Food consumption and security is a huge issue across the globe. Many countries have too much food, and many have too little. In all there are 1 billion people who are malnourished and underfed, and 1 billion who are overfed, as I have learned in my Intro to Global Issues class. There are multiple reasons for this, like access to trade, and access to calories versus nutrients. I personally have been incredibly lucky to have warm meals every day for the extent of my life, I have never experienced hunger or the sense of being malnourished. I have the privilege of options, I can choose what types of food I get to consume, and when to consume them.
I think this has played a significant role in my life, my access to food is very important and promenade and I know that for my community back home it was much more of a struggle. As someone who attended public school in Portland, I had access to free breakfasts and lunches through the free and reduced lunches. I would always pack my lunch, even from age 5 because my parents didn’t believe the food offered at the schools was nourishing enough. I think this says a lot about the food security in the US. While there is access, it is access to calories more than true nourishing food that will help citizens grow and live healthy lives. I know in the US, it’s a huge issue that healthy food Is so expensive, I know there are many ingredients my household cannot afford and while we still eat quite healthy, many families cannot. I am grateful for the access to food that the US has but there are still barriers for so many people to gain the ingredients they need to live a healthy lifestyle.
An important aspect of food consumption in the US is the reality of food waste. Food waste is a huge problem, and because we have an increased amount of food, that also means we waste quite a lot of it. I grew up with the notation that if it’s on your plate, you eat it. While that’s not always healthy, because it can cause overeating, my parents were very aware of food waste and didn’t want to contribute a great deal of waste to the already growing problem. I know that my school didn’t have healthy ways to compost or recycle, everything went into the trash to be sent to the landfill. For a minute in middle school, a group of students advocated for composting in our dining hall but found that students wouldn’t take the time to compost and instead put all of their waste into the trash like they had always done. After that moment in middle school, I didn’t notice any other attempts to instate composting in public schools, and they continued to create food waste sent directly to the trash. Back at home, it was vital we compost and my parents made sure we compost our waste because we had a garden. So we took matters into our own hands to create a sustainable way to take care of our own waste.
In Scandinavia, the region of the world where I am doing a research project on education, their food consumption and food security are very healthy. As a Western region, each country is pretty well off in terms of access to food. According to multiple sources, Finland, Sweden, and Austria are among the most food-sustainable countries in the world. Some multiple methods and laws control food security in these countries, like an incentive to donate food instead of waste it, this includes grocery stores and individuals. On top of this, they also rank in the highest region of the world that prioritizes sustainable agricultural systems. Overall, this region of the world is quite advanced in its food consumption and waste which is quite inspiring.