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A quick glimpse at this week on WhiteHouse.gov:

Fight for Your Seat: President Obama traveled to New York City to deliver his first commencement address of the year at Barnard College, one of the famous “Seven Sisters” private female liberal arts colleges. HIs first piece advice to the graduates was: “Don’t just get involved. Fight for your seat at the table. Better yet, fight for a seat at the head of the table.”

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Approximately 1 billion people worldwide suffer from chronic hunger-- a prolonged, life-threatening lack of food.

Hunger threatens the health and well-being of a nation’s citizens, and increases a country’s risk of democratic failure, rioting, violence, and civil conflict. It costs developing countries approximately $450 billion per year in lost GDP.

Poverty is a principal cause of hunger—it prevents people from having access to food and the tools they need to grow it. Natural disasters, conflict, lack of infrastructure, and poor farming practices also contribute to the growing problem of hunger as the world population increases.

But as President Obama explained today at the Symposium on Global Agriculture and Food Security, history teaches us that one of the most effective ways to pull people and entire nations out of poverty is to invest in their agriculture.

This weekend, G8 and African leaders will meet to discuss a major new alliance with private sector partners to reduce hunger and lift 50 million people out of poverty by investing in Africa’s agricultural economy. This new partnership builds on the commitment leaders made during the 2009 G8 meeting in L’Aquila to put the fight against hunger at the forefront of global development.

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President Barack Obama holds a bilateral meeting with President François Hollande of France in the Oval Office, May 18, 2012 (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

President Obama today met with French President Francois Hollande for the first time when the newly-inaugurated leader stopped at the White House in advance of the G8 Summit which starts tonight at Camp David.

While much of the conversation in the Oval Office was focused on the economic situation in the eurozone -- which President Obama said will also be central to the discussions throughout the weekend when they are joined by leaders from Britain, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Russia  -- others issues concerning areas of our nations' mutual cooperation were on the agenda:

We also discussed the situation in Afghanistan, in anticipation of our NATO meeting in Chicago on Saturday and Sunday. And we agreed that even as we transition out of a combat phase in Afghanistan that it's important that we sustain our commitment to helping Afghans build security and continue down the path of development. 

We also identified the issues of Iran and Syria, the transition that's taking place in countries like Egypt and Tunisia as topics of critical importance. And we'll be devoting extensive time to those issues throughout the G8 meeting. France has shown great leadership on these issues, and as I indicated to President Hollande, when the United States and France, along with our other key allies, make up our minds to stand firm on the side of democracy and freedom and development, that enormous progress can be made.

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President Barack Obama delivers remarks at the Symposium on Global Agriculture and Food Security at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C. May 18, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

At today’s Symposium on Global Agriculture and Food Security, President Obama announced that leaders at this weekend’s G8 meeting would devote a special session to the urgent challenge facing nearly 1 billion men, women and children around the world: the injustice of chronic hunger and the need for long-term food security.

G8 and African leaders will launch a major new alliance with private sector partners to reduce hunger and lift 50 million people out of poverty by investing in Africa’s agricultural economy. The partnership builds on the commitment leaders made during the 2009 G8 meeting in L’Aquila to put the fight against hunger at the forefront of global development.

And that fight is about more than delivering aid, President Obama said. True, sustainable development is about promoting economic growth that helps nations develop. "The whole purpose of development is to create the conditions where assistance is no longer needed, where people have the dignity and the pride of being self-sufficient,” he said. 

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Today Cris Comerford is the Executive Chef at the White House. In the video below, she talks about her first job, which was also in the food industry. Chef Comerford says her days spent as a salad bar girl in Chicago were lacking in glamour, but they taught her a great deal that she still uses today in the White House Kitchen. It also taught her an appreciation for the salad bar girls who work help out during big events hosted by the President and First Lady.   

So far, employers have listed more than 300,000 jobs, mentorships, and other employment opportunities this summer through Summer Jobs+.

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This weekend, the G-8 and African partners will launch the next phase of these efforts: the New Alliance for Food and Nutrition Security. The New Alliance is a commitment by G8 nations, African countries and private sector partners to lift 50 million people out of poverty over the next 10 years through inclusive and sustained agricultural growth.

A boy and a woman struggle with dusty wind looking for water in Wajir, Kenya (by Jervis Sundays, Kenya Red Cross Society)

Across history, the private sector has served as an engine of growth and transformation in nearly every country in the world. But although foreign direct investment flows to Africa now hover around $80 billion and trade has tripled over the last decade, this private sector boom has largely missed Africa’s agricultural economy. 

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This weekend, the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Russia will join President Obama at Camp David. The G8 is a gathering of eight of the world's leading economies, which meets annually. This will be the first meeting in the United States since 2004, and it will be the largest gathering of world leaders ever to assemble at Camp David.  

Their agenda for this weekend includes talks on growing the world economy, the nuclear situations in Iran and North Korea, and energy and climate issues. We’ll broadcasting a number of events from the weekend live on WhiteHouse.gov. Check out the schedule below:

Tonight at 7:40 PM – The Leaders Greeting
Saturday at 10:45 AM – The Family Photo
Saturday at 5:45 PM – A Statement from President Obama

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