For Joe Biden, Fighting Hunger is a Family Affair

Fighting world hunger is more than just part of his job; for Vice President Joe Biden, it's a family affair.

At an awards ceremony hosted by the World Food Program Monday evening, Biden admitted that he's got some selfish, personal reasons for being so committed to the cause.

For one, his wife, Jill, has a passion for helping the food-insecure around the world--and perhaps, Biden joked, also for the USAID director, Rajiv Shah, who has traveled with her on work trips. "My wife loves this guy," Biden said. "They go on two-day trips together and are on the plane for 24 hours...I'm a little worried." Check out a roundup of political cartoons on the economy.

But an even better reason for Biden: The hunger cause helps him get some time with his grandkids. His son, Hunter Biden, is a member of World Food Program USA's board of directors and will become the group's chair.

World Food Program USA has Hunter traveling all over the world, Biden said, "And that's wonderful because that means...I get my three granddaughters to myself."

At the ceremony, which honored businessmen-philanthropists Howard G. Buffett and Bill Gates for their foundations' work on a joint, public-private initiative called Purchase for Progress, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also testified to Biden's sense of family duty. "He came not only because of his commitment to the issue, but because Hunter Biden will be the next chair. And that, I think, says a great deal about the importance that this issue has to the Biden family." [Read: Should Hillary Clinton Challenge Obama in the Primaries?]

Of course, for Clinton also, who won the same World Program award last year, helping the world's poorest is more than just a family mission. She's devoted much of her life to the cause, and according to Biden, is responsible for bringing the administration's commitment to unprecedented levels. "She is the engine of this administration," he said. "She is the one who gets things done."

• Read: Arab Spring Fall Update.
• Check out a roundup of political cartoons on the economy.
• Read more about Bill Gates and his foundation.

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