How can we stop world hunger through our everyday behavior and end it once and for all? If you're asking yourself this question right now and want to learn more about the connections between our personal behavior and the global famine you have come to the right place!
In our Western world, we're doing pretty well, don't you think? We have several chances every day to decide WHAT we eat. Unfortunately, people elsewhere have to hope every day THAT they eat. Because in Germany we also live at the expense of others. This is even one of the main reasons why people still have to starve in our global society.
In this article, you'll learn why that is - and what you can do to help make the UN's goal of eliminating world hunger by 2030 a reality soon.₁
Here is already a brief overview of the tips from this post:
- Reduce meat consumption
- Buy regional and organic
- Support aid organizations
- Making food last longer
- Value meals more
- Live more climate friendly
- Save food
- Work for human rights organization
- Start into vegan life
- Engage politically
- Share knowledge with others
How can each of us fight world hunger?
The World hunger is one of the biggest social problems of our time. Let's directly start this article with some factswhich underline why people still have to go hungry today, although it would be absolutely avoidable:
- Around 33 percent of global agricultural land is used to grow feed for livestock.₂ In Germany, the figure is as high as 60 percent.₃
- To create an animal calorie, an average of seven vegetable calories are consumed.₄
- Every year, about 1.3 billion tons of food actually end up in the trash cans₅, while at the same time there are 828 million hungry people on our planet.₆
The existence of hungry people in this world is therefore also dependent on how we use agricultural land, what food we eat and with what appreciation we consume it.
"You can't build peace on empty stomachs."
Norman Ernest Borlaug (more at Hunger quotes)
Now that we know why people go hungry, we can move on to the everyday solution, working together to stop world hunger and bring more justice to our world.
Tip: If you are in the mood for more World hunger statistics and facts just check out the linked blog article.
1. Eat less meat
By place more emphasis on plant-based rather than animal-based foodsIf we eat more food, we help to ensure that fewer people go hungry. As we have just seen, seven times more people can be satisfied by plant foods. Simply by eating the "Detour animal" avoided will.
At the same time, the vegan diet also counteracts the global warming which is one of the main threats to global food safety. Among other things, because Water shortageThe increase in the average global temperature rise is the cause of long periods of drought and, of course, major crop failures.
Tip: For example, just start with a simple Trial month into the vegan lifestyle. In my experience, especially the focus on reducing animal suffering makes the transition much easier!
2. Proactive regional, seasonal and organic shopping
A good purchase planning is half the battle! For example, every Saturday we make a plan with our meals for the coming week. We then shop accordingly. Strictly according to plan, to avoid spontaneous purchases of actually superfluous food. In this way, we end up throwing away less or nothing at all.
When you shop, make sure apples, potatoes and other foods, come from the area if possible and have their season. In this way, you avoid long transport routes and unnecessarily high water consumption for the cultivation of food in regions that suffer from water shortages. All this counteracts climate change and thus also world hunger.
Set thereby also on fairly produced, organic food from organic farming. In this concept, for example, your products are produced in a way that is gentle on the soil - while conventional farming usually uses pesticides and Slurry with antiobiotic residues from the Factory farming uses. A healthy soil is ultimately the foundation of long-term food security.
You can also get more information in the following articles:
3. Support aid organizations financially
A sensible addition to the adjustments of your nutritional habits is the financial support of aid organizations. For example, through a monthly standing order or a one-time donation. Every extra cent can be worth its weight in gold to someone else.
The following Aid organizations I can highly recommend if you are interested:
4. Preserve and multiply food for a longer time
In addition to making well-planned purchases, you can prevent waste by Extend the shelf life of your food.
For example, by storing them in Stainless steel containers, Preserving jars or Oilcloths. Also, the compartment in which you put your food in the refrigerator can vary due to the different Temperature zones be decisive! In addition, countless foods can be grown yourself or (like ginger) can also be propagated on the windowsill.
Tip: Das Mindesthaltbarkeitsdatum ist ein Wert zur Orientierung. Er bedeutet nicht, dass Lebensmittel ab diesem Tag giftig sind. 😉 Verlasse dich also vermehrt auf deine Sinne, anstatt abgelaufene Waren direkt wegzuwerfen. Unter Reduce food waste you will get more inspiration.
5. Value and eat up meals
"Eat up nicely and we'll have good weather tomorrow." - my grandma always told me and my brother when we were kids. With this "extra motivation" we then also Meals eaten up, which we did not like so much. However, the change in climate is much more serious than having to endure bad weather for a day. The motivation in this case, for example, is long-term food safety.
Therefore, everyone should really treat their own meals respectfully and eat them up. And only put as much food on his/her own plate as he/she really needs. Anyone who wants to stop world hunger should take these Setting internalize.
Tip: Growing your own little vegetable garden is really fun. It gives you fresh food on a regular basis and, by the way, also helps to keep your Raise children's awareness of environmental protection.
6. Live more climate friendly
In principle, anything that counteracts climate change also has a positive effect on humanity's food security. After all, it comes Less likely to experience droughts, floods, storms, and other crop-destroying events. Therefore, you can also make a significant contribution to the fight against world hunger by adapting your habits in everyday life.
For this I can give you the following, further article recommend
- Climate protection tips
- Connection between nutrition and climate
- The biggest environmental sins in everyday life
7. Save food
If you want to stop world hunger, you can also actively save other people's food from the dustbin. This works, for example, with the concept of Food sharings. As a member, you'll drive to businesses like bakeries, supermarkets or restaurants to save food that would otherwise end up in the trash can. Not because they are bad, but usually only because they are left or too much.
So you benefit from free food, you can distribute it to other people or eat it yourself. Just give it a try!
8. Work for a human rights organization
How about fighting world hunger not only in your personal life, but also in your professional life?
For example, you can choose to be vegan:r nutritionist:in* and educate people about plant-based nutrition - or as an employee of the Deutsche Welthungerhilfe (German Agro Action) in the Marketing or in the range Finance & Accounting work. These are just a few examples - in any case, the table with suitable jobs is richly covered.
Tip: Look with pleasure times in the sustainable job portal to see if there is an interesting job posting for you!
9. Deal with the reasons for veganism
Life is a constant learning process. I, too, used to eat a lot of meat. Today I know what consequences a meat-heavy diet for our planet and other living beings.
Plant-based diets are the key to ending world hunger. But with the Veganism also opens other doors. For example, it also counteracts global warming, the cruelty to animals, the Deforestation of the rainforests and the Water shortage against.
Tip: A more detailed overview with the main Reasons for veganismcan be found in the linked article. The more you internalize them and existing Vegan prejudices the easier it will be for you to fight global famine through plant-based nutrition.
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Cookbook Vegan cliché goodbye!20 € -
Eat animals13 € -
Vegan is nonsense!24 €
10. Engage politically
By creating effective Start online petitions If you start a campaign, go to demonstrations or get politically involved in a party, you can make a difference in our global society. a real difference in the fight against famine.
And not only by directly raising awareness about hunger in the world, but also by actively working for the Climate protection, the Animal welfare and the Vegetable diet, a fair agricultural trade, fair wages, Seed diversity, Basic security, sustainable food systems, Human Rights or the Food rescue uses.
11. Communicate your knowledge
It is easy to forget the impact we can actually make in the fight against world hunger by just talk and discuss about it with other people.
Do not impose your opinion on anyone, but simply try to express your Explain position. Over time you will become more and more Convince people.
Please rememberthat nobody must become the Veganer or the Veganerin from now on and make everything perfect. One comes also to the goal, if one runs through the nourishing conversion step by step.
Stop world hunger - Everyone can do something!
Really everyone can do something! Either through our daily actions we ourselves are still part of the hunger problem or already part of the solution. Whoever realizes that every foodstuff has its own - and possibly also water-, land- or energy-intensive - history, will more quickly have a positive influence on the reduction of world hunger.
"Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little."
Edmund Burke (more at Sustainability Quotes)
Finally, I would like to give you some further articles to the heart, which of your obvious, positive trait of helpfulness and compassion:
- Helping people - What you can do for others
- Good deeds in everyday life to make the world a better place
- Vegan for human rights - Why veganism also helps people
- Why does helping others make us happy?
I hope this article helps you to make a difference every day. Do you have any questions or can you think of any other tips so that even more people can actively fight world hunger? Then feel free to write me a comment!
Stay healthy, compassionate and sustainable,
PS: Be sure to look further in the Nutrition blog around. There you will find, for example, a list with effective Docs about factory farmingthat will significantly change your view of the meat industry.
References:
₁ P. Lymbery: Forage: Plenty of Land for Plenty of Livestock (as of Jan. 08, 2015), available at https://www.boell.de/de/2015/01/08/futtermittel-viel-land-fuer-viel-vieh. [23.06.2023].
₂ Deutscher Verband Tiernahrung e. V. (DVT): Too much for feed cultivation in Germany? Agricultural land and its use (as of 18.06.2020), available at https://www.dvtiernahrung.de/aktuelles-detail/zu-viel-fuer-futteranbau-in-deutschland-agrarflaechen-und-ihre-nutzung. [23.06.2023].
₃ Poore, J./Nemecek, T. (2018): "Reducing food's environmental impacts through producers and consumers." In: Science Vol. 360, Issue 6392, pp. 987-992.
₄ S. Weick; Brot für die Welt; Evangelisches Werk für Diakonie und Entwicklung e.V. (2010): Meat consumption (as of March 2010). https://www.brot-fuer-die-welt.de/fileadmin/mediapool/2_Downloads/NIFSA/NIFSA_Kampagnenblatt_Fleischkonsum.pdf. [23.06.2023].
₅ FAO (2013): Food wastage footprint Impacts on natural resources - summary report, available at https://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/196220/icode. [23.06.2023].
₆ Deutsche Welthungerhilfe e.V.: Hunger: Spread, Causes & Consequences, available at https://t1p.de/ijuj [23.06.2023].
