
competing priorities (raising a family), no female land ownership, no access to
productive resources, no access to credit, etc. all of the things that their male
counterparts have no trouble is accessing. 

5. https://ffl.org/emergency-relief/world-hunger/
 Turner, Paul. "Solution to World Hunger." Food for Life Global Uniting the
World Through Pure Food. Jan. 1999. Web. 03 May 2016.

I think that this is a great idea, it's an idea that's been around forever. I
think that there needs to be more programs that help support this programas well as
compliment it in order for world hunger to be solved. 
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Self-Assessment (IEP)

We were allowed to select our own topic (issue or problem). We were directed to

construct our own topic, rather than choosing from a pre-determined list. I chose to write on

world hunger and the dangers is can have on the world and how it’s caused. I am not super

passionate about this topic, but it is a major world problem that very little of us are aware of. I

also touched on ways to potentially solve the ongoing issue of world hunger.

Since my topic was world hunger, I decided to look at who world hunger impacts the

most. Surprisingly, it impacts children more than it does able-bodied adults. The figures showed

that a whopping 150 million children are hungry every single day. The cause? Many things, but

mostly poverty. I noticed that when you look at case studies dealing with extreme poverty,

you’ll mostly have a hunger crisis involved. This is due to the fact that impacted individuals

must allot more funds from their already diminished income to simply put food in their bellies.

From this essay and from writing on this topic, I learned that world hunger is such a

trivialized problem. Many politicians and peers may try to “down play” the importance of world

hunger and what long-term effects it may bring to the human race. I also noticed that there are

tons of well-established charities that recognize the importance and influence of world hunger,

and have come to useful conclusions to solve the problem by using various and diverse forms of

metacognition. I came to learn that much is being down to relieve world hunger, but much

work is needed from average citizens like you and I in order for it to be abolished and

eradicated completely. I learned that many charities and authors have the same vision of
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ending world hunger, but all have unique and different perspectives and plans on how to solve

it. From empowering women to providing more sustainable food, world hunger definitely isn’t

something that can be fixed overnight. It’s kind of like a 12 step rehab program.

This assignment really helped me understand the first year writing program and has also

helped me understand its purpose. This assignment helped me to think more critically along

with learning how to apply rhetoric knowledge in my composing processes/strategies. In doing

so, it has helped me to practice and understand my knowledge of conventions. I feel like I need

to conduct more research in order to further understand the dangers and life-long impacts that

world hunger can have. I feel like I’m not confident in my ability to discuss my personal

initiative/opinion on how we should save the world and solve hunger, thus requiring more

personal and intimate research.