The paradox of rising hunger in world of over-abundance

Tuesday was World Food Day, when the United Nations asks us to reflect on the remarkable system of farms, processing facilities, grain elevators and transportation companies that bring us our daily bread.

For most Canadians, this system is a marvel. It brings us a diverse and nutritious diet so efficiently that the average Canadian family spends less than 10 per cent of annual income on food.

But the world’s food system is also rife with contradictions. There is more food on the planet than at any point in human history and today there are about 2,850 calories available each day for every woman, man, and child. 2017 was a bumper year for cereal producers when we had a world record harvest of 2,700 million tonnes.

But hunger is also on the rise. According to the United Nations, the number of hungry people declined for decades and hit an alltime low in 2014.

It has now risen for three years straight and today there are 821 million under nourished. Food insecurity is worse in both South America and most of Africa. Political volatility in those regions is making people vulnerable to climate change.

In terms of nutrition, there has been progress in reducing rates of childhood stunting but we fare badly in terms of women’s health. One in three reproductive age women suffer from anemia.

At the same time, obesity has risen and today close to 2 billion people are either overweight or obese. Counterintuitively, food insecurity contributes to obesity.

Nutritious foods, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, are expensive and when times are tough, people often opt for cheaper diets that may be high in calories but lacking nutrients.

This issue also affects Canada. More than 860,000 Canadians use a food bank every month and research from the University of Toronto suggest that one in eight Canadian households are food insecure.

Luckily, there are many things that can be done.

Poverty reduction strategies can focus on marginalized populations, the health of women, and help promote healthy nutrition in that 1,000 day window between conception and a child’s second birthday.

Helping pregnant mothers, and infants, access healthy nutrition – including breast-feeding in the first six months – is proven to launch children on a long-term trajectory of health and well-being.

In the last federal election, the Liberal Party committed to tabling a food policy that would ensure all Canadians have access to safe nutrition, that our food and agricultural sector would be an engine of economic growth, and that we would become better stewards of our soil, water and air.

It may be hoped that the food policy, when it comes out in the next few months, helps ensure that Canada, and the Canadian agrifood sector, helps address the paradoxes of rising hunger in a world of over-abundance, and ensures that we play a global leadership role in helping sustainably feed the future.

Evan Fraser is director of Arrell Food Institute and Canada research chair in global food security, University of Guelph.