According to the United Nations World Food Program statistics released in September, there are 925 million undernourished people in the world. This means that one in seven people do not get enough food to lead a healthy lifestyle. Malnutrition and hunger are in fact the number one risk to health worldwide, according to the United Nations.

Why is it that I can run to the kitchen at any time of the day and find an abundance of food, while there are people across the world and even in my own community who sometimes go days without a nutritious meal? It doesn’t seem fair. Food is plentiful all over the world, but the sad fact is that only those who can afford it will eat their fill while many others go hungry.

What solution is there to this problem? In our own community, many people have been helped by food banks and shelters. Food and monetary donations from the public bless the less fortunate in our neighbourhoods, enabling them to enjoy good health. Still, there are millions around the world who also need our support. Through charitable organizations, many people in Third World countries receive aid.

But that is not enough. In order for world hunger to end, every person must be in on the solution — a very hard and demanding process. If every person did a little bit to solve the problem, ending world hunger might not be as difficult as we think.

Awareness of world hunger and various other dilemmas has brought me to appreciate the life I live. My hope is for all people to have a place they call home where they can live a healthy lifestyle with a nutritious meal on the table every day. In doing my part, my personal resolution is to continue to participate in starve-a-thons and to spend some of my time volunteering at a food bank.

(D’Souza, 17, is a Grade 12 student at Pope John Paul II Catholic Secondary School in Toronto.)