In the LA Times, Ann Simmons sounds a long-ignored alarm about the perils of overcrowded cities filled with undernourished people. But is there an ideal solution? Simmons focuses on supply-side solutions, but what about demand? Food insecurity is one of dozens of problems, like climate change and extreme poverty, caused by growth and the lack of family planning that causes it. Rather than short-term reactions, like increasing supply, it’s time to move toward a universal norm of smaller families working together to plan for and invest more in each child. It’s a norm the U.S. and U.N. should promote, thought leaders and popular figures should model, and corporations should support, for the long-term benefit of all.
The Having Kids model supports these large-scale changes alongside smaller decisions that parents and their communities can make together.