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Roger Mooking

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Time to End Hunger Around the World

Posted: 09/21/2012 1:35 pm

I am very fortunate. I have an amazing wife and three gorgeous kids and a passion for my job as a chef. I love food, and cooking on T.V. has given me the opportunity to travel around the world to learn the flavours and traditions of so many cultures.

My travels have also shown me how lucky my family and most Canadians are. Most of us can afford good, nutritious food whenever we want. That isn't the case in many of the countries I have visited. As a father it has been hardest for me to see hungry children.

Every year 2.5 million children die and the underlying or direct cause is hunger and malnutrition. Right now in the Sahel region of West Africa one million children are at risk of acute malnutrition but the invisible killer is chronic malnutrition. Every day around the world children are desperately hungry and the lack of nutritious food is making them weak and vulnerable to illnesses like malaria and pneumonia. Three times the number of children die because of chronic malnutrition. These kids are hidden from the cameras, living in poor rural communities and big city slums around the world.

The children who survive are severely affected. Often they are physically stunted and experience difficulties learning. The lack of nutrients during the crucial growing years means that the potential of these children is often as stunted as their bodies.

Like all parents I want my kids to be healthy, happy and to reach their full potential. I can't even imagine how painful it must be for parents who know they should be providing more and better food for their kids but who simply can't.

In a couple of days I will be travelling to Bangladesh with my wife. This time I am not going to film a television show. Leslie and I are travelling with Save the Children to visit their food and nutrition programming. Leslie and I want to bring the story of these children and their families to the attention of Canadians. We want Canadians to know that ending world hunger is possible, and that no child should die because they are poor or because of where they were born.

We know the solutions, teach and support women so they can breastfeed for a minimum of six months, grow local food production and distribution, and make sure food is more affordable educate parents about how to increase the nutritional value of the meals they can afford, make sure children under five are vaccinated and that kids and pregnant and breastfeeding moms have supplemental nutrients when needed.
To save millions of children every year we just need to step up.

According to the World Bank, if governments around the world would commit $10 billion a year we could save a 1 million children. I know, $10 billion seems like an awful lot of cash to me too, but when you realize that by some estimates governments spent more than ten times that amount to rescue the global financial system it really puts things in perspective.

You can help. Save the Children is calling on Canadians to email Prime Minister Harper asking him to ensure that Canada leads the effort to end global hunger.

While we are in Bangladesh I will be sharing our experiences on Facebook and Twitter. Find out more about the people and their lives and how even though Bangladesh is one of the poorest countries in the world, kids are being saved every day.

Join Leslie and me on this important adventure.

The blog's earlier title "In Bangladesh, Many Are Starving," written by Huffington Post staff, has been changed because it is factually incorrect.
 
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03:49 AM on 09/26/2012
One of the reasons I wanted to come here is because my show plays in Bangladesh and I wanted the chance to experience the culture and the people.

I knew before coming, and this trip only reinforces for me, that there are many voices in the ‘development discussion’ on how to best to address malnutrition and health. I came because I want to participate in that conversation as a father and chef.

I think its important to address what I agree is misinformation in the title of my post. It is unfortunate that the title of my blog was changed without my knowledge. I realize that starvation is a technical term and starvation isn't a problem in Bangladesh as it is in other countries. Around the world we need to do more and better to improve child health and nutrition and I've come to Bangladesh to better understand the problems they are facing and the strides they have made. And my experience visiting the work has shown me that better nutrition is possible not just here but everywhere.

In fact Bangladesh is proof that type of transformational change that can occur with community supported interventions. I hope to speak more about this in future posts.

Roger Mooking
03:28 PM on 09/26/2012
Thank you for your acknowledgement of the misinformation in the title of your post. I appreciate, as I know others will, that you have taken the time and effort to change the title and to understand why people objected to it in the first place. I hope you have a good experience in Bangladesh.
03:45 AM on 09/25/2012
I fully endorse the comments above - especially the point about sensationalist headlines doing more harm than good. Thanks to commentators like Adnan Firoze and Farah Ghuznavi for backing up your comments with measured arguments, statistical data and graphics. I work in one of the world's largest development organisations, based in Bangladesh which focuses on poverty alleviation - and I can say with certainty, that Mr. Mooking got it wrong.
Dr. Faustina Pereira. BRAC.
11:25 AM on 09/24/2012
hello,
it's not in my place to comment on your journalistic skills-- however, i will like to point out that before going into premise like hunger (than specifying/ naming a few "hungry" places like Bangladesh) you should do a little research. i am not saying your pursuit of doing something good for a hungry lot is wrong-- of course not but pray do specify which part of Bangladesh(which group; perhaps give us a number?!) you are talking about?
obviously, i do have credentials which allow me to point out that your title is immensely misleading-- most sensational titles are. but does it really serve your purpose-- you are coming all the way from "Au CANADA" to Bangladesh to help out on the "hunger" issue after all.
also, i have noticed many have pointed out what i really wanted to say.
05:21 AM on 09/24/2012
"We know the solutions, teach and support women so they can breastfeed for a minimum of six months...." ?? Excuse me Mr. Mooking, mothers in the eastern cultures have always been breast feeding their babies, on demand, for generations. I don't believe they need to be 'taught' this. Perhaps you need to concentrate on this more for the western cultures.
05:19 AM on 09/24/2012
If this celebrity chef can make a difference in terms of the 'hunger' discourse in Canada ..great! For that to make a difference to global efforts to to end hunger is just wishful thinking! World leaders in developed nations can end hunger tomorrow if they chose....the political will is simply not there. No amount of spit and polish can alter that fundamental reality. We need a paradigm shift.... celebrity tours barely scratch the surface of the problem.
04:58 AM on 09/24/2012
dear roger mooking, your headline writers did you no favours. am guessing you meant you'd learn lessons in bangladesh to apply to africa. even so, please do not share your experiences on facebook or twitter, going by the above, you'll do the cause more harm than good.
04:27 AM on 09/24/2012
Headlines like the one used for this article dont just give the author a bad name, it gives the publication an even worse reputation. Before making such assumptions, I'd like to ask the author to please do better research. Assumptions such as this only end in misleading the reader, not to mention the fact that it is just plain bad journalism. And frankly, in this case, this is just plain offensive.
04:18 AM on 09/24/2012
Disappointed in Roger's ignorance. We actually get his show here in Bangladesh.
I understand that his intention was a good one -- to raise awareness. But as a minority, I would think he would have a greater awareness of what the situation really is in the developing world, and not tow the line advocated by "Save the Children" and other organizations. As my wife is a former STC employee, I have heard much about their sensationalism and attempts to showcase their supposed success stories through the use of celebrities -- money which could be better spent on the ground. Don't rent that chopper to fly to the village, Roger -- that money can actually make a difference to the people you're trying to help.
12:56 PM on 09/23/2012
The headline of this article is incredibly misleading. Firstly, the problem in Bangladesh is one of malnutrition among children, not 'many people' (i.e. children and adults) 'starving' as is stated in this rather sensationalist headline. Secondly, the government and non-government organisations in Bangladesh have already been focusing on this issue, and to imply that the visit of a celebrity chef on behalf of 'Save the Children' is somehow going to raise awareness in Canada and thereby miraculously remedy the situation not only undermines the efforts already underway, it also has a distinctly patronising tone to it. In fact, despite being a developing nation, Bangladesh has already received considerable recognition for the progress it has made towards achieving the Millenium Development Goals - it is, in fact, a success story! So please take more care when vetting the content of articles by your contributors when they write on issues - in this instance, development - on which they are NOT experts. Thank you.
03:55 AM on 09/23/2012
Hello

You Sir, are misinformed. I am a journalist here in Bangladesh and my mother is a pediatrician serving Bangladesh for over four decades. Recently Bangladesh has reached Millennium Development Goal 4 (MDG 4) - by reducing the number of children dying before their fifth birthday by two thirds since 1990! That is 3 years earlier than anticipated.

Here are the UNICEF info-graphics.

http://uni.cf/TsGQiV

I urge you all to further study these info graphics that are accurate and substantial (and derived by nutritionists in the fields).

Sincerely

Adnan Firoze
United News Bangladesh
01:19 PM on 09/23/2012
Absolutely correct, Adnan Firoze. I have been wondering at this rather misleading headline and the content of the article, and I am glad that you have sent this more accurate assessment of the situation in Bangladesh.