Sharing Meals to Prevent Famine

In 1947 Massachusetts governor Robert Bradford and activist Iris Gabriel started a tradition of sharing Thanksgiving meals with “silent guests” from Europe. Still recovering from World War II, Europe was facing food shortages because of drought.

Americans imagined a hungry family from Europe at the Thanksgiving table, and donated to the “silent guest” committee. This donation meant a CARE package of food would be sent to overseas to Europe to feed the hungry.

The “silent guest” plan led to many thousands of donations to fight hunger in Europe. This was part of a massive effort by America to ensure Europe did not succumb to hunger after the war.

As the Secretary of State George Marshall said in 1947, “Food is the very basis of all reconstruction. Hunger and Insecurity are the worst enemies of peace. “

The Marshall Plan that ultimately rebuilt Europe could not have succeeded without the food aid that preceded it. An interim food aid package for Europe was passed by Congress soon after Thanksgiving, 1947, months prior to the Marshall Plan getting started.

At this year’s Thanksgiving we need the spirit of the Greatest Generation’s “silent guest” plan more than ever. Famine is threatening numerous countries with millions on the brink of starvation.

In Somalia, people are having to search for days to try and find food because of prolonged drought. Only humanitarian aid agencies can save them. Yemen is another country on the brink of famine because of a never ending civil war. Haiti, D.R. Congo and many other countries are in danger too of mass starvation. Severely malnourished children are dying of hunger every day around the world.

There are now 349 million people worldwide facing crisis or emergency levels of hunger according to the World Food Program (WFP). And it could get much worse headed into next year, especially if there are more climate disasters like drought and flooding. And if wars continue. The war in Ukraine has made the global hunger crisis even worse as it has severely harmed food production and distribution.

The WFP director David Beasley warns “We are facing an unprecedented global food crisis and all signs suggest we have not yet seen the worst. For the last three years hunger numbers have repeatedly hit new peaks. Let me be clear: things can and will get worse unless there is a large scale and coordinated effort to address the root causes of this crisis. We cannot have another year of record hunger.”

WFP and other relief agencies are desperately short on funding to cope with a global hunger crisis of this urgency. This Thanksgiving we can do something about it by sharing our Thanksgiving meals. If everyone donated to feed “silent guests” this Thanksgiving we could bolster the humanitarian response.

You could donate to WFP, Save the Children, UNICEF, Catholic Relief Services, Edesia, CARE, Mary’s Meals, Action against Hunger, Mercy Corps and other charities that fight hunger. You can also ensure local foodbanks have what they need to feed the hungry.

You can also help on Thanksgiving by writing to your representative in Congress asking them to increase funding for the U.S. Food for Peace program. You could also ask them to increase funds for the McGovern-Dole global school lunch program.

We have to act now to save millions of lives from starvation. This Thanksgiving we can make it a priority to feed “silent guests” and ensure no one goes hungry.

William Lambers is an author who partnered with the UN World Food Program on the book Ending World Hunger. His writings have been published by the NY Times, Cleveland Plain Dealer, History News Network, and Newsweek.