World hunger. Seems like an impossible issue with no clear solution, right? Well, the organization Free Rice is revolutionizing the way we approach world hunger, by making it easy for people like you and me to make a difference in countries severely impacted by hunger, all from the comfort of our computers.
What is Free Rice?
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Free Rice is a non-profit organization partnered with the UN World Food Programme that runs the website freerice.com. I was introduced to Free Rice by my fifth-grade teacher Mr. Connor as an attempt to help my class become vocabulary masters. Needless to say, we got pretty addicted.
Basically, the concept is the more you play the vocabulary game on the Free Rice website, the more free rice you accumulate that will be donated throughout various regions of the world. The game launched in 2007 and since then, has been able to feed millions of people all around the world. The game starts off with pretty simple vocabulary, and gets harder and harder as it progresses. And if vocabulary isn’t your thing, you can also play with different subjects such as geography and math. One right answer equals ten grains of rice.
How does it work?
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I know, you’re probably wondering how the heck this works. It’s actually pretty simple. Basically Free Rice has sponsors that have advertisements featured on their website. So every time you get an answer right, sponsor banners appear on the screen. The money accumulated from these banners is then used to buy rice which is distributed via the World Food Programme. Pretty sweet right? In countries where rice is a main food group, the World Food Programme donates about 400 grams of rice per person per day. So, in the time that you spend stalking the Facebook of that cute boy from class, you could literally feed one person for one day with Free Rice.
Firstly, shout out to Mr. Connor for not only helping me rock fifth grade vocabulary but also helping me make a difference at the ripe age of ten years old. Check out Free Rice as you’re resting your stomach in between monstrous meals this holiday season and give back a little bit.
GIF courtesy of Giphy.com