Want to fight obesity and the hunger crisis? Starting this spring, Go Halfsiesfor a change

Hunger is a worldwide crisis. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, as of 2010 there were an estimated 925 million people who, due to anything from food shortages to crushing poverty, are dangerously undernourished.

Although it’s an issue that cripples the developing world, it’s easy to find plenty of people in our own backyards who suffer from malnourishment. According to the Houston Food Bank, more than 900,000 people in Southeast Texas — and 16.3 percent of Texans — suffer from food insecurity.

They can be sobering numbers for individuals who have never known the physical pain of hunger and wonder how they can help to end this plight. Starting this spring, you can start by going Halfsies.

Halfsies is a new social initiative that works around a simple, yet innovative idea: Eat less; give more. It’s a concept that hopes to solve one problem by alleviating another.

When patrons go into restaurants that have partnered with Halfsies, they will see optional meals on the menu marked with the Halfsies icon. These are simply meals that are half portions. The customer still pays full price for that meal, but half of that payment goes towards helping Halfsies and their non-profit partners fight hunger.

It’s a system that works to lessen a shortage by tapping into an unhealthy and wasteful overabundance. Inspiration for the initiative came courtesy of co-founder Rachel Smith. Having to travel a lot due to work, Smith became unnerved over the waste that she saw while eating out, much of which that can be blamed on growing portions offered by eateries.

When she mentioned the idea of using that surplus to help those in need to her friend and co-founder, Sydney Berry Ling, the vision of Halfsies was born.

The anti-hunger non-profit is set to launch in Austin sometime this spring, while plans are already in the works to begin work in New York City sometime later this year. The organization has already heard from many other cities wanting to partner with Halfsies once the program gets off the ground.

Let's get the "eat less, give more" ball rolling here in Houston by contacting our favorite local restaurants and encouraging them to download Halfsies' digital information packet. For more ways to help out Halfsies, email them directly to learn more.

You can become part of a movement that seeks show the world that problems can’t be solved with half-measures, but only with full commitments.