What Is It?
This ambitious goal is to create a hunger-free world by 2030. This targets people in financially - and otherwise - vulnerable situations, including infants, to safe, nutritious, and sufficient food all year round. This details ending all forms of malnutrition.
As expected, Covid-19 caused a skyrocket in world hunger (as discussed in the SDG1 No Poverty post). Roughly 720 million - 811 million people were suffering from hunger in 2020, with 30% + of the world’s population lacking regular access to adequate food. The Russia-Ukraine war has predictably made this significantly worse, given the supply chain disruptions it is still resulting in.
Food and hunger is one of the areas inequality can have the largest effect. It is so hard for people who constantly have access to ample food to imagine how it use be to not know next when you’l be full. Those who can afford it live on a constant glut of supply. When we see pictures of starving people, certain stereotypes come to mind, but the truth is, it is one of the most common manifestations of poverty - even those who seem like they are living above the poverty line may compensate on food to make ends meet to keep up the illusion of adequate finances.
How Does It Relate to Sustainability?
As mentioned in the discussion of the ”No Poverty” goal, sustainable is not affordable. This once again ties in - if a family is worried about being able to eat, it is unlikely they will be worried about the sourcing of the food they get to eat, and it would be ludicrous for them to expect to do so. The truth is, sustainability is still too expensive to cater to anyone except those who can easily afford it, and that is only going to change with the investment in technology and businesses making it easier and more convenient for large-scale sustainability to be feasible. If you want to know more about how sustainability and affordability tie together, please refer to the “UNSDG 1 - No Poverty” post previously in this series.
However, with food, there is another angle. One of the reasons word hunger is such a large issue is because of the income gap. This sheds an interesting light in a sustainability context. It is those who can afford an excess of food that waste it. This has repercussions in terms of sustainability. This is very well-known, with one the most actionable sustain ability recommendations being to simply not waste food. Reasons for this range from pollution and increased carbon dioxide emissions to a loss of land. To find out more about this, visit informative websites like this.
These repercussions also connect to the second SDG. If those who can afford to be sustainable do decide to purchase more expensive sustainable things, the less ethically sourced etc, and less expensive food can go to those who cannot afford anything more sustainable. With people who can afford to be sustainable into being sustainable, the price of non-sustainable food goes up as well, increasing the inequality and therefore world hunger. Additionally, if those who have an excess of food do not waste it, and choose to donate the food, etc, something very popular when it comes to action items, the disparity is also mitigated.
What Can You Do?
As mentioned before, things like donating excess food are very common. But they’re common for a reason. They do help - often even more than simply giving money. This might sound like quite a big initiative, but schools are one of the best places to conduct these sorts of things. Parents tend to be passionate about helping these causes, as are the students, and there is enough funding to carry this out.
These initiatives are quite similar to those discussed in the previous post about the first SDG, given the fact that it is once again the income gap that is the issue here. Therefore, to learn about more general initiatives that you can take part in to increase sustainability in your area while contributing to the decrease in the income gap, check that post out! There are a couple of additional points here.
Educate the people around you
This may sound cliche, but when it comes to decreasing incomes, it is multiple people who can make the difference. People are willing to give money or food, when they can afford it, to those In need. They just need a convenient way to do so - when there is, there is little resistance. If you tell your peers, or their parents, about why they should donate, and more importantly, where - the initiatives you are running, or places you know of - you may see a lot of change. In the future, Greenome is looking at creating materials you can use to share this information. Additionally, educate people on the importance of not wasting food - both in a sustainability light, and a world hunger light.
Sensitize yourself by desensitizing yourself
Support more expensive, sustainable food businesses
Again, you may have heard these ideas before, but this time, you have more knowledge about the prevalence and importance of them being implemented today. Now.
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