The world food crisis has been in the headlines recently, this is not something on the horizon, it is happening now and will continue to happen as global warming, rising fuel prices, desertification, disease, war and famine continue to affect the people of our planet.

Hunger and famine have always been present somewhere on our planet at every moment in history, yet not to the extent that we are seeing it today. Through technology and better health people are living longer and thus the world's populations has increased greatly. Due to these circumstances, the demand for food, fuel, and water has placed a strain on both the poor and on the planet. The present food crisis has forced more than 100 million extra people into poverty. The World Food Program has called it, "A silent tsunami, which knows no borders, sweeping the world." This crisis has triggered riots in many poor and impoverished countries and threatens to destabilize governments. In the past decades, disadvantaged countries have made progress toward reducing the poverty of their people - now all this is in jeopardy. Unfortunately, there is no quick fix for this situation.

The photos represented in our library are the result of multiple trips to diverse regions of the world. Sean Sprague (photographer) has been documenting the lives of the poor - their bounty of harvests, the beauty and abundance of their markets, and the pain of drought and famine - in an effort to raise awareness around the world, and thus improve the situation.