Ending Childhood Malnutrition is Within our Grasp The Leading Voices in Food

So what percentage of the world's children do you believe suffer from physical or mental stunting due to nutrition and food shortages? How lasting do you think these effects are and what can be done? Today's guest is Sharman Russell, author of the new book, Within Our Grasp: Childhood Malnutrition Worldwide and the Revolution Taking Place to End It. Among the reviews for the book, The Sunday Times of London said "Every page holds a revelation."
Interview Summary
 
So Sharman, let me begin with sort of a fundamental question. So we led with that issue about how many of the world's children face these hunger malnutrition stunting issues. And you note it in your book that almost one in four children in the world suffers from physical mental stunting in response to malnutrition and hunger, especially in the early years of life. One thing that's noteworthy about your book is that you emphasize successful approaches or solutions to ending this kind of childhood nutrition. A lot of people make note of the problem, but finding solutions is a whole different thing all together. But with this issue being so longstanding and complex why do you think there's reason to be hopeful?
 
You know, I have been writing about hunger and malnutrition for the last 20 years, and I would never have been drawn to this subject, to this story, if it wasn't a hopeful one. I also happen to think that hope is the best strategy if you want to achieve something. Hope generates action, and hopelessness does not. For me, this sense of hope is about the last 20 years. At the end of the 20th Century, we finally began to understand the role of vitamins and minerals in the human body and in preventing and treating childhood malnutrition. By the turn of the century researchers had developed this wonderful, precisely fortified food medicine, these convenient packets of a peanut buttery paste, that children love, that don't need refrigeration or clean water, that can be given by parents in the home. And at the same time, importantly, we realized there isn't a single approach to ending childhood hunger. Many different things have to happen. Women need to be empowered. Families need good sanitation. They need to be protected from diseases of parasites that aggravate and even cause malnutrition. So we know what to do now. And we also know that for every dollar invested in nutrition, society gets back $16. So we have the motivation. We have the resources. That's pretty hopeful!
 
I'm really happy to hear the optimism in your voice. But let me ask a question, a lot of hunger is driven now by climate change and, of course, by political unrest and things. So there's the knowing what to do about hunger and what people might be fed to help offset the problem. But what about these things going on outside of the nutrient part of it? Is there reason to be optimistic on those fronts?
 
Those are real challenges. There's no doubt. We have to remember that nearly a quarter of the world's children are stunted, damaged because of lack of nutrients. Most of them live in peaceful countries. So while war and conflict is horrible, and what we're seeing now is absolutely horrible, most children live in peaceful countries. So those are the ones that we can start ending childhood malnutrition right now. The UN Food Systems Summit, last September determined that an additional 33 billion a year for 10 years on improved food systems could end the majority of hunger not caused by war conflict. And they were talking about all hunger, not just childhood malnutrition. So that's enormously hopeful, 33 billion a year for 10 years! I sometimes use the analogy that Americans are now spending 90 billion a year on their pets and pet products. And I think we should love our pets. Of course, we should love our pets. The important thing is we have the wealth right now to do this.
 
Right, and you're talking about worldwide expenses. So America wouldn't have to be the only country contribu