Blog Action Day: Food Insecurity #BAD11 #food

It is Blog Action Day today, and World Food Day also. Bloggers worldwide are posting about food security and related issues. This is my contribution.

Why are 925 million people living in hunger today, despite there being enough food in the world? There are many reasons, which together add up to: food insecurity, the world’s no.1 health risk.
Hunger and malnutrition kill more people than tuberculosis, AIDS and malaria combined, and are the world’s biggest health risks. Yet one-third of the UK population has never heard of food insecurity.
(Strangely Wikipedia have a page about about food insecurity, not about food insecurity)

The British Red Cross started a campaign about food insecurity earlier this month: Seeds of Change. A complicated problem told in 3 minutes. And the Red cross even give the solution.
Food distribution can help in the short term but breaking the cycle requires investment. The cycle is explained in the first half of the video.
For you, watching the video, it is easy to break the cycle. Just donate to the Red Cross… That sounds fairly strict and is enhanced by the music and the imperative tone of the voiceover.

That is the down side of this video which is unfortunate because we all know the Red Cross is doing great work worldwide.

The campaign website is clear and honest:

People are food insecure when they are unable to get enough food, or enough nutritious food. The reasons behind it are complex and varied – poverty, drought, floods, natural disasters, conflict and inflation are all factors.
The Red Cross is tackling food insecurity by helping people protect their health, their homes and means of earning a living when times get tough.

The Seeds of Change campaign, running through October 2011, aims to explain what food insecurity is, the issues behind it, and what can be done to help break the cycle of poverty and hunger.

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