MB Civic

To The Editor:

In claiming that 1968 predictions of hunger due to overpopulation were a case of “intellectual arrogance,” John Tierney says, “On Tuesday, when the 300 millionth American is born, the parents will not be worrying about a national shortage of food. If anything, they’ll worry about their child becoming obese” (Op-Ed, Oct. 14).

This is simply not true. According to a 2004 report by Bread for the World, 38 million Americans – including 14 million children – “live in households that experience hunger or the risk of hunger.” And in 2005, the U.S. Conference of Mayors reported that “requests for emergency food assistance increased an average of 12 percent”; indeed, between 2003 and 2005, the number of people taking advantage of the Food Stamp Program rose to 25 million.

But since Mr. Tierney also brings up India and China, let’s look at those countries. Admittedly, China has been successful at diminishing poverty and hunger. However, according to the Earth Policy Institute, China is quickly losing cropland, and is increasingly diverting water from critical irrigation systems to other uses. This is likely to impede their progress, if not cause a reverse of their success. As for India, Mr. Tierney completely ignores the fact that, according to the U.N. World Food Program, India contains 50% of the world’s hungry, with fully one-quarter of the population living on $1 per day, and another 700 million living on $2 per day. And these statistics are in addition to the fact that hundreds of thousands die each year as a result of famine, and that one out of three people in the world does not have access to potable water.

According to the U.N. World Food Program, 852 million people suffer from hunger; 16,000 children die worldwide each day from hunger and hunger-related diseases; and each year more than 20 million low-birth weight babies are born in developing countries. These statistics clearly put the lie to Mr. Tierney’s assertion that dire predictions about overpopulation, and the problems it has created and continues to create, were not based on sound scientific, agricultural, and sociological factors.

Rev. Ian Alterman
New York City