Food To The Needy

Recently I started reading about food shortages across the world, caused in no small part, by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Apparently, after a few decades of plenty, we are staring at an impending global food shortage.

Ever since I can remember, I’ve been told that I should never waste food. There are so many hungry, starving people in the world and they’ll be so glad to have the food that you are wasting, I’ve been told time and again.  I’ve always been a fussy eater who hated almost everything I was expected to eat, with the exception of chocolate. Maybe my gullet is smaller than normal (I’ve never measured it, mind you) or maybe I lack some enzyme on my tongue which causes food to taste good. I’ve also had to contend with the fact that many of my classmates and friends have restrictions placed on the amount of food they can eat. Every time I heard my parents’ dialogue about there being so many hungry, starving people in the world who’ll be so glad to have the food that I want to waste, I’ve wondered how my food could be sent across to those starving people. Trust me, I’d happily give away all my food to those who are hungry and need it, provided I can manage the logistics.

My mother has been on a diet for a while and recently I heard her look at her dinner plate which was half full and say, ‘I think I will stop eating.’ To which my father (who has constantly harangued me about my eating habits and wastage of food) said, ‘good idea. Better throw away food than eat it and then try to lose those calories.’ I almost shouted my protest at the double standard. Why couldn’t my mother have given that food to a starving person that dumping it in the bin, as she did? All over Mumbai, there are many beggars living on the streets. Couldn’t my mother have taken the trouble to carry the few morsels on her plate and given it to a starving beggar? Evidently my mother didn’t do it because it was too much trouble and she didn’t have the time.

Even now, my parents decide how much food goes on my plate and whether I can waste any of it once I declare my inability to eat further or claim that I might puke. But as I grow older and catch up with my peers in matters of diet and health, I am conscious that I will soon cease to be able to eat ‘whatever I want, whenever I want, as much as I want’. I may also start throwing away food once I have eaten enough to keep me alive and kicking. I shall take care to serve myself only as much as I can eat or plan to eat.

All of this brings me to the question that’s been at the back of my mind for long and which prompted me to write this piece. How do people like me, who have more food than they need, get it across to those who need it desperately? The obvious answer is to avoid wastage and then donate money equal to what has been saved by not wasting food to those in need. However, though this may work at the personal level, it is not as simple as that. Getting food to regions that are in the grip of a famine, requires global cooperation in terms of logistics. For example, if a region such as Somalia which is in the midst of a civil unrest is also facing a food shortage, sending food to that region would require the cooperation of local warlords and global powers. In many cases, starvation is used as a weapon by ruthless power brokers.

As I grow older and gain more knowledge and awareness of global politics, I keep revisiting the question that has haunted me for long: how can my food be sent across to starving people? The answer seems to be: it’s complicated.