ALLIANCE MEMBER AUBURN UNIVERSITY HOSTS FOURTH ANNUAL SUMMIT OF UNIVERSITY HUNGER LEADERS

Gabriel Laizer, Manager of Membership Services at the Alliance to End Hunger, giving a testimonial about school feeding in Tanzania.

From February 27 to March 1, 2009, the Alliance to End Hunger co-hosted the Fourth Annual University Hunger Summit in conjunction with the Auburn University College of Human Sciences and the World Food Programme. The University Hunger Summit is a component of Universities Fighting World Hunger (UFWH) and is designed to mobilize universities to fight world hunger and malnutrition through a grassroots student movement, scholarly service and institutional change.

The theme of the 4th Annual University Hunger Summit was Ending Hunger…Yes We Can! The conference focused on what hunger is and how it affects people in the United States and abroad, explored the sustainability issues surrounding hunger, and offered guidelines for establishing and sustaining a campus chapter of UFWH.

The Summit brought together university faculty, administrators and students with hunger advocates from international organizations, private industry, government and academia to discuss hunger policy, programming, advocacy and curricula.  Alliance members and staff participated in the Summit, including:

• Gabriel Laizer, Manager of Membership Services at the Alliance to End Hunger
• Katherine Coon, Consultant at Bread for the World Institute
• Maureen Roche, Director of Campus Kitchens Project
• Brian Ward, Outreach Associate at Friends of the World Food Programme
• Chessney Barrick, Director of Development at Stop Hunger Now

The idea of universities becoming further engaged in the issue of hunger was sparked by a partnership between the World Food Program and Auburn University.  Together, they created UFWH and began working to address the pressing issues of world hunger and malnutrition.  In less than five years, the UFWH movement has spread to more than 80 higher education institutions.  This builds on numerous efforts over the years to work with university and colleges, such as on World Food Day and the National Student Campaign against Hunger and Homelessness.  

For more information on the 2009 Summit, view the University Hunger Summit press release or email hungersummit@gmail.com.