The theory of utility in economics has been applied and verified across disciplines, for its realistic outcomes. Utility in its simplest form is deciphered as the ability to devour or the preference we associate food with and is determined in Utils.
This does push us into self-retrospect of if all of us are beasts of utilitarianism and will food ever satiate our needs for hunger?
As Global citizens let's address a few of these facts:
Do we remember the time when summit after the summit was held and they all made it to the news headlines that read “To End World Hunger by 2030?” It’s also a part of the sustainable development goals that ended up becoming a default goal every time it gets renewed.
A Minute of silence to this goal.
It is not that I am trying to be negative here, we are at crossroads right now as the numbers are cruciating to even look at.
Zero Hunger, does sound familiar to all of us, but the larger question here is how close are we? Well, Santa comes bearing bad news!
The Covid-19 Pandemic has steepened the curve further with regards to the food crisis and the prevalence of undernourishment (PoU) climbed to around 9.9 % in 2020, from 8.4 % a year earlier.
We look at this as another target that we are endeavouring to hit and to drive this number home by 2030, which means the number would be triple the population of Brazil according to the recent report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
The surge of the Coronavirus has furthermore plunged into the already reckless situation of food scarcity, that is going around in the Global South.
Food scarcity is bound to appear in any economy as its the law of nature, for every resource that is impoverished and there is unplanned allocation of resources scarcity becomes an appalling problem to handle specifically with that of food.
It is estimated that between 720 and 811 million people in the world faced hunger in 2020.
On the other hand, there is food that gets dissipated by the supremacists who have access and opulence to food, and don't understand the dynamics of how wastage can contribute towards the downfall of a nation in terms of food and health.
Numerous families are evading or experiencing difficulty getting to supermarkets, which have restricted their hours and administrations.
Despite the fact that food inventories stay strong, there have additionally been unfilled staple racks due to elevated interest for staple merchandise and inventory network difficulties.
The one trait that was commonly noted among individuals when demonetisation was announced was how the ATM’s became the hotspot and individuals got into panic withdrawal.
A similar behaviour pattern was seen when the lockdown was announced with citizens who were involved in panic buying.
On researching about why does one Panic buy, the answer is basic and that is the cognitive function of fear. This fear of unavailability and accessibility of food to state starvation for a family is what compels individuals to panic buy.
The many dissensions that went around here are of how it was a barbaric act and people did not understand the negative impact it had on the working class and families with lower income.
Your trash is somebodies treasure.
What this lockdown acquainted a lot of us is about how we should take care of the produce, respect it and treat it with care. A lot of people passed without food, much endured on fast foods and canned food, like cup noodles and etc.
It did have serious implications on the health of people. It is thus vital to comprehend why food is momentous and how should we learn to preserve and make it accessible.
The solution to this problem starts from our homes and our knowledge about the implication of food accessibility.
We must also focus on how to secure food supply labourers and limit transmission that may obstruct food access, organizations and nearby governments could consider assigning farmworkers, food processors, food retail labourers, and others as crisis faculty and giving them individual defensive gear and the necessary resources to fulfil their requirements.
Hope you enjoyed reading, do share your feedback and views on the same, you never know this could lead you to fresh ideas.
Until Next Time Folks!!
Work Cited:
Folwarczny, Michal. “Anticipated Food Scarcity and Food Preferences: Ph. d. Thesis.” (2021).
Rodgers, Rachel F., et al. ““Waste not and stay at home” evidence of decreased food waste during the COVID-19 pandemic from the US and Italy.” Appetite 160 (2021): 105110.
