Final answer:
Rich nations can afford to feed the 'hungry' people. Wealth disparity and food distribution issues persist even in affluent countries, with economic policies playing a key role in addressing food insecurity and starvation.
Step-by-step explanation:
Rich nations can afford to feed the hungry people. Even though the United States is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, millions of people within the nation are malnourished. Moreover, despite modern agriculture enabling many countries to produce a surplus amount of food, food distribution remains an issue. Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen highlights how often food insecurities are linked to inadequate government macroeconomic policies, rather than a lack of food resources. These policies need to focus on stable inflation, full employment, the education of women, and property rights to mitigate starvation and achieve a more equitable distribution of food. Furthermore, food deserts in wealthy nations contribute to undernutrition due to a lack of accessibility to nutritious foods, a problem separate from overall food scarcity.