HUNGER GAMES

Shedding Light on Food Insecurity for Gen Z

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HUNGER GAMES: Shedding Light of Food Insecurity for Gen Z

¹ Let’s talk about food insecurity, an issue that happens to be significant and pertinent to all of us. But first, let’s define food insecurity accurately. Imagine yourself going through your preferred food delivery service and wondering about that delicious dinner when it dawns on you that every person is able to afford such a privilege. When people lack consistent access to sufficient nutrition to lead healthy lives, it is referred to as food insecurity. It may seem unbelievable, but it is the reality of life that the usual youngsters don’t know about. Let us now delve into it.

² So grab a seat, because we are about to go on a thrilling journey through the current situation of food insecurity in the Philippines. The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reports that an astounding 7.6 million Filipinos suffer from extreme food insecurity. That would be like attempting to fit every single Metro Manila resident in a single enormous food crisis! There is a true tale of perseverance and adversity hidden behind each numerical value.

³ This tea is not only about looting stomachs, unfortunately. It has something to do with the knock-on effects on health and wellness. Imagine this: our body systems cannot perform at their peak levels if we fail to consume enough nutrient-rich food. It resembles striving to run on devoid of anything, which is not a great look. Moreover, this is the time to say that still, many might feel so uncomfortable with the food people offer to themselves in their family’s table but basically these people are not experiencing food insecurity.

⁴ It is just like, they felt like being choosy and picky. This is the realization of how society and generation changes over time. In short, privilege people cannot see the significance of the food offered on their tables and how these foods are processed and made out of hardships of people from farm, to market, then to a family’s table that sadly like the holidays wherein most of the families who are privileged are sharing Noche Buena and Media Noche cannot sense the simple families sleeping over their hunger or just waiting for foods to recycle in the morning. Yeah, food insecurity could lead to this.

⁵ Moreover, it might also have an adverse influence on students focus and energy levels in class. The plot twist is that food hunger is a problem that exists outside of cities. Nope, it lurks in the countryside as well, particularly during calamities like droughts and typhoons. When natural disasters strike, getting food turns into a Hunger Games scenario in real life. Maybe, every underprivileged ones or food insecure family will volunteer their whole team to a stadium of push and pulls of plans of eradicating hunger but to build a country with education and rich agriculture that still the Philippines wish for decades.

⁶ Don’t worry, though! The fight against food insecurity is being led by outstanding groups and projects. These people are like modern-day superheroes, swooping in to save the day at food banks and community gardens. And what do you know? Whether it’s by volunteering or raising awareness on social media, we can all join the team. Time to put our abilities to good use!

⁷ Such that looking into another side of this story, imagine having a thriving garden in your backyard that is bursting with luscious fruits and vegetables. In the fight against food insecurity, edible gardening is beyond simply a trend. Talk about reaching your farm-to-table objectives: envision snatching a juicy tomato or crisp lettuce right from the vine!

⁸ Putting food on the table is only one aspect of edible gardening; another is empowerment and self-sustainability. Thus, why not begin your very own edible garden and partake in the greener revolution? A brighter, more food-secure future could be within your reach with just a little soil, sunshine, and care. Now let’s get started and expand! Why not this work shall be expanded to those who are the what we call ‘laylayan ng lipunan’.

⁹ So in every flick of foodstagram for our IG stories, let’s remember others who aren’t as fortunate when we whip out our cellphones and shoot that Instagram-worthy photo of our dinner. Let us be the agents of change, the food fighters, the Gen Z who don’t back down from a challenge.

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