On the global health agenda, October is a hive of activity. We either celebrate food security or commiserate over food insecurity, depending on whether you see the glass as half full or half empty.
This year was no different. World Food Day, instituted by the United Nations, is a global call to action to end hunger and promote sustainable food systems. Celebrated every year on October 16, it marks the founding of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Since 1945, the FAO’s slogan has been: ‘Together, we can build a world where everyone has enough to eat.’
Yet, we are very far from that goal. Billions go hungry every day, including millions right here in South Africa.
In 2020, as COVID-19 gripped the world, a parallel fear emerged: the fear of hunger. The pandemic disrupted shipping and food systems. While hard lockdowns kept people indoors, hunger forced them out in search of food. This chronic hunger is a brutal indicator of insufficient food.
We even have a scale to measure this failure: the Global Hunger Index. Its very existence is an indictment of our collective governments. The index measures four domains, primarily in children—the members of our society who pay the highest price for adult failures.
The technical elements illustrate the horror. In a world, and a country, with sufficient food quantities, the disparity in access is deadly. We measure undernourishment—the percentage of the population living on less than the recommended calorie intake. Insufficient calories mean constant hunger, stunted growth and development, increased risk of disease, and premature death. Our most prized citizens, our children, are dying daily from a preventable cause.
Behind these statistics are desperate lives struggling to survive. We say “a hungry man is an angry man,” but what does that mean physiologically? The body and mind are fighting for sustenance.
When the body is starving, it first uses up stored sugar (glycogen). Then, it begins breaking down fat and muscle. The body slows down to save energy—your heartbeat slows, you feel cold, tired, and weak. Over time, muscles shrink, thinking becomes foggy, and the immune system weakens. If it continues, starvation leads to organ damage and death.
Chronic hunger is a state of self-destruction. It is trauma. In children, we call it the slow violence of malnutrition. While they should be happy and growing, they are in a slow death grip. In South Africa, almost one in three children under five suffers from chronic calorie insufficiency. This stunts not only their height but also their brains—in both size and function.
Stunted brains can’t learn well. They limit a child’s opportunity to excel and find their place in the world. This creates a cycle of intergenerational poverty. Malnutrition casts a long shadow of inefficiency, disease, and lost potential.
All of this is preventable.
It’s not only up to world leaders to make a change. We all must act within our own circles of influence:
- Buy and eat local.
- Share where you can.
- Start growing your own vegetables or herbs—not just for nourishment, but as a gentle resistance to the highly processed, profit-driven foods that dominate our diets.
This year’s National Nutrition Week (9-15 October) was themed “Food for Health, Health for All,” emphasizing equitable access to safe, nutritious, and affordable food.
Until healthy eating starts in our homes, we will remain off track. Rising childhood obesity and increased rates of diabetes and hypertension show we are not yet at “good food for good health.”
The equation is simple: No good food means no good nutrition. If health is your wealth, then nutrition is your currency. Use it wisely.
