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Famine In Somalia
Famine in parts of Somalia has killed tens of thousands of people, according the United Nations. Half of the population faces hunger, malnutrition and other related problems, and tens of thousands of refugees are fleeing to neighboring countries. Visit this link to find ways to help.
From the official US response:
The United States is deeply concerned by the humanitarian emergency in the Horn of Africa and today’s announcement by the United Nations that a famine is underway in parts of Somalia. The United States is the largest bilateral donor of emergency assistance to the eastern Horn of Africa. We have already responded with over $431 million in food and non-food emergency assistance this year alone.
But it is not enough — the need is only expected to increase and more must be done by the United States and the international community. That is why today the United States government is providing an additional $28 million in aid for people in Somalia and for Somali refugees in Kenya.
The eastern Horn of Africa is prone to chronic food insecurity which has been exacerbated by a two-year drought. Crops have dried up, livestock have died, and food prices have been skyrocketing. In Somalia, twenty years without a central government and the relentless terrorism by al-Shabaab against its own people has turned an already severe situation into a dire one that is only expected to get worse. Even so, we remain cautiously optimistic that al-Shabaab will permit unimpeded international assistance in famine struck areas.
You can read the entire statement here.
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Farmers' Market Launches Incentive for Food Stamp Users
This is really great! A farmers market in California allows people to exchange food stamps for tokens to use to at the market. Now, they are rolling out an offer for anyone who spends $10 worth of these tokens to get an extra $5 in tokens for free.
I think this sounds like such a good way to allow everyone access to healthy, local food. And the extra $5 should help with the fact that some farmers market items can be a little more pricey than a grocery store.
Hopefully this is a new trend we’ll see growing. What do you think?
