The planet earth produces enough food for 10 billion people yearly and we are at 7.9 billion worldwide. That means, an excess good enough to keep everyone healthy. Still, there are 795 million hungry people and 3.1 million die of malnutrition annually. In our last post, we learned that production alone is not the problem for world hunger but the accessibility and lack of nutritional diet also cause an increase in the scarcity and security of food distribution. Additionally, war, conflicts and corruption are compounding the global health crisis.

But is it just a political problem? Only the respective countries or world leaders can bring the progress? Can’t we do anything about it? Yes, we can. We can all incorporate habits and initiatives that can help nations fighting world hunger. With a little bit of technology and a hearty intention of kindness, we can teach our kids to be responsive to many global emergencies. Here a few ways parents can involve their children to participate in their own capacity.

Share the Meal:

UN has developed an app called ShareTheMeal for people across the world to help end world hunger with just one tap on their phone. As per the World Food Programme, the world’s largest agency helping to fight global hunger states it takes just 80 cents (0.75 CHF) to feed a single kid for one whole day. Donations from the ShareTheMeal app fund UN agencies across the developing countries struggling with food insecurity. This is where you can download the app, https://sharethemeal.org/en/index.html

Too Good to Go:

A report from the University of Oxford says globally 30-40% of food is wasted because of various factors that include lack of cold storages in developing countries like India and an increase in portion sizes in developed countries like the US. Too Good to Go is a mobile application that corrects this inequality by connecting restaurants and customers. On a daily basis tons of food gets unsold by grocery shops and at restaurants. The app motivates local customers to fight this by rewarding them with discounts as high as 70% on the original price on every order. An award-winning initiative originally from Denmark but has spread across Europe and is also highly popular in Switzerland. The magic bag they offer can be customized as per customer’s food preferences. To start making the good, visit the website – https://toogoodtogo.org/en

Get creative with leftovers:

A saga of leftovers is common for any household with kids. As parents, we know kids can be very finicky about food on regular basis and at the same time, we also know that it takes a good amount of creativity to make them eat even a spoonful. Did you know sometimes with leftovers from our meals, we can invent a different salad or pizza or a whole new dish? In the present era of information abundance, we can try out a wide range of culinary styles with our mini-chefs at home. This sparks interest as well as promotes resourcefulness in them. Next time when kids are at it again, turn it into a fun activity with one or two recipes with leftovers and make it exciting by asking them questions about the ingredients.

Farmers’ or Local markets:

To inculcate upon children the hard work that goes into the food production and delivery system, it is highly important that they understand the journey of the vegetables and fruits before they arrive on their plates. Take them to local or farmers’ market where they can meet the real producers of our food. Encourage them to have conversations with them. You would be surprised at how excited and curious the experience turns them into.

Games for change:

Imagine if you can feed an empty stomach by playing a game? Wonderful, right? That’s exactly what Freerice app does via United Nation’s World Food Programme. The mobile app offers 24 categories for players to choose from and donates one grain of rice for every question answered correctly. There are 5 levels based on the subject you select and your score at the end is the total grains you donated by playing in the app. This can be another fun way to indulge your children for a good cause that instantly presents a sense of gratification.

Eliminating world hunger is not achieved by a flip of a magic wand but is a continuous process of awareness and responsibility. If we, along with our kids, start taking steps towards conscious food buying and consuming habits, change is imminent.

“No one ever should be poor nor be hungry evermore, nor be ill without good care: so life is better everywhere!”From A Smart way to SDG