Ageless in its effect on the human condition and seemingly overwhelming in its contemporary scope, hunger looms as a daunting problem in our nation and our world. Eradicating hunger will require the production and distribution of enormous economic and natural resources, as well as the creation and maintenance of the political and social will to face and accomplish this task.

Through the first McGovern Center Conference: Ending Hunger in Our Time, participants will formulate strategies for feeding the hungry and creating the political, social and cultural climate necessary for a project of such immense scale and complexity. You will have the opportunity, along with international leaders in government, business and agriculture, to audaciously accept the challenge of finding practical solutions to the problem of hunger.

The 2002 McGovern Center Conference: Ending Hunger in Our Time is the inaugural conference of the Third Freedom Project of the George and Eleanor McGovern Center for Public Service at Dakota Wesleyan University. Established in 2001 by Dakota Wesleyan University to cultivate servant leadership and public service, the McGovern Center imparts to students and citizens the qualities of service, stewardship and leadership found in the lives of George and Eleanor McGovern. The McGovern Center was created to nurture a culture of service to the common good, provide educational programs on public service and leadership, and foster the study and implementation of public policy through various curricular and cocurricular avenues. Students will develop an awareness of the great problems of our time; understand the roles of individuals, groups and governments in creating and changing social conditions; and develop the skills necessary to improve community life at the local, national and global level.

The McGovern Center's Third Freedom Project is a tangible expression and extension of George McGovern's lifelong work to eradicate poverty and hunger. A product of the heartland and an advocate for American farmers, McGovern began his crusade against hunger in the 1960s after witnessing the irony of migrant children starving in America, the land of plenty. Throughout his congressional career, McGovern was instrumental in creating programs to alleviate hunger, including Food for Peace, the school lunch program and food stamps. He also advanced federal efforts to deal with poverty and hunger worldwide. His lifelong dream is to fully banish hunger from the earth by 2030.

The goal of the third Freedom Project is to help fulfill McGovern's dream by developing and maintaining educational programs to motivate and train individuals and institutions seeking to eradicate global hunger. The name of the program comes from the title of his latest book on hunger and its eradication--the "third freedom" is the freedom from want.