It is an outrageous and downright disgusting fact that the world today has enough food for everyone, yet not everyone has enough food.
Why – when there is enough food to go around – is hunger one of the world’s most shocking problems?
Hunger kills more people than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined. One in eight people on our planet lives with the pain of hunger. Two million children die each year because of malnutrition. It’s sickening isn’t it, when it simply doesn’t need to be like this? It’s not just an overseas problem either. Right here, in the UK, many hardworking people struggle to put food on the table each day for their families.
It’s unfair, it’s unjust and it’s totally preventable.
This is why today, Wednesday 23 January 2013, is a momentous day. Today sees the launch of the IF campaign, the biggest ever campaign to tackle global hunger.
More than 100 charities and campaigning organisations, including Save the Children, Oxfam, Christian Aid and UNICEF, are joining forces to make one helluva lot of noise to draw everyone’s attention to the issue of food poverty – in particular those G8 leaders who are meeting in the UK for their summit in June 2013.
Will you lend your voice to the cause too? We all need to shout about THE FOUR BIG IFS…
Enough food for everyone IF… we stop poor farmers being forced off their land and we grow crops to feed people not fuel cars.
Enough food for everyone IF… governments and big companies are honest and open about some of the things that stop people getting enough food.
Enough food for everyone IF… we give enough aid to stop children dying from hunger and help the poorest families get enough food.
Enough food for everyone IF… we stop big companies dodging taxes in poor countries.
If we all shout together, we’ll be too loud for our governments to ignore. As a food blogger, I think it’s important I add my voice to the IF campaign. Will you? The success of the campaign depends upon millions of people, people like you and me, coming together and taking action to demand an end to hunger. We have the power to make politicians sit up and listen.
This short animation sums up the IF campaign in a nutshell. It’s only two minutes long. Please watch it.
Sign up to the campaign and find out other ways you can play your part at the Enough food for everyone IF website.
Bangers & Mash 
A really good introduction to this campaign Vanesther. Hope you don’t mind – I’ve written a short post on my blog and linked across to yours.
Of course I don’t mind! The more attention we can draw to this brilliant campaign, the better…
Well done bringing this great campaign to our attention.
Thanks Andrea! I’m sure a lot of people are going to be talking about this campaign in the coming weeks and months…
Hi, I found your blog through Sarah at The Garden Deli. Thank you highlighting this important campaign, Tracey
You’re very welcome. It’s such a fantastic campaign – we must all get behind it!
Thank you for posting this, it’s so important, I’ll post a link too.
Thanks Alex! Really good of you to link up to the post! We need to spread the word in every way we can…
So brilliantly written Vanesther, and what a brilliant much needed campaign. Seems there’s a whole host of wonderful people and charities behind it, fingers crossed something really good comes of it.
Thanks Louisa. The campaign has got off to an excellent start, hasn’t it? We all need to come together to make sure we keep up the momentum, especially ahead of the Budget and then the G8 summit in June. Thanks for helping to spread the word 🙂
What an important post and one you have got me thinking about. I often wonder about the waste that supermarkets are left with every day and where it goes to. The corporate tax dodging appals me and the general inability to be able to solve this issue of hunger must surely come to an end. We all know it is happening so we must do something about it. Well done to you for highlighting this campaign :))
Thank you so much Laura. I think this campaign has come at just the right time and really seems to be galvanizing so many people. Food waste in particular is something that really upsets me, particularly the fact so much is unnecessarily wasted at every level in the chain. I also hope this campaign will get people thinking about food’s worth and value too. It shouldn’t be seen as a cheap and easy commodity. We need to show our food much more respect. Thanks again fornyour support!
Great post, thanks for bringing my attention to this important campaign!
You’re very welcome Jayne. It is such an important campaign – we all have to do our best to keep up the momentum…
great blog post – particularly great to see foodie bloggers raising awareness of this. I know my 6 year old son (who is the chef in this family) is very aware of the injustices around the world when it comes to food – his lifelong dream is to have his own restaurant where the poor and hungry can come and eat for free. I wonder if any celebritiy chefs are involved in the IF campaign as i think it would speak volumes if they too added their voice.