Access and Ownership: A Jewish Perspective on Food and Hunger Shefa Summer Internship, 7/5/16

Ute Schaeffer, "Hunger is a Political Problem," http://www.dw.com/en/hunger-is-a-political-problem/a-15459224
A world without hunger, where all seven billion people are well fed, can indeed be achieved. The planet produces enough food. Hunger is not a problem simply caused by natural crises. It is tolerated because other things are deemed more important.

U.S. Representative James P. McGovern
Statement on -Hunger Hits Home- documentary and Hunger in America
April 17, 2012,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRdJSVCiohc
We have more than enough food in America to feed everyone. We also have the delivery systems to ensure that food gets to those people who need it.
The problem is politics. We have made a political decision not to end to hunger. We have the means, the food and the programs to ensure that not one person goes without food in this country. What we lack, M. Speaker, is the political will to actually make it happen.

Joel Berg, Executive Director, New York City Coalition Against Hunger
"It’s About Power, Not Food: The True Causes of World Hunger"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joel-berg/the-true-causes-of-world-hunger_b_7345204.html
Some of the world’s most agriculturally abundant nations are also the hungriest.

Take India, for example. Last year, according to the Indian government’s Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority Indiaexported 30 million metric tons of food, worth $23 billion in U.S. dollars. That included 11 million tons of rice, six million tons of wheat, two million tons of vegetables and a million tons of buffalo meat.

Meanwhile, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), India’s food-insecure population is 255 million people, constituting about 36 percent of the people who are hungry on the planet. By the government of India’s own count, using a measure of poverty based primarily on the cost of a nutritionally adequate diet, 355 million Indians, or 30 percent of the population, lived in poverty in 2009-2010. That means that India exports about 270 pounds of food per year for every hungry Indian and 186 pounds of food per year for every Indian in poverty.

Why is this allowed? It is allowed because successive governments of India placed a higher priority on earning large sums of money for agribusinesses and exporters than on feeding the nation’s own hungry populace. According to Forbes, there are now more than 100 billionaires in India, with a combined wealth of US $346 billion, up more than a third from US $259 billion in 2013. Mass numbers of Indians literally starve in the streets just feet from gleaming luxury skyscrapers. Not surprisingly, it’s the skyscraper owners, not the starving masses, who have the political power to decide how food stocks are utilized.

In the U.S, our leaders also generally prioritize wealth creation for the richest, over-feeding our populace. While the severity of the hunger in the U.S. is generally far less than in India, U.S. hunger is far worse than in any Western industrialized country, and fully 49 million Americans live in food insecure homes, unable to afford an adequate supply of food. Yet in 2013, the U.S. exported $144 billion worth of food, equaling $2,938 worth of food for every American struggling against hunger.

ויקרא כ״ה:א׳-כ״ד

א) וַיְדַבֵּ֤ר יְהוָה֙ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה בְּהַ֥ר סִינַ֖י לֵאמֹֽר׃ (ב) דַּבֵּ֞ר אֶל־בְּנֵ֤י יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ אֲלֵהֶ֔ם כִּ֤י תָבֹ֙אוּ֙ אֶל־הָאָ֔רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֥ר אֲנִ֖י נֹתֵ֣ן לָכֶ֑ם וְשָׁבְתָ֣ה הָאָ֔רֶץ שַׁבָּ֖ת לַיהוָֽה׃ (ג) שֵׁ֤שׁ שָׁנִים֙ תִּזְרַ֣ע שָׂדֶ֔ךָ וְשֵׁ֥שׁ שָׁנִ֖ים תִּזְמֹ֣ר כַּרְמֶ֑ךָ וְאָסַפְתָּ֖ אֶת־תְּבוּאָתָֽהּ׃ (ד) וּבַשָּׁנָ֣ה הַשְּׁבִיעִ֗ת שַׁבַּ֤ת שַׁבָּתוֹן֙ יִהְיֶ֣ה לָאָ֔רֶץ שַׁבָּ֖ת לַיהוָ֑ה שָֽׂדְךָ֙ לֹ֣א תִזְרָ֔ע וְכַרְמְךָ֖ לֹ֥א תִזְמֹֽר׃ (ה) אֵ֣ת סְפִ֤יחַ קְצִֽירְךָ֙ לֹ֣א תִקְצ֔וֹר וְאֶת־עִנְּבֵ֥י נְזִירֶ֖ךָ לֹ֣א תִבְצֹ֑ר שְׁנַ֥ת שַׁבָּת֖וֹן יִהְיֶ֥ה לָאָֽרֶץ׃ (ו) וְ֠הָיְתָה שַׁבַּ֨ת הָאָ֤רֶץ לָכֶם֙ לְאָכְלָ֔ה לְךָ֖ וּלְעַבְדְּךָ֣ וְלַאֲמָתֶ֑ךָ וְלִשְׂכִֽירְךָ֙ וּלְתוֹשָׁ֣בְךָ֔ הַגָּרִ֖ים עִמָּֽךְ׃ (ז) וְלִ֨בְהֶמְתְּךָ֔ וְלַֽחַיָּ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר בְּאַרְצֶ֑ךָ תִּהְיֶ֥ה כָל־תְּבוּאָתָ֖הּ לֶאֱכֹֽל׃ (ס) (יח) וַעֲשִׂיתֶם֙ אֶת־חֻקֹּתַ֔י וְאֶת־מִשְׁפָּטַ֥י תִּשְׁמְר֖וּ וַעֲשִׂיתֶ֣ם אֹתָ֑ם וִֽישַׁבְתֶּ֥ם עַל־הָאָ֖רֶץ לָבֶֽטַח׃ (יט) וְנָתְנָ֤ה הָאָ֙רֶץ֙ פִּרְיָ֔הּ וַאֲכַלְתֶּ֖ם לָשֹׂ֑בַע וִֽישַׁבְתֶּ֥ם לָבֶ֖טַח עָלֶֽיהָ׃ (כ) וְכִ֣י תֹאמְר֔וּ מַה־נֹּאכַ֤֖ל בַּשָּׁנָ֣ה הַשְּׁבִיעִ֑ת הֵ֚ן לֹ֣א נִזְרָ֔ע וְלֹ֥א נֶאֱסֹ֖ף אֶת־תְּבוּאָתֵֽנוּ׃ (כא) וְצִוִּ֤יתִי אֶת־בִּרְכָתִי֙ לָכֶ֔ם בַּשָּׁנָ֖ה הַשִּׁשִּׁ֑ית וְעָשָׂת֙ אֶת־הַתְּבוּאָ֔ה לִשְׁלֹ֖שׁ הַשָּׁנִֽים׃ (כב) וּזְרַעְתֶּ֗ם אֵ֚ת הַשָּׁנָ֣ה הַשְּׁמִינִ֔ת וַאֲכַלְתֶּ֖ם מִן־הַתְּבוּאָ֣ה יָשָׁ֑ן עַ֣ד ׀ הַשָּׁנָ֣ה הַתְּשִׁיעִ֗ת עַד־בּוֹא֙ תְּב֣וּאָתָ֔הּ תֹּאכְל֖וּ יָשָֽׁן׃ (כג) וְהָאָ֗רֶץ לֹ֤א תִמָּכֵר֙ לִצְמִתֻ֔ת כִּי־לִ֖י הָאָ֑רֶץ כִּֽי־גֵרִ֧ים וְתוֹשָׁבִ֛ים אַתֶּ֖ם עִמָּדִֽי׃ (כד) וּבְכֹ֖ל אֶ֣רֶץ אֲחֻזַּתְכֶ֑ם גְּאֻלָּ֖ה תִּתְּנ֥וּ לָאָֽרֶץ׃ (ס)

Leviticus 25:1-24

(1) The LORD spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai: (2) Speak to the Israelite people and say to them: When you enter the land that I assign to you, the land shall observe a sabbath of the LORD. (3) Six years you may sow your field and six years you may prune your vineyard and gather in the yield. (4) But in the seventh year the land shall have a sabbath of complete rest, a sabbath of the LORD: you shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard. (5) You shall not reap the aftergrowth of your harvest or gather the grapes of your untrimmed vines; it shall be a year of complete rest for the land. (6) But you may eat whatever the land during its sabbath will produce—you, your male and female slaves, the hired and bound laborers who live with you, (7) and your cattle and the beasts in your land may eat all its yield....(18) You shall observe My laws and faithfully keep My rules, that you may live upon the land in security; (19) the land shall yield its fruit and you shall eat your fill, and you shall live upon it in security. (20) And should you ask, “What are we to eat in the seventh year, if we may neither sow nor gather in our crops?” (21) I will ordain My blessing for you in the sixth year, so that it shall yield a crop sufficient for three years. (22) When you sow in the eighth year, you will still be eating old grain of that crop; you will be eating the old until the ninth year, until its crops come in. (23) But the land must not be sold beyond reclaim, for the land is Mine; you are but strangers resident with Me. (24) Throughout the land that you hold, you must provide for the redemption of the land.

משנה תורה, הלכות שמיטה ויובל ד׳:כ״ד

(כד) מִצְוַת עֲשֵׂה לְהַשְׁמִיט כָּל מַה שֶּׁתּוֹצִיא הָאָרֶץ בַּשְּׁבִיעִית שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שמות כג-יא) "וְהַשְּׁבִיעִת תִּשְׁמְטֶנָּה וּנְטַשְׁתָּהּ". וְכָל הַנּוֹעֵל כַּרְמוֹ אוֹ סָג שָׂדֵהוּ בַּשְּׁבִיעִית בִּטֵּל מִצְוַת עֲשֵׂה. וְכֵן אִם אָסַף כָּל פֵּרוֹתָיו לְתוֹךְ בֵּיתוֹ. אֶלָּא יַפְקִיר הַכּל וְיַד הַכּל שָׁוִין בְּכָל מָקוֹם שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שמות כג-יא) "וְאָכְלוּ אֶבְיֹנֵי עַמֶּךָ". וְיֵשׁ לוֹ לְהָבִיא לְתוֹךְ בֵּיתוֹ מְעַט כְּדֶרֶךְ שֶׁמְּבִיאִין מִן הַהֶפְקֵר. חָמֵשׁ כַּדֵּי שֶׁמֶן חֲמִשָּׁה עָשָׂר כַּדֵּי יַיִן. וְאִם הֵבִיא יֶתֶר מִזֶּה מֻתָּר:

Mishneh Torah, Sabbatical Year and the Jubilee 4:24

(24) It is a positive commandment to annul [ownership of] everything that comes out of the ground in the seventh year as it says "and in the seventh [year], annul it and forsake it" and anyone who locks up his vineyard or fences in his field in the seventh year has violated a positive commandment, and similarly someone who harvest all his fruits and brings them inside. Rather everything should be seen as ownerless and everyone has equal claim as it says " and the destitute of your people will eat it. [The owner] may bring in small amounts the way one does from ownerless property e.g. five pitchers of oil or fifteen of wine and if he brought in more it is permitted.

Mahatma Gandhi
The world has enough for everyone's need, but not enough for everyone's greed.