Food...

The world’s food crisis has become an emergency, and a crisis that we’ll likely face for a while. The International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development released a United Nations-sponsored report this week that presents a disturbing promise: the world will continue along the path of social unrest and environmental disaster unless and until we reform our food system.

Poor countries have staggering numbers of hungry citizens, 850 million people are hungry or malnourished, and each year four million more are added to that roster. If we continue our current production and distribution practices, according to the report, we will “exhaust our resources and put our children’s future in jeopardy.” This is a global issue: “the increasingly globalised food market and ever-increasing food imports mean that no country can assume itself to be immune.”

The report advises that farmers focus on producing food for local markets and reduce dependence on fossil fuels, rather than focus on trade, which can have long-term negative effects on alleviating poverty and food security. Right now, the UN needs more money to address the current crisis—the UN food program received $14 million after asking for $500 million to deal with higher food prices.

Read an article about the report from the Gulf Daily News HERE.

Learn more about the UN World Food Program and donate HERE. (Photo taken from the WFP website’s Fill the Cup donation page: http://www.wfp.org/english/.)

Take it to your community with 40 ways that individuals, local governments, and others (grocery stores, colleges) can help address the food shortage in their areas by growing and eating local at the 100-Mile Diet’s How to Change the Food System.