Sep 01, 2026
By Rick McNary
Roger Thurow was a reporter at “The Wall Street Journal” for 30 years, including 20 as a foreign correspondent based in Europe and Africa. His coverage of global affairs spanned the final decade of the Cold War, the fall of communism in Eastern Europe and the reunification of Germany, the release of Nelson Mandela and the end of apartheid in South Africa, the wars in the former Yugoslavia, and the humanitarian crises of the first decade of this century — along with 10 Olympic Games.
As he traveled the world, he was gripped with the issue of why, in a world of plenty, were so many people starving. Beginning in 2003, he began writing about the problems and solutions to end hunger.
In his most recent book, he writes about Shop Kansas Farms (SKF) and our mission to connect you to the farm and ranch families of Kansas so you can purchase the food they grow. As you recall, SKF was launched during the pandemic when empty store shelves instilled a fear in many people who had never worried about there being enough food. The threat of hunger became real. As one lady wrote, “We experienced fear like we never had before, but along came Shop Kansas Farms and we discovered we could purchase food from farmers just down the road. The first thing I checked every morning when I woke up was to make sure SKF was still there. I knew I could feed my kids and grandkids. We don’t live off the land like farmers do, we live off the store shelves and when they were empty, that was a whole new fear I had never known. But the farmers had our backs!”
Because of my work in international hunger that began about the same time Roger wrote his first book, I’ve heard him speak to sold out crowds, read all his books and have had the pleasure of sharing the same passion to help the hungry.
In his book, “Abiding Hunger,” he answers the question, “How can nearly 50 million Americans go hungry in the wealthiest country on earth?”
While there is no one silver bullet to solve the issue of global hunger, Thurow highlights the various works of individuals and organizations who are significant parts of the solutions. He recognizes our efforts to build a local food system of production, processing and distribution as being key solutions that connect local consumers to local farmers.
He writes, “While the initial rush to Shop Kansas Farms may have been fueled by the same type of motivation that triggered the stampedes to buy toilet paper — fear — the gathering momentum of SKF was propelled by an opposite impulse: connection.
During the isolation of the pandemic, Shop Kansas Farms had made the distant near, the remote familiar, and the impersonal personal.”
Roger is currently a scholar-in-residence at one of my favorite places in the world, Auburn University, home of Universities Fighting World Hunger and Hunger Solutions Institute, both founded by our mutual friends and legendary leaders in the hunger space, Drs. Harriet Giles and June Henton.
These three people have for more than two decades deeply shaped my understanding of the issues and solutions to fighting global hunger. While I don’t hold a candle to any of them when it comes to academic intelligence, all three have been a huge source of inspiration and education. Many years ago, Dr. Giles commented that I was their “boots on the ground” partner to find out practical ways to provide tangible solutions.
As a member of SKF, you are a tangible solution to providing food security and solving the complex problem of hunger. Solving the problem is far more than just handing someone food (relief – giving a person a fish), it is providing economic development and community engagement (development – teaching a person to fish) that provides solutions for tomorrow. What we do is a small, but important part, of a much bigger picture and we at SKF are thrilled you partner with us in this endeavor.
Now, go find a farmer on our website’s map and purchase the food they raise!
Roger’s book comes out Sept. 8 and can be preordered on Amazon.