The main focus of World Food Day is that food is a basic and fundamental human right. In the 2020 Global Hunger Index, India ranks 94th out of the 107 countries. It is the world’s second-largest food producer and yet it is home to the second-highest population of undernourished people in the world (FAO 2015).
There were many reports of people dying of hunger in India last year but the concern is that we as citizens are not doing enough to eliminate this epidemic that is truly in our country’s hand. Apart from the government’s Public Distribution System that has a serious implementation problem, many families that are in dire need of support go unnoticed. There are some NGOs working for it but the people who can reach them easily are the ones being ignorant.
Some of us are enjoying our big meal, it is more than what our body needs and at the same time, some are starved to death.
I belong to Jharkhand which has a pretty good share of India’s Hunger burden. To my surprise, when I visited my native place and was organising people’s feast for some rituals, people out there did not hesitate to discard tons of food that was left. It seemed like, for them, no one else could have benefitted from that food. They were just being ignorant. Charity, free kitchen, zero wastage mindset- these concepts were totally missing from that society that had a surplus of food.
Just imagine what a great social service they could have probably done with the right mindset and with enough resources, but their ignorance made it turn out to be a waste. Their cooperation was minimal and attitude unjustifiable.
I failed to convince my family to feed the needy instead of feeding our privileged village and discarding tons of food because apparently “you need variety and no one will eat the same thing again”. But I vowed to do the same when things would be within my control. I urge all of you to do your best and help the needy around you. Do not waste food, for some its a wish for you it’s just a dish.