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The United Nations World food program is asking for urgent relief to assist and prevent a food shortage in North Korea. They are warning that a humanitarian food crisis is about to take place. Why is North Korea in a food shortage? A self imposed economic isolation and refusal to even discuss and reveal their nuclear testing and development program. Not to mention the recent bellicose rhetoric to the South, with the North cutting off nearly all official contacts with the South because of the disapproval over the North's Presidents policies. According to the North it says that aid and economic non-cooperation with the South is causing the North to go without the transfers of South Korean rice and fertilizer it has received for years.

The United States is preparing a donation of half a million tons of grain to North Korea this month through the World Food Program at the United Nations.

There are a number of U.S. lawmakers currently urging the Bush administration to do more to help alleviate food shortages in Haiti. President Bush recently ordered over $200 million of food released from a special reserve in response to appeals from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. Members of Congress agree but go further, they want debt relief for Haiti. New York Democrat Gregory Meeks calls for the US to "deal with this humanitarian crisis" in Haiti. Democrat of Michigan, Carolyn Kilpatrick states "We call on President Bush today, help the people of Haiti, feed the children." Two other Democrats from Jan Schakowsky of Ohio and Yvette Clarke of New York argued that the money needed to support this humanitarian crisis is about seven hours of what is spent in one hour in Iraq. Going on to state that they believe the US should be able to scrape up the money to relieve the crisis in Haiti.

Even civil rights leader Jesse Jackson spoke "We can't just look at the Haitian crisis, and people roaming the streets in desperation [and] political upheaval and shrug our shoulders and make this part of the bureaucratic rhythm ." It is estimated by the Center for Global Prosperity that the "official foreign aid" from the US is $15 billion. Americans privately gave $34 billion to overseas aid. US foundations give approximately $1.5 billion per year, US businesses give $2.8 billion annually, American NGs give $6.6 billion in grants, goods, and volunteers, US colleges give out $1.3 billion in scholarships to foreign students and some $18 billion is given by personal remittance from the

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