Last night I went along to an Action Aid bloggers' meet up to talk about the Enough Food IF campaign, which is being supported by over 170 global charities and organisations.
The campaign has come about due to the fact that the world produces enough food for everyone, but not everyone has enough food.
On June 8th Enough Food IF are inviting you, me and everyone who can get there to come to Hyde Park, to make a noisy and visual petition, so loud and large that world leaders can't ignore it, and are forced to act on world hunger NOW. It is absolutely unacceptable that 1 in 8 people in the world go to bed hungry. And by hungry I mean they haven't eaten all day.
Last night Action Aid brought along various guests to talk to us about world hunger problems. First up was actress and cookbook author, Fay Ripley. Fay talked to us about her involvment with Action Aid, which stemmed from her exasperation with the cost and waste involved with children's birthday parties, and her and her 6 year old's mutual decision to request donations rather than presents, which would fund her sponsorship of an African child. Fay has since visited schools in Africa with Action Aid, and has seen for herself how much difference food makes to a child's ability to learn, and go about day to day life.
After Fay answered our questions, Nina from Action Aid took to the stage to tell us about the reasons that the food the world produces is not distributed fairly and evenly.
There is enough food in the world for everyone, but there are 4 main reasons it doesn't get to everyone. These are:
- Aid. If we give enough aid to stop children dying from hunger and help the poorest families feed themselves, then people wouldn't go hungry.
The campaign has come about due to the fact that the world produces enough food for everyone, but not everyone has enough food.
On June 8th Enough Food IF are inviting you, me and everyone who can get there to come to Hyde Park, to make a noisy and visual petition, so loud and large that world leaders can't ignore it, and are forced to act on world hunger NOW. It is absolutely unacceptable that 1 in 8 people in the world go to bed hungry. And by hungry I mean they haven't eaten all day.
Last night Action Aid brought along various guests to talk to us about world hunger problems. First up was actress and cookbook author, Fay Ripley. Fay talked to us about her involvment with Action Aid, which stemmed from her exasperation with the cost and waste involved with children's birthday parties, and her and her 6 year old's mutual decision to request donations rather than presents, which would fund her sponsorship of an African child. Fay has since visited schools in Africa with Action Aid, and has seen for herself how much difference food makes to a child's ability to learn, and go about day to day life.
After Fay answered our questions, Nina from Action Aid took to the stage to tell us about the reasons that the food the world produces is not distributed fairly and evenly.
There is enough food in the world for everyone, but there are 4 main reasons it doesn't get to everyone. These are:
- Aid. If we give enough aid to stop children dying from hunger and help the poorest families feed themselves, then people wouldn't go hungry.
- Tax. Governments must stop big companies dodging tax. 3 times the amount of aid given to poor countries is lost each year due to big companies evading tax.
- Land. Poor farmers are forced off their land that they use to grow crops to feed people, as companies are taking this land to grow crops to make biofuel. The more food that is grown for fuel, means less food available to eat, and therefore higher food prices, forcing even more people into poverty and hunger.
Land should be used to grow crops to eat, not to make fuel
- Transparency. As long as governments and big companies are dishonest about their actions that stop people getting enough food, then world hunger will continue.
All four points above need to be tackled immediately, and the only people able to actually change these are our world leaders. The G8 group of world leaders meet in June and we HAVE to make world hunger top of their agenda.
Next up to talk to us was Joy Mwakisambi, who having been brought up in Africa, has seen and experienced first hand the effects that hunger can have. Having always been her family's spokesperson, Joy has now taken on the role of Action Aid ambassador, and spoke so movingly about growing up in a country where 80% of people live in poverty. Kenya, where Joy grew up, has a population of 40 million. 11 million of these go hungry every day. That is so wrong, and makes me so sad and angry.
So let's support Joy, Action Aid, and all the other fantastic organisations behind the Enough Food IF campaign by getting down to Hyde Park this Saturday, and showing them that you care too.
The event is from 2-5pm, this Saturday, 8th June. So please, please come.
If you don't live in London and can't get here this Saturday, don't worry. There are events going on all round the world this week and next. For more information about what is happening near you, check this page. If you do get involved, don't forget to share your stories, using the hashtag #Food4All, and sending to Enough Food IF on twitter.
Thank you for reading, and please, next time you cook too much food and have leftovers, don't throw them away. Think about how lucky you are to be able to feed yourself and your family each day. Reuse or share those leftovers, but always, always be aware!
Photos supplied by Action Aid UK.
Photos supplied by Action Aid UK.
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