Howard Buffett Tackles Hunger In Rural America

Howard Buffett, the son of billionaire Warren Buffett, has taken on a particular kind of "food desert": rural areas without access to healthy food. Buffett's new program, "Invest in Acres," will connect rural farmers to their neighbors to provide food.

With the hunger organization Feeding America and agribusiness conglomerate Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM), the program will encourage farmers to donate profits from the crops of one acre on their property. In turn, Feeding America will turn that money around to support local food banks. ADM will facilitate farmers making donations when they drop off grain or make a payment, according to a press release.

The initiative will tackle an often overlooked population who faces malnutrition, reports the Associated Press. The U.S. Department of Agriculture found that 14.7 percent of rural households consistently were short on food in 2010. "It is a paradox that our nation's farmers literally feed the world, yet people are going hungry in America," said Vicki Escarra, president of Feeding America in the press release. It's a way for farmers to invest directly into their communities, said ADM CEO Patricia Woertz.

Buffett, who already runs an anti-hunger campaign targeting other countries in his foundation, said he hopes to bring awareness to poverty in America to the Associated Press. "It should be unacceptable that so many are suffering in such a wealthy country," Buffett said.