CWS remembers champion of the poor


John McCullough | October 21, 2012

Senator George McGovern and the Rev. John L. McCullough. Photo: courtesy NCC-USA

Senator George McGovern and the Rev. John L. McCullough. Photo: courtesy NCC-USA

George McGovern was a friend to humanitarian agency Church World Service and to anyone concerned about the issue of hunger and malnutrition in the world.

As the one-time United Nations Ambassador to the Hungry, Senator McGovern had always made battling hunger a top concern, even when the political winds did not favor that fight as a topical concern.

But, unfortunately, hunger and malnutrition still must command our attention.

George McGovern’s death is indeed a sad moment for our nation, regardless of political persuasions. Senator McGovern was someone who cared very deeply about people, cared about issues of injustice, cared about brokenness. He was committed to using the strength of his public service to bring healing and reconciliation.

I recall being with George McGovern in 2002, when he delivered a keynote address to some of our staff, meeting in Daytona Beach, Fla. He was a huge supporter of Church World Service’s nationwide CROP Hunger Walks, which raise funds and awareness for food programs here in the U.S. and around the globe.

His talk anticipated our organization’s plans for a multi-year Campaign to End Child Malnutrition in Africa.

He said this: “I hope someday we will be able to proclaim that we have banished hunger in the United States, and that we’ve been able to bring nutrition and health to the whole world.”

George McGovern had just authored a book, “The Third Freedom: Ending Hunger in Our Time.” In it, he advanced a five-point plan for achieving this goal – a goal that remains elusive, but we believe, do-able.

It wasn’t any surprise that as the one-time U.S. senator from South Dakota, U.S. Food for Peace director, Democratic presidential candidate and World War II war hero capped his long and distinguished career dealing with food issues.

He had served as U.S. Ambassador to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization in the administration of former President Bill Clinton and was later appointed by the UN as its international emissary to the hungry around the world.

But he was a special inspiration for us – an organization that has deep roots and connections to the U.S. Midwest, an area of the country McGovern loved so much and cared about so deeply.

I credit George McGovern’s work and kind example for inspiring us to develop the idea of our School Safe Zones initiative in Africa, an idea we piloted in a number of schools in Kenya, now adopted as a strategy by the government of Kenya’s Ministry of Education.

He was particularly important in advising us on the need for a school lunch program as part of that initiative. That was not a surprise, as he was a pioneering force behind the school lunch program in the United States.

When he spoke to us back in 2002, Senator McGovern said that a proposed $48 billion increase in military spending was a mistake and that we would be “better off” investing half of it in nutrition, health, education and the environment around the world.

In other words, George McGovern knew that “security” was bound up in how we feed and clothe the poor and hungry, not merely how well we armed militarily.

More than ever, history has proven George McGovern right. We will miss him.

Reprinted with permission by Religion News Service. The original RNS story appears here:
www.religionnews.com/faith/leaders-and-institutions/george-mcgovern-a-friend-to-the-hungry