Engaging in meaningful acts of social justice is more accessible and readily available to us than we often think. Indeed, there are big and complex issues in the world that require big, systemic solutions. One small voice in a digital wilderness may seem inconsequential to the towering influencers and powerful figures of our time, but millions of voices united are a thundering movement that can’t be ignored. There is no greater call than becoming a voice for the suffering, silenced, and oppressed. Like never before, we can all become advocates for the innocent and pursue peace in faraway places.
There is no greater call than becoming a voice for the suffering, silenced, and oppressed.
Right now, hundreds of thousands of citizens of Gaza are suffering under an inhumane and oppressive man-made famine as Israel continues to wage a war that is leveling what little remains of homes and infrastructure.[1,2,3,4] For a watching world distant from the sounds of children’s cries, explosions collapsing concrete structures, tanks rolling through streets, and chaotic scenes of desperation around limited food distribution sites, we can be left to feel powerless and apathetic as our political leaders fail to act.
Preventing the starvation of others is one of the easiest and most cost-effective ways of participating in securing the health and well-being of individuals suffering from injustice. People and nations have been mastering food production, distribution, and preparation for hundreds of years. In the modern era as populations have grown, we have created vast integrated, reliable networks capable of bringing fresh and shelf-stable food and potable water to virtually every city and community around the world. From plastic manufacturing to food science and government regulation, nutrition and food safety have generally increased while simultaneously reducing spoilage and increasing access as food travels within days from farms to markets around the world.
According to an analysis, Costco Wholesale sells approximately $135 billion worth of food annually to its customers worldwide, representing more than 50 billion pounds of food distributed through their stores every year.[5] Sustaining a Costco-sized Western diet that includes whole rotisserie chickens, all-beef hotdogs, bulk bags of chips, soda, breakfast bars, fruits, and vegetables, customers spend an average of $15 per person per day on stocking their shelves and refrigerators.[6]
In contrast, the United Nations has recently requested humanitarian funds to feed more than one million people in Gaza, where local farms and markets are depleted, destroyed, or unaccessible at a cost of less than $1 per day per person.[7] Saving the lives of the innocent and vulnerable is achievable, and the solutions are readily available, but we must be compelled to advocate for action.
Preventing the starvation of others is one of the easiest and most cost-effective ways of participating in securing the health and well-being of individuals suffering from injustice.
In the new congressional budget bill signed by President Trump on July 4, 2025, $45 billion dollars in new spending has been allocated to build and operate additional prisons and detention camps for migrants over the next 10 years.[8] For the same amount, the United States alone could fund a UN mission to feed every starving resident in Gaza every day for ten years. Instead of funding incarceration, American lawmakers could be funding the world’s largest life-saving meal program; instead of building cages of despair, we could be building bridges of hope and human flourishing.
Preventing a human catastrophe is not out of our grasp—if we willed it. Saving lives on an immediate and mass scale only needs 435 Representatives, 100 Senators, and the President to agree that feeding the Palestinian people is a moral obligation of a free and just society.
Instead of funding incarceration, American lawmakers could be funding the world’s largest life-saving meal program; instead of building cages of despair, we could be building bridges of hope and human flourishing.
In truth, money will not solve the crisis in Gaza, and food cannot establish lasting justice for the Palestinian people, but it will offer immediate relief for the suffering, prevent mass starvation of children, and create a pathway to restore the dignity of hundreds of thousands of our global human family members. Only peace, securing sovereignty, and standing in solidarity with the innocent who hunger for freedom can achieve the justice we hope for. Big and complex problems require bold leadership and big solutions, but all of us can still play a part.
Post on social media. Donate to UNICEF. Call your Senator and Representative in Congress. Engage your friends and community. Pray for the courage to become a bold advocate for non-violent intervention calling for an immediate stop to the conflict.
Together, we can make a change and inspire hope again in the world.
If you need inspiration on reaching out to your elected representatives, you can read the letter I sent this week to my Congressional Representative, Sheilah Cherfilus-McCormick. A similar letter was also sent to my Senator, Rick Scott.
[2] https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/07/24/gaza-starvation-israel-restrictions/
[5] https://www.perplexity.ai/search/how-much-food-does-the-wholesa-KhHDqrY.TM6e_YksXB1OHA
[6] 50 billion lbs. / 2,000 lbs. estimated food consumption per person annually = 25 million people
$135 billion / 25 million people = $5,400 per person per year / 365 days = $14.79 per person per day (rounded up to $15)
[7] https://chatgpt.com/share/688bbfc4-81ec-8001-bd74-81b1d5e12e87
[8] https://www.crfb.org/blogs/breaking-down-one-big-beautiful-bill
Matt Till 