This unit is a comprehensive examination of the issue of hunger. It is divided into four parts: statistics, background, beyond the statistics, and ethical issues. The section on statistics addresses the issue of hunger from a local and global perspective and examines the level of funding from local, state, and federal monies. The section on background examines the many causes of hunger and its history. In the section that considers topics beyond the statistics, participants look more closely at the problems faced by those trying to combat hunger and study the demographics of the hungry population. The ethical issues section analyzes the politics, power, ethics, and possible solutions to the hunger issue.

Lessons are divided into age-appropriate sections. The Appendices feature information for field trips, games, and ethical discussions as well as nutrition, teaching, and Internet resources.

Specific activities include mapping, charting, graphing, examining advertisements for food, assessing cost of food, analyzing the hungry population worldwide, and using students in the class to represent specific continents’ hungry population and wealth. Participants also compute minimum wage, create budgets, develop portfolios, learn to keep a bank balance, and more. Students research relevant topics such as the cost of raising cattle, organizations that help feed the hungry, and the cost of helping a child in need.

Activities may be designated at a specific age-grade level but are easily adapted to accommodate other grade levels. Activities are designed to interest participants and be useful with a wide range of abilities.