"SINGER OUT TO EDUCATE THE PUBLIC"

St. Paul Pioneer Press
St. Paul, MN
4-10-80

John Denver is taking advantage of his concert tour of 89 
cities to discuss world hunger and what he's doing about it. 
The singer held a brief press conference before his 8 PM 
concert Wednesday at the St. Paul Civic Center to educate the 
public on the world hunger problem.  Denver, a member of the 
President's Commission on World and Domestic Hunger, said he 
holds press conferences in each of the cities he visits to 
take advantage of his "celebrity status" and plant seeds in 
the public's mind.  

He said "15 million to 20 million people starve to death each 
year in a world that produces twice as much that's needed to 
feed the people of the world."

The commission was formed 18 months ago, he said and in that 
time it has discovered "their need not be a single child in 
the world going to bed hungry."

Denver blamed much of the world hunger and energy shortage 
problem on the hoarding of nations and individuals. (Denver 
himself came under attack several months ago for keeping a 
gasoline storage tank on his Colorado property.  After much 
criticism from neighbors and conservationists, he removed the 
tank.)