Proclamation 6072—Hunger Education Month, 1989

Famines create headlines. When famine strikes in any region of the world, millions of people rally to help those at risk of starving to death. Chronic hunger, however, often receives far less attention, even though millions of people around the world suffer daily from its effects. Hunger is particularly acute in a number of less developed countries where food supplies have been depleted by poverty, political strife, and civil war.

Over the years, the American people have responded generously to the needs of those affected by famine and chronic hunger. The United States has not only met but exceeded its pledge to the international Food Aid Convention. Through U.S. Food for Peace and other programs, Americans provided more than half of all the grain shipped worldwide through food aid programs during the year that ended in June -- more than all other contributing nations combined.

However, we know that contributions of food alone will not provide a lasting solution to chronic hunger. As the ancient proverb so eloquently reminds us, "Give a man a fish, and you have fed him for a day. Teach a man how to fish, and you have fed him for a lifetime."

Poverty and hunger cannot be eliminated simply by donations of food. The development of free market economies also plays a vital role. The United States is working to alleviate hunger in poor nations by encouraging the development of policies that harness the power of individual initiative and free enterprise. We are working to help these countries increase their food production, and we are exploring ways to help them generate sufficient revenues to buy, store, and distribute essential agricultural goods.

If our Nation is to remain responsive to the needs of those who suffer from hunger, and if we are to continue to use our resources effectively in the fight against it, all Americans need to understand its causes and effects. Our schools and community organizations can play vital roles in heightening public awareness of world hunger by conducting educational programs designed to examine this tragic problem and the means we can use to help solve it.

To focus attention on the importance of education in the fight against world hunger, the Congress, by Senate Joint Resolution 198, has designated the month of November 1989 as "An End to Hunger Education Month" and has authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of this month.

Now, Therefore, I, George Bush, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the month of November 1989 as Hunger Education Month. I urge all Americans to take time to study the problem of world hunger and discover how they can help alleviate it.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this sixteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fourteenth.

GEORGE BUSH