Today is World Food Day, how absurd the following facts would be "from outside the Earth": 2.8 million children due to causes related to malnutrition; and at the same time about 1400 million people are overweight due to excess calories.
Well, as I doubt that someone comes from outside the Planet to route us a little, we better do exercises of abstraction, because if not we will continue to cause similar situations. FAO has chosen for 2014 the slogan "Family farming: feed the world, take care of the Planet". But When will we begin to take care of the world and ourselves?, I say this because today, according to the United Hands (based on the SOFI report), 1300 million tons of food are lost or wasted annually.
There are many tons, and the causes are diverse, although not always accidental
Now I'm going to tell you why the WWF organization says that our diet has an impact on the planet. And this is important to rethink, because by negatively impacting our home, we may be exposing ourselves to unpredictable future consequences.
Food production and distribution are one of the main factors that cause climate change. In addition, they are the cause of the loss of biodiversity and destruction of habitats: Not long ago, much of the land we now use to grow food was home to wildlife. Between 1990 and 2008, the consumption of Europe for food or for pastures caused the loss of at least 5.2 million hectares of forests: an area almost twice the size of Belgium.
The thirst for agriculture does not stop growing either. Food production has a massive impact on water resources and freshwater ecosystems, both by direct extraction for irrigation, and by contamination by fertilizers from crop or livestock areas.
How do you live?
We know that we only have one planet, but if everyone lived like the average European, we would need 2.6 planets to meet our demand for natural resources. This not only puts great pressure on ecosystems and biodiversity, but also for people throughout the world.
FAO (the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) estimates that 842 million people suffer from chronic malnutrition, the vast majority of them in developing countries. According to the UN Development Program, the impacts of climate change - sea level rise, droughts, heat waves, floods and changes in rainfall patterns - could drag another 600 million people to malnutrition in the 2080 year.
Hunger and poverty can push people to make unsustainable use of resources to survive. If we do not solve these problems, we risk entering a spiral in which poverty and climate change feed each other.
It is about reflecting on that “how do you live”, thinking about what changes can be made (on a small and large scale), and if we believe that we can keep still, we could also ask ourselves how do I know that I or my children are not going to never be on the other side ?, I say it because by empathizing with the problems of others, it is easier to change.
Eat differently: help for oneself and others
The unstoppable increase in obesity is linked to the globalization of the Western diet. This diet - with excessive consumption of meat, dairy products, fats, salts and sugars- It is one of the main culprits of the increase in health problems such as type 2 diabetes. The cases of this disease, indicative of an insane diet, have doubled between 1990 and 2010: and experts warn that if they follow the patterns Current food could double again in the next 20 years.
But we can eat differently. With small changes in our daily diet, such as those proposed by the 'LiveWell' project, it is possible to improve our health and that of the planet. And also, help small producers who are at the heart of a sustainable food system.
There are many changes we need, and many objectives to be met, but it is not a matter of looking at each other to see who begins to raise the issue of food in another way. Or do we think that our children have more right to eat than other children?
