Travel humanizes our planet and travelers know hunger across the sea is every bit as

tragic as hunger across the street. I'm Rick Steves. Today on Travel with

Rick Steves we're exploring the economic roots of hunger.

No guilt trips here. We're sharing ways to connect constructively with the half of humanity struggling to live on $2 a day.

Especially poignant these days as nearly all of us are dealing with economic challenges of our own.

Two experts on world hunger who understand the reasons for hunger amid all this world's affluence are joining us today.

Reverend David Beckman is a Lutheran clergyman who now heads bred for the world in Washington, D.C.

He'll explain how advocacy, encouraging our government, can help millions of hungry people.

And Mercy Karanja is an agriculture expert from Kenya.

She now works with the Gates Foundation and knows how world markets can combat poverty.

Stay with us as we look at smart help for the developing world on Travel with Rick Steves.

If times are tough for us, imagine what times are like in the developing world.

When times we're good, a lot of us carrying Americans were very generous, caring for people for whom times were tough.

Now times are tough for us.

Does that mean we should bail out on these people?

Does that mean we're in as bad a shape as them or does that mean times are even tougher

for them? Today we're going to talk about that. I'm joined by David Beckman, who's the president for 18 years

of an organization called Bread for the World that lobbies our government to be sensitive to the

needs of homeless and hungry people here in the United States and around the world.

David was a senior advisor at the World Bank. He's a Lutheran pastor, and now he dedicates his work to running

bread for the world.

David, thanks for being with us.

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