Whose problem is hunger?
THE FUTURIAN #3
UN Sustainable Development goal 2 aims to end hunger, achieve food security and improve nutrition by 2030. This is only 9 years away. How can we achieve this in just 9 years?
What is nutritious food? It can be defined as food that helps your body to be healthy. Yet this simple statement falls short across the globe. As of 2020, over four children will die every minute due to malnutrition. Prior to COVID, 9% of the globe experienced hunger. Of the total global population, 1/3 do not eat enough food each day while 1/3 eat too much food. This means that only 1/3 of the total population are a healthy weight.
Writing this article in Edinburgh, Scotland, it would be easy to consider this not a developed world concern. The fastest rise in food insecurity seen in 2019 was recorded in Latin America and the Caribbean. While the highest levels of food insecurity were registered in sub-Saharan Africa. However, malnourishment has been steadily rising within the UK as well.
Within the UK alone, there are roughly 3 million individuals who are malnourished. This malnutrition costs the national health service (NHS) £19 billion annually as a result of the increased risks of illness and infection along with the reduced ability to heal from wounds. This cost grew by 50% in just 5 years with a growing number in the UK experiencing malnourishment.
Malnourishment is a rising condition both in the youngest in society and the oldest. Those with mobility issues cannot access supermarkets and might not have the capacity to order in with a smart phone. While food insecurity in households with children has increased to 15% of all households during the covid-19 pandemic.
As a result of malnourishment, people are more likely to end up in hospital. However, the problem is not solved there given 70% of patients discharged weigh less than when they were first admitted. The number one signal of malnourishment is an unintentional weight loss, that is losing 5% to 10% or more of weight over 3 to 6 months. Yet with the average hospital stay much lower than 3 months, the NHS are unable to identify and treat those at highest risk.
With most of those malnourished in developed countries over the age of 65, a rise in aging populations will heighten this issue. The fastest growing segment of the global population to the year 2030 will be those over the age 65, it is estimated that there will be 390 million more of them in 2030 than in 2015.
If we know that malnourishment is on the rise, how might we prevent it? This depends upon our locality. Services such as Meals on Wheels, which are subsidised by local councils, have experienced various reductions in funding over the past 10 years. Overall, only 42% of councils provide any service with this dropping to only 13% of local authorities in the northwest of England.
While public services decline, privately developed apps might be providing a solution. App OLIO enables individuals who have made one too many servings of a meal to list this on their app. Users can reserve this meal with no cost paid for the meal. The app’s aim is to cut food waste; however, it alleviates hunger by providing a free service. Other apps such as Too Good To Go allow businesses, including supermarkets and restaurants, to list food for users. Users pay a fraction of the retail price for a Magic Bag of produce that would have otherwise been thrown away. Alternatively, app FoodCloud allows businesses to donate their produce to charities such as homeless shelters or family support charities.
These apps can only thrive where businesses in specific localities adopt this approach. Living in a city, the use of OLIO and Too Good To Go is a valuable method to reduce food bills while still being able to pick up produce from local greengrocers and meat from supermarkets. However, in smaller regional locations this opportunity does not yet exist.
The growth in popularity of apps that provide alternatives to food distribution is key to ensure that malnourishment can be prevented. However, in tandem, it is vital that access and use of apps are available to all.
True food independence can only be gained by families who have the space to grow their own produce. With those living in flats in the UK, access to garden space is at a premium. Of the total population of London, 43% live in flats and 29% of Scotland live in flats. Within the new build sector, flats do not always require green space. Without this obligation, many new homes are built with inadequate green space for households to grow their own food security.
In the year 2021, how is it that hunger has not been solved? It’s a question of priorities. We look to government to be the catalyst in change, while much of what is needed can be achieved without seeking public money. The adoption of technological advancements is key in appropriately identifying the issue but also seeking to elevate the locality of where issues are is important. Kimetrica, a Kenyan based non-profit, has developed technology that uses artificial intelligence to assess children for malnutrition through photographs, replacing the need for health specialists to travel to each area where children might be affected. Not only can resources be saved, but quicker and more accurate analysis can be made in order for treatment to begin.
Often for answers, it is easy to look at the public sector and expect a solution. This has proved inadequate in the past with no sign of change to the future. Instead, communities along with technology should be viewed as the catalyst for change. Given that the number one sign of malnutrition is an unintentional weight loss over a 6-month period, it would be those within a community who are likely to see these changes. Therefore, to achieve better nutrition, care and empathy are required within communities rather than looking at governments to solve the problem.
The target date of 2030, however, is where road bumps might be met. With an already stretched public budget, individual collaborative action is needed to support neighbours who are at risk — be it through charities or technology. Utilising apps such as OLIO when too much food has been cooked is a conscious method to give a free meal to those who seek one and supporting small businesses to discount or give away food that would be thrown away. Overall, however, awareness of community needs and opportunities is fundamental in addressing who is at risk and how best they might be served.
© Charlotte Aguilar-Millan 2021
