I belive that we should wast less time on space and more time on exploring the earth. I think that we need to explore the ocean more than space. Think this type of question misses the point. Not if you enjoy it. Ask any Mom.
Space exploration is a human activity.
I don't think it needs to be compared to other activities such as food distribution on planet Earth before we do it. It simply has to be attractive for us to want to do it. Poverty on Earth is more about lack of education, cultural differences and corruption than it is about money. The USA could probably eliminate malnutrition in the world but it would have to go into those countries as an invader, destroy their own local agriculutural economies and impose compulsory limits on family size in order to do so. It hasn't and couldn't solve poverty simply by throwing money at the problem.