Crunch Time For Hunger
"The world has enough for everyone's needs, but not everyone's greed."
The evidence is shocking. A study released this month by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization has noted that every year, one third of the food produced for human consumption - approximately 1.3 billion tonnes - gets wasted. Over the same twelve month period, more than two million children died because of malnourishment and, every night, one-in-eight of us goes to bed with an empty stomach.
Hunger. The greatest injustice of our time?
As easy at it is to Google a quote from the great moral-philosopher Mahatma Ghandi, chuck in some mind boggling statistics and tut away to our hearts content, the reality is that as you read this, our broken food system is failing normal individuals like you and me. The one billion people who go hungry everyday are being denied a basic human right [see Article 25] and as I’d hope you’d agree, this just ain’t cricket.
So, what are we going do about it? The Enough Food IF campaign is a new movement from over 100 major charitable organisations, including Action Aid, Oxfam, Islamic Relief and Christian Aid, which hopes to save millions of lives and give people the power to feed themselves for generations to come. And its main focus? To hit the G8 summit in June with our calls for action in these four areas:
1) Aid
In 2013, the UK government has committed to spend 0.7% of our national income on aid and has promised additional money to help poor countries cope with climate change, which is making it harder for deprived communities to grow food.
2) Land
Every day, away from the scrutiny of mainstream media, land is being grabbed from some of the world's poorest farmers for giant corporations to grow, increasingly, biofuels for vehicles in the West. This criminal stripping of resources from local communities is facilitated by the World Bank and must stop. Now.
3) Tax
Too many big companies don't pay up the taxes they owe in poor countries and they're dodging millions of pounds daily. The aim is to get all G8 leaders to agree on a new tax treaty to close international loopholes, helping developing countries keep hold of the taxes they're owed.
4) Transparency
Many governments and big companies hide behind a veil of secrecy and the negative impact they have on people's lives and on the environment is being concealed. By strengthening laws that force them to be open and honest, we can make sure they are held to account for actions that result in hunger continuing.
Support for the campaign, which was launched in central London last week, has already been huge. With over 40,000 online sign ups as well as backing from high profile celebrities such as Bill Nighy, Keeley Hawes, Ewan McGregor, Rita Ora, Eddie Izzard and Lauren Laverne, the momentum is building.
Enough Food IF supporter Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu puts it well: “Hunger is not an incurable disease or an unavoidable tragedy. If we act now, we can make hunger a thing of the past; it’s time to end the unnecessary suffering caused by the failure of the current food system.”
If you too want to join the thousands of people already demanding food justice from world leaders, then add your voice to the Enough Food IF campaign right here.
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