This post was originally written by me for HealthDicourse.nz in April 2021. This was part of a Blog series by academics in the Health Sciences Department from Otago Polytechnic University in New Zealand. The aim of the blog is to address the UN Sustainable Development goals in the context of improving health practice and hence the health and wellbeing of individuals, family/whānau and communities. The 2nd SDG “Zero Hunger” is the focus of this post.
The ambition of the Sustainable Development Commission’s ‘Zero Hunger’ goal has faced a great setback in the last year and the infrastructure of global food systems have shown their fallibility. Extreme weather due to climate change, locusts, political upheaval, and war were already disrupting nations worldwide, only for their effects to be compounded by Covid-19. Hunger is a highly complex systemic issue that can’t be solved by one suggestion or path, but we can seek action close to home whilst advocating on behalf of our global family who may not have the same privileges as we do.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UNDHR 1948) asserts the right to food and sets out an expectation of basic standards of responsibility for which governments are expected to adhere to ensure that their people are fed. However, it is not legally binding. How could you sue your government over inadequate or insufficient food? This is why we still see lines at foodbanks in developed countries, since this basic need – a symptom of poverty – is not being addressed. Furthermore, governments in the Western world use the action of community groups as a way to step back from their responsibilities to provide a food safety-net and deny the issue of hunger. In short, ‘the poor’ or ‘the hungry’ are easily dismissed and denied a universal human right.
So we ask ourselves, if we can’t rely on the role of government, how can we seek to address the Zero-Hunger SDG? In short, reach out. We are not simply individuals – we are human society and this year has reminded us just how much we need each other. Food brings people together like nothing else can and has been called “the low hanging fruit of transition” to more sustainable communities (C. Hinrichs, 2014). Through taking leadership in our communities with an aim to achieve local food resilience we can not only address the hunger that is aching painfully in our own neighbourhoods, but along with it, banish loneliness and isolation, poor physical and mental health. Local food actionism can build community and give people purpose as they are empowered to share their gifts and knowledge. As a community, we can build safe, inclusive spaces that embrace generational learning and the storytelling that links us to our ancestors, we can heal and connect deeply with the Earth by honouring our relationship with food, rediscover the joy of taste through fresh food and shared meals, beautify our landscape and support our local economies. We can reconnect with our values and live according to them.
So often we feel powerless against the great global tides – but change begins when we reach out and harness the collective action within our own communities. Few things can weave all these threads together, but food is what links us all.
Image Source: https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal2
Dr Daphne Du Cros is a food policy researcher and farmer. As an outcome of her research on sustainable local-level food policy, she started Little Woodbatch Market Garden in Bishop’s Castle, UK. The farm is relentlessly dedicated to building community links through food, training and empowering those who want to learn about growing and honouring the land that nourishes us.
References
United Nations, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights
Hinrichs, C.C. Transitions to sustainability: a change in thinking about food systems change?. Agric Hum Values 31, 143–155 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-014-9479-5