[HKH2]

> who wouldn’t feed hundreds of thousands of starving people or many more, etc. if they had lots of surplus cash[?]

There are downsides to donating food. One of them is that it damages local farming; another is that it brings more dependent people into the world, duplicating the problem.

[mark_l_watson]

My wife and my favorite charity is the Heffer Project that sets families up with, for example, a breeding group of chickens to make money selling eggs and a protein source for their families. Similar projects with larger animals.

A friend and his wife used to (my friend died in a traffic accident) collect money and once a year make a huge buy of practical farming tools, appropriate types of seeds, etc., charter a cargo flight, and deliver to somewhere where their research showed a need and where they were able to make local contacts.

So, I totally understand your point but there are options.

[HKH2]

Thanks for the response.

How do you guarantee such systems don't fall into disuse?

[CRConrad]

> There are downsides to donating food. One of them is that it damages local farming

It's not impossible to donate foodstuffs that the donor buys from local farmers, is it?

[HKH2]

I doubt that would work at scale.

[CRConrad]

Who says it has to? A lot of small scales add up to big scale.