The head of the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, Jacques Diouf, said Tuesday wealthy nations are wasting billions of dollars feeding obese people while hundreds of millions starve.

Jacques Diouf: “What is more, the excess consumption by the world’s obese costs $20 billion annually, to which must be added indirect costs of $100
billion resulting from premature death and related diseases.”

Jacques Diouf’s comments came during a summit on food security in Rome. Diouf also projected that efforts to reduce the number of hungry people in the world by half by 2015 will fail. Based on current trends, the goal won’t be reached for another 140 years. Speaking in Rome, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged nations to reform their food policies to address the global crisis.

Ban Ki-moon: “Some countries have taken action by limiting exports or by imposing price controls. As I have said before, I say again now, beggar-thy-neighbor food policy cannot work. They only distort markets and force prices even higher. I call on nations to resist such measures and to immediately release exports designated for humanitarian purposes.”