16. listopada 1945. godine osnovana je Organizacija za prehranu
i poljoprivredu Ujedinjenih Naroda (FAO). To je najstarija stalna specijalizirana agencija OUN-a. Od svog osnivanja, FAO se uglavnom fokusirao na ublažavanje gladi, podizanje standarda i razine prehrane i promoviranje održive poljoprivede te poboljšanje socioekonomskih uvjeta na svjetskoj razini.

 

Tijekom općeg sastanka Udruge za prehranu i poljoprivredu 1979. godine, mađarska delegacija, na čelu s tadašnjim ministrom poljoprivrede Paulom Romanyjem, posebno je naglašavala važnost rješavanja problema s hranom, te je predložila svjetsku manifestaciju. Sastanak je rezultirao proglašenjem 16. listopada Svjetskim danom hrane, u spomen na datum osnivanja FAO-a. Glavni cilj obilježavanja ovog dana je podizanje svijesti o globalnim prehrambenim problemima i važnosti koordiniranja napora u borbi protiv gladi, pothranjenosti i siromaštva. Ovogodišnji moto „Uzgajaj, hrani, održavaj. Zajedno“ ističe izazove koji je donijela kriza Covida 19 i potrebu koordiniranog djelovanja radi očuvanja odgovarajućeg pristupa sigurnoj hrani širom svijeta, kao i potrebu veće podrške i zaštite malih proizvođača, poljoprivrednika i ribara.

 

Globalna slika gladi izgleda prilično zastrašujuće. Razina gladi porasla je tijekom posljednjih nekoliko godina. Procjenjuje se da 690 milijuna ljudi pati zbog gladi širom svijeta, što je porast za 10 milijuna u odnosu na 2019. godinu. Prema FAO-u pandemija Covida 19 bi mogla ovim brojkama dodati između 89 i 132 milijuna ljudi. Očekuje se da će potražnja za hranom rasti u istoj mjeri kako raste svjetsko stanovništvo. Prema trenutnim procjenama svjetska populacija će doseći 10 milijardi 2050. godine. S obzirom na ogromnu ovisnost o vrlo ograničenom nizu poljoprivrednih proizvoda, napori bi također trebali biti usmjereni na povećanje raznolikosti hrane u svjetskoj prehrani.

 

Klimatska kriza također ima važne negativne posljedice za svjetsku proizvodnju hrane. Povećanje suša, poplava i drugih ozbiljnih vremenskih nepogoda u velikoj mjeri remeti sposobnost proizvođača primarnih poljoprivrednih proizvoda da uzgajaju hranu. S obzirom na to da je značajan dio primarne poljoprivredne proizvodnje  koncentriran na svjetskom “Jugu“, velika je vjerojatnost da će klimatske promjene imati ozbiljniji utjecaj na one stanovnike koji se već nalaze u ranjivom položaju. Uzimajući u obzir da sustavi prehrambene proizvodnje čine oko 25% ukupnih emisija stakleničkih plinova, potreba za većom održivošću u prehrambenoj industriji postaje imperativ. Uloga multinacionalnih prehrambenih tvrtki ovdje je ključni faktor. Prema Oksfordskom izvještaju iz 2014. godine, 'velika desetka' globalnih tvrtki za hranu i piće emitiraju više stakleničkih plinova nego Finska, Švedska, Danska, Norveška i Island zajedno. Bez stroge kontrole ovih tvrtki bit će vrlo teško primijeniti alternativne metode proizvodnje koje će doprinijeti rješavanju problema zagađenja okoline i problema gladi.

 

Bacanje hrane također ostaje ozbiljan izazov u ovom kontekstu. Otprilike 20% hrane proizvedene u EU se gubi ili se baca. U SAD ove brojke iznose između 30 i 40%. Prema FAO-u, “kad bi se moglo spasiti samo četvrtinu trenutno izgubljene ili bačene hrane, to bi bilo dovoljno da se nahrani 870 milijuna gladnih ljudi na svijetu“. Ova stvarnost ukazuje na sramotni neuspjeh kapitalističke logike koja svojim tržišno orijentiranim pristupom prema proizvodnji hrane uporno izbjegava bilo kakve obaveze da osigura da višak proizvoda dođe do onih koji su gladni.

 

Porast popularnosti vegetarijanstva i veganstva doprinio je povećanju razumne kritike sadašnjeg potrošačkog obrasca i pokazao više alternativa za rješavanje ovog problema.  Pristup ovom kolektivnom pitanju, često temeljen na pojedincu i tržištu, ostaje proturječan i ograničen u smislu ponude uspješnog i sveobuhvatnog rješenja problema hrane. Ali ipak, njegov doprinos većoj informiranosti o pravima životinja, prehrani i održivim navikama  važan je za stvaranje prostora i dijaloga.

 

 

 

Despite all the human and technological progress achieved by our societies, we still fail to provide enough quality food for a big part of the world’s population. Considering that almost 700 million people suffer from hunger, World Food Day is an opportunity to pay closer attention to this issue, focusing on the current challenges and some of the potential solutions that can be implemented.

 

 

On the 16th of October 1945, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Association (FAO) was established. It is the oldest permanent specialized UN agency. Since its creation, FAO’s mandate has focused mainly on alleviating hunger, raising nutrition levels and standards, promoting agricultural sustainability and improving socio-economic conditions at a global level.

During the Food and Agriculture Association’s general meeting in 1979, the Hungarian delegation, headed by Agriculture Minister Paúl Romany, took an active role highlighting the relevance of food issues and suggested a worldwide celebration. Accordingly, it was decided to designate the 16th October as World Food Day, in commemoration of FAO’s establishment date. The main goal is to raise awareness about global food issues and the importance of coordinated efforts to fight hunger, malnutrition and poverty. This year’s motto is ‘Grow, Nourish, Sustain. Together’, which places particular emphasis on the challenges brought about by the Covid 19 crisis and the need for coordinated action to preserve adequate access to safe and nutritious food across the globe, together with greater recognition and protection for small producers, farmers and fishermen.

The global picture of hunger looks rather daunting. Hunger has been rising over the last few years, with an estimated 690 million people suffering from hunger worldwide, a 10 million increase from 2019. According to FAO, the Covid 19 pandemic could add between 89 million and 132 million people to these figures. Demand for foodstuffs is expected to grow as the world population rises. Current predictions expect the world population to reach 10 billion in 2050. Given a huge reliance on a very limited set of agricultural products, efforts should also be oriented towards greater variety of foods in world diets.

The climate crisis also has important repercussions for the world’s food production. Increased presence of droughts, flooding and other severe weather disturbances are heavily disrupting primary producers’ ability to grow food. Because a considerable part of primary production takes part in the global South, it is likely that climate change will affect more severely those parts of the population who are already operating under vulnerable conditions. Considering that food production systems account for around 25% of total greenhouse gas emissions, the need for greater sustainability in the food industry becomes imperative. The role of multinational food companies is a key factor here. According to a 2014 Oxfam report, the ‘big 10’ global food and drink companies emit more greenhouse gases than Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Iceland combined. Without strict control over these companies’ highly polluting processes, it will be very difficult to implement alternative methods of production that address both environmental concerns and hunger issues.

Food waste also remains a serious challenge in this context. Roughly 20% of all food produced in the EU is either lost or wasted. In the United States, this figure ranges between 30-40%. According to FAO, ‘’even if just one-fourth of the food currently lost or wasted globally could be saved, it would be enough to feed 870 million hungry people in the world’’. This reality reveals the complete and shameful failure of the capitalist logic which, through its commodity-based approach to food production, persistently avoids any obligation to ensure excess produce reaches those who are hungry.

With the ascent of vegetarianism and veganism have brought about valid critiques on current consumption patterns and a number of alternatives to the problem. Its often individual-based, market-driven approach to a collective issue remains contradictory and limited in terms of offering a successful, wide ranging solution to the food problem. Despite this, its contribution to greater awareness of animal rights, nutrition and sustainable habits are important in creating spaces and dialogue.

Projects with an international presence such as Too Good To Go or more locally based initiatives such as The Real Junk Food Project in the UK provide useful ways to use surplus food in the benefit of the community. While they are welcome, they cannot become a substitute from a serious commitment from governments to address food inequalities. The current Covid 19 pandemic, through its huge impact on employment and income, has seen a sharp rise in the number of people attending soup kitchens as a last resource for food in cities like Madrid. These social canteens have traditionally been a valuable resource to vulnerable groups such as the Roma, the long-term unemployed and immigrants, who are now experiencing greater difficulties in accessing these places, adding another blow to their already precarious position.

 In such a dis-heartening context, World Food Day should serve us as a reminder that adequate access to healthy, nutritious food for all cannot continue to be regarded as some distant utopia and needs instead to be actively pursued as an urgent global policy. Eating well is not a privilege. It is a basic right.