Luck Encourages Students to Fight Global Hunger

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Jo Luck, right, answers questions from students following her presentation as the featured speaker of this year’s Dale and Betty Bumpers Distinguished Lecture Series. Honors student Maggie Jo Pruitt, left, moderated the Q&A session.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Jo Luck, a consultant on global food security issues, spent two days on the University of Arkansas campus last week, concluding with a presentation to students and others as the guest speaker for the third annual Dale and Betty Bumpers Distinguished Lecture Series Thursday afternoon in Giffels Auditorium.

The event was co-hosted by the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences, and the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences.

Luck, the former president and chief executive officer of Heifer International from 1992 to 2010, visited with classes, toured the Jean Tyson Child Development Study Center, attended a luncheon and met with a group of students in the Full Circle Campus Food Pantry prior to the lecture.

Her message was titled “From Hunger to Hope to Human Dignity …is not complicated; feeding 9.6 billion people by 2050 …is complicated.”

“The last quarter century of my life, I’ve focused all my passion and skill on ending hunger,” Luck told the crowd in Old Main’s Giffels Auditorium. “I’ve immersed myself in this life. You need to go where your skills are needed. Everything you’re doing each day is preparing you for the future, whether you realize it or not.”

The mission of Heifer International, a nonprofit humanitarian organization, is to work with communities around the world to end hunger and poverty, and to care for the Earth through sustainable practices. Its goal is to help families turn lives of hunger and poverty into self-reliance. Heifer International currently provides livestock, trees, seeds and training in environmentally sound agriculture practices to families in more than 50 countries.

Gifts of livestock and training help families improve their nutrition and generate income. Animal donations are “living loans” because in exchange for their livestock and training, families agree to give one of their animal’s offspring to another family in need.

“I hope you all have a chance for first-hand experiences someday,” said Luck, a 2010 World Food Prize Laureate for her work to ensure food and sustainability of food to people in need around the world. “I’ve learned from smallholder farmers, colleagues and many others. To secure an animal, a living loan, you have to be trained and prepared to care for that animal in the right way. The animal is the catalyst, but let people see the difference made by the transformation of a modest gift.”

Under Luck’s leadership, Heifer International grew its $7 million budget to more than $130 million, and expanded programs and projects into numerous countries.

“We have enough food,” said Luck. “How do we get it to the people? That’s the biggest challenge in the next 50 years. How are we going to feed the people in our village we call Earth? We better know how by 2030. We have declining natural resources and water supplies, and climate change. The growing gap between the haves and the have-nots around the world is frightening. We have to break down some barriers.”

After sharing several stories of her experiences, she ended her message with this:         

“Over the last 25 years, I’ve been in more than 65 countries, slept on dirt floors, gone without bathing for days, was shot at in Sarajevo, missed being on a hijacked plane in Burma by 10 minutes, been searched at many military checkpoints and almost run over by a charging elephant in Tanzania,” she said.

“I’ve eaten snake, yak, beetles, yak cheese and fried goat blood. I was honored and blessed because they were giving me their best. All of those inconveniences faded away when I saw lives transformed and dignity received. I wish my generation and others were leaving you in better shape. Make us a super power again. Wherever you go, think long term.

In a question and answer session, she was asked for advice on working internationally.

“I suggest you study about the people where you want to go, and go in slowly,” she said. “Have heart and know what you want to do, but be gracious and listen to them. Ask questions, understand and be patient. Do things one step at a time, and go on and do your work.”

Luck, who earned her bachelor’s degree from Hendrix College and received an honorary Doctor of Arts and Humane Letters from the U of A in 2006, was asked how to approach male leaders who in some cultures do not want to give opportunities to females.

“Try to use diplomacy and good, logical sense,” she said. “Some cultures aren’t as open to women coming in and presenting ideas, so have someone local that they respect come in to verify what they are hearing. Don’t try to do everything yourself. If you find someone local to support you, it’s a win-win.”

In response to food security issues in Arkansas:

“I’m horrified when I see the statistics,” she said. “We don’t need to be embarrassed, we need to stand up and do something about it. We have enough food. We have pantries. We need to let that be dignified and make sure that food gets to people. I’m shocked when people ask me if there is really poverty or if it’s just laziness. They need to go and see it. If you can do one thing or share, it can make a huge difference.”

The Tyson Family Foundation and the Tyson Foods Foundation made a gift to help endow the Dale and Betty Bumpers Distinguished Lecture Series, which launched in April 2012 with a visit from former President Bill Clinton.

The series symbolizes the Bumpers College’s focus on three vital issues: the international prominence of Arkansas agriculture and food industries; the importance of environmental stewardship and sustainability for the strength and vibrancy of our economy; and the quality of life as championed by Betty Bumpers on behalf of child wellness, human development and healthy living choices. The college seeks to advance the business of foods and impact of foods on human health, environmental sustainability and human quality of life.