Food Insecurity

There’s a food shortage going on that’s unlike anything we’ve seen in the last 40 years. Billions of people around the world are now chronically hungry, and tens of millions may face imminent famine and starvation. So what’s going on that’s different from years past? And what, if anything, can we do as individuals to begin to make a difference?

The restaurant industry has some big problems. The pandemic, inflation, and a shortage of workers have all taken their toll. But a growing number of restaurants are taking bold and innovative steps to not only stay afloat — but to also contribute to healthy people and a healthy planet. Here’s what you need to know about sustainable and socially responsible restaurants, and how you can enjoy a night out (or a night of takeout), with a clean conscience and a happy tummy.

Food waste is a huge problem, and its corresponding methane emissions have a major impact on climate change. Now, many US states and cities are introducing legislation to curb food waste in landfills and encourage recycling and composting programs. But what do these initiatives accomplish, and do they work?

The word malnutrition is most often used to describe diets that are deficient in calories or essential nutrients. Chances are you’ve heard it used in that context — associated with starvation and extreme poverty. But that is only one side of malnutrition…

Community gardens are a great way to increase food security, improve public health, and even reduce crime rates. With a variety of setups, locations, and goals, they can play an important role in making healthy, ethical, and sustainable food available to ever more people.

Benjamin Perkins of Wholesome Wave sits down with Food Revolution Network CEO, Ocean Robbins, for a look at the challenges in our food system and how Wholesome Wave is working towards a better food future for all. Despite the continuous struggle to provide healthy food for all people, this interview will fill you with hope that there are people like Benjamin and organizations like Wholesome Wave committed to bridging the health and nutrition gap.

Inga tree alley cropping has transformed the lives of 300 subsistence farming families in Honduras. Its replication across South and Latin America can make a major impact on people and the planet by improving food security, protecting wildlife habitats and water sources, and improving soil quality for years to come.

For hundreds of years, Indigenous peoples in the Americas (and across the world) have faced genocide, land theft, and in many cases, forced relocation, all of which have deprived them of their ancestral foodways. Today, many Native peoples are grappling with the devastating health consequences of these ancestral traumas, along with grinding poverty and a diet of highly processed foods. But despite this grim reality, a growing number of Indigenous Nations are working towards an Indigenous foods movement as a means of cultural renewal, environmental sustainability, and a way to reclaim food sovereignty and personal health. Find out what’s being done — and what you can do to help.

Alabama State Senator Malika Sanders-Fortier and her sister Ainka Sanders Jackson, executive director of the Selma Center for Nonviolence, Truth & Reconciliation, have dedicated their lives to the eradication of racism and the promotion of peace, freedom, and health. In this video interview, Malika and Ainka discuss their involvement in the civil rights struggles in Selma, AL, and how they’re working towards Martin Luther King, Jr’s vision of a Beloved Community with healthy food and a healthy world for all.

Millions of people around the world are hungry or starving, and the number has grown since the COVID-19 pandemic. Food banks have stepped up hunger-fighting efforts, even more, to provide food for those in need. So what exactly are food banks, how do they work, and how do we help them serve real and nutritious food to the people who need them most?

Millions of people in the US and around the world live in “food deserts”: areas where it’s hard or even impossible to find healthy food. These food deserts promote poor health outcomes, are a drag on our economy, and reinforce the worst effects of racism. How did food deserts come to be? What do they cost all of us? And what can we do to make healthy food available for all?

In this video interview, New Jersey Senator, Cory Booker, sits down with John Robbins for a look at the powerful impact our food choices and food policies have on our health and world. Senator Booker gives his candid take on how our food system got so broken and what we can do as individuals, and as a society, to work toward an end to factory farms, food deserts, climate change, hunger, and extreme poverty. Despite the enormity of the problems we’re all faced with today, this interview will fill you with hope and empower you to take action for a healthier, more equitable, and more compassionate world.