{"id":7785,"date":"2013-10-15T20:35:43","date_gmt":"2013-10-15T19:35:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/greensideup.ie\/?p=7785"},"modified":"2024-04-18T15:42:19","modified_gmt":"2024-04-18T14:42:19","slug":"food-security-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greensideup.ie\/food-security-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Food Security – Eight Things You Can Do Help"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Image courtesy: www.fao.org<\/p><\/div>\n

Wednesday, 16th October – World Food Day 2013<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

World this day and World that day seem to be appearing in my news stream a lot recently and as a result I was wondering who makes them up. Who decides for instance that World Egg Day<\/a> will take place on the second Friday of October or that World Toilet Day might happen on the 19th November?\u00a0<\/a>As it happens, various people are responsible but in the case of World Food Day<\/strong>, an international event taking place on 16th October, it was from\u00a0the Food & Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, (FAO).<\/a><\/p>\n

Just the phrase World Food Day<\/strong> resulted in my blogging antenna honing in. One of the topics that came up with some gardeners over the summer was that of Food Security.\u00a0<\/strong>Several didn’t understand the term immediately and I had to explain it in more detail, but then I guess it’s a phrase that doesn’t comes up in general conversation too often.<\/p>\n

It should.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The World Health Organisation<\/a> defines Food Security as<\/p>\n

\"WHO.jpg\"<\/a>Today there are several nations that can’t offer their populations the security of a daily feed, with millions of humans chronically undernourished worldwide. The challenge<\/strong> for those of us in the developed world as the global population grows is whether we can continue to feed our own<\/strong> and at the same time address the issues<\/strong> surrounding those that can’t.<\/p>\n

The current world population is just over 7 billion and of those, just under a billion are hungry. Hold on a second<\/strong>, stop there as I just did when I was editing this piece…<\/p>\n

Just Under A Billion Humans We Share Our Planet With Are Hungry<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Can you even fully comprehend that amount of people, let alone that many who don’t have access to a decent meal? That’s hundreds and thousands, millions even of men, woman and children going without food on a daily basis; suffering the pain, worry, stress, despondency, tiredness, anger and fear of not eating anything at all. I struggle with it.<\/p>\n

However, globally we produce enough food to feed over 11 billion. So what’s the problem? Why are so many people hungry? Where’s the extra four billions worth of food going if not into the hands and mouths of those who need it?<\/p>\n

\"Autumn<\/a>At the moment we feed animals, produce ethanol,<\/a> create mountains of food waste<\/a>\u00a0(a third of all food bought in Ireland is thrown out) and quite frankly, many of us over eat – so much so that the number of obese people in the world are rivalling those that are undernourished)<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

In less than 40 years the global population is expected to be over 9 billion which will put an even greater strain on food supply and create challenges for our younger generations. At the same time\u00a0we<\/del>\u00a0they will also be dealing with\u00a0climate change<\/a>,\u00a0water shortages<\/a>\u00a0and an energy crisis. Is that really an inheritance we want to pass to our kids or grandchildren?<\/p>\n

Food security and other environmental concerns are already beginning to cause unrest in some societies as people begin to fight for their food<\/strong> and indeed rising food prices appear to be the reason behind the recent unrest in the middle east and North Africa<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Heifer\"<\/a>There’s no doubt that the way industrial nations are producing food is unsustainable<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Ten times more resources are needed to produce meat for our populations and soil is being eroded at an alarming rate. The multinational agricultural biotechnology corporations are arguing that genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are the only way to save us, yet peer published reports are dispelling the myth that GMOs are the answer to food poverty. GMOs don’t produce bigger yields that will feed the starving millions<\/a>. They damage biodiversity, harm soil and create more problems<\/a> in terms of new ‘super weeds’ as well as demand the use of more pesticides as nature evolves and adapts to these new strains of plants.<\/p>\n

As Professor Charles Godfrey, a Population Biologist<\/a> explains in this TED video Food Security and Choice,\u00a0we are now sleepwalking to disaster as our demand for food, as well as the competition for water, land and energy, increase.<\/strong><\/p>\n