Obesity and Hunger

          It took a while for me to decide what I wanted to write my research paper on, but after watching one of the TED Talk videos with Ellen Gustafson I had a sudden interest. She says that in our world there are one billion people who are obese and one billion people who are hungry. That's one out of eight people. I don't think many are aware how serious of an issue this is. I'll be honest and say that I didn't. Over the past 30 years, the average of people who are obese and hungry has risen dramatically. For this reason, Ellen suggests that maybe we shouldn't view this as two separate issues but as one global issue. So this idea helped me develop my question: What is the underlying cause between hunger and obesity? Is there a connection? Turns out that there is. The underlying cause is our food system. This includes the growing, harvesting, processing, marketing and consuming of food.       
        The food system and the diet it has created has led to this generation where more people are dying from obesity and hunger, issues that can be solved, than communicable diseases. This must be addressed and the food system is where we have to start. If we can make a change, hunger and obesity would be less common and diseases like diabetes can be prevented. I think the best way to start is change our own individual lifestyles first.