"I'm Starving!"- Are you really?

You there! You’re probably reading this on some sort of electronic device, right? I’m guessing that you have the means to get yourself four meals a day, then.

In 2018, over 820 million people suffered from hunger out of which 14 million were children. The term hunger might seem quite light seeing as we use it very commonly; I mean malnutrition: undernourished people who go to bed, on a daily basis starving; having an empty stomach.

Hunger has been one of the most important dilemmas and consequences of past world wars. Ever since the economic crisis and the ration system were adopted to feed most of the population of Europe, we haven’t managed to solve this problem.

Although figures show that there is more than enough food for the entire world population (enough for around 10 billion people, we are currently at 7 billion!), hunger’s place in the world’s conflicts is actually worse than a long term national war. Poverty, governmental decisions, indecent healthcare and other factors are all responsible and result of 7% of death.

Each year the number of people starving increases and more and more people die of it. Regions suffering from hunger aren’t very well spread around the globe: Sub-Saharan Africans, Islanders, Southern Asians but also Yemenis, Afghans and many more populations would dream of eating the tons wasted food from the USA, UK or other European countries. In 2018 over 40% of food produced in the US was thrown away, squandered. The same situation applies for water, the most basic of requirements for Homo sapiens which is also very unequally spread around the world. Citizens of Northern America use up to 576 L of water per day, whereas places like Libya find themselves with 10 L per day which is nowhere near to enough for a big family (consider basic needs: drinkable water, hygiene, etc. ). See how selfish this seems with all cards on the table.

According to the UN (more specifically UNICEF), seeing as numbers of children dying of hunger raise each year, some countries might find themselves with only a very elderly population. This isn’t a good thing for the country’s society who’ll soon be inexistent and is very upsetting on a moral point of view.

That’s when you come in dear reader and owner of an electronic device (XD)! First of all, share awareness about this subject. Hunger is a matter that is taken too lightly because most of us don’t know what it feels like to lack food, and joke around it - “I’m starving”, is a phrase we all use often. Imagine the millions of children who get fed only very small portions of food because of numerous reasons. And bear that in mind next time you’ll think of throwing something away because you don’t feel like eating it. Here’s a small list of easy things which can be done: food can be stocked and eaten the following day, it can be shared, and you can donate foods; don’t waste your water, do not keep the tap open when you’re brushing your teeth and make your showers as quickly as possible.

Luckily enough a few associations help out some of the people in desperate needs, but those are never enough.

All of these very simple actions that you make can remind you of what a great number of people endure throughout their lives.

Maya El Haddioui

Official Writer of Poetry United