No, not corporate greed and CEOs earning millions, but actual fat cats. When we live in a world with so many starving, the fact that you can buy diet cat and dog food really gets me angry. If your cat is fat, stop feeding it so much. If your dog is overweight, don't buy it "light" dog biscuits, feed it less and take it for a walk.
Okay, back to World Food Day, which is a worthy cause indeed, especially when you realise that there in this day and age there is absolutely no need for anyone to be hungry at all. In fact the UN estimates that globally we produce enough food to comfortably feed, well, everyone on the planet.
There are numerous reports easily available which highlight not just the huge amount that many of us in developed or affluent countries eat, but the vast amount that we throw away. It is staggering. For example, it is estimated that in total approximately 30% of all the food we produce everywhere in the World is lost or wasted each year. That's 1.3 billion tonnes of food, just rotting away, uneaten. Don't forget, that 30% is a global number, look at the USA and it is an appalling 40%.
When we talk in billions of anything, it just becomes impossible for mere mortals like me to get a grasp of the scale, so here, from the good people at Visual.ly
When ever we talk about poverty or inequality on a global scale, the question is always asked, "That's terrible, but what can I do?" Well, for a start you can stop wasting food yourself, and if you just put half the money you save towards your choice of charitable/aid/NGO be it local or far-away, then you will be helping someone who is worse off than you are, and let's be honest, if you are reading this, there will always be someone worse off than you are.
0 comments:
Post a Comment