Jeff Key—October 2019
October 16 is World Food Day—with the goal of Achieving Zero Hunger
“There’s
enough on this planet for everyone’s needs but not for everyone’s greed." —Mohandas
Gandhi
When people were hungry, Jesus didn’t say, “Now is that political, or social?” He said, “I will feed you.” —Bishop Desmond Tutu, 1984 Nobel Peace Prize recipient.
Currently, more than 815
million people do not have enough to eat. Some 155 million children under the
age of five – 23% – are chronically malnourished. One in two infant
deaths worldwide are caused by hunger. (Source: United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization)
Why, in this “world of
plenty” is there still a global hunger problem, and what can we do to help
achieve the goal of Zero Hunger?
With political instability and climate change on the rise (higher temperatures,
drought, flooding, increased CO2 levels, deforestation, sea level rise, water
scarcity) more rural communities are
under siege leading to lower crop yields, people being displaced, and mass migration.
More than
three-quarters of the world’s chronically malnourished children live in
conflict-affected regions.
There are solutions that can be
implemented now:
• First and foremost—Reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
• Change our diet. Develop plant-based meat substitutes. Cows emit methane—animal waste
produces nitrous oxide—both add to greenhouse gas emissions.
• Stop Deforestation—cutting down
forests for pastureland releases more CO2 in the air.
• Reduce food waste— Roughly one third of the food produced in the world for
human consumption every year is wasted — approximately 1.3 billion tons.
• More training for farmers in crop/livestock management and market
awareness.
• Empower rural women and girls—give them skill training.
As
Greta Thurnberg, Swedish teen activist, stated, “You must unite behind the
science. You must take action. You must do the impossible. Because giving up
can never be an option.”
