World MDG Blogging Day

One of the unspoken tenets of food blogging is that one HAS food to blog about. Unlike 800 million people who go to bed hungry every day and 1.2 billion people who live on less than $1 a day, I have plenty of food. In fact, I often sigh, "Ugh, there's nothing to eat," knowing that I have a pantry and refrigerator full enough to feed several families. Every day, I have the luxury of eating at least three full meals, and I take pride in cooking a variety of balanced meals for my husband and myself. This is a luxury that most of the world can't afford.

To see what living on a dollar a day looks like, visit this blog, where a couple spends a month living on a dollar a day.

Right now, world leaders are gathered in New York to chart the progress of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), 8 goals agreed to in 2000 that represent the largest effort to combat and end extreme poverty. These goals were set reasonably, and yet we have already fallen behind schedule to meet them by the set date of 2015.

And these goals are just a start. The first goal is merely to cut the number of people living on less than $1 a day in HALF. We can do this.

The MDGs are as follows:
1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.
2. Achieve universal primary education.
3. Promote gender equality and empower women.
4. Reduce child mortality.
5. Improve maternal health.
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases.
7. Ensure environmental sustainability.
8. Create a global partnership for development with targets for aid, trade, and debt relief.

Surely at least one of these goals speaks to something that you hold dear. To learn more about the MDGs and what you can do, visit the United Nations Development Programme or Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation. You can also click on the banner on the side of my blog to read what other bloggers have to say today about the MDGs.