A country like America has four times the amount of food that it needs.
https://www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/facts
Before the coronavirus pandemic, more than 35 million people faced hunger in the United States, including more than 10 million children.
Children are more likely to face food insecurity than any other group in the United States.
Four times the amount of food it needs yet, millions are hungry.
But it gave me faith. It gave me faith that we, the people, do have the power to stop this tragic waste of resources if we regard it as socially unacceptable to waste food on a colossal scale, if we make noise about it, tell corporations about it, tell governments we want to see an end to food waste, we do have the power to bring about that change.
Will government and corporations be willing to do this? If wasting all this food does not diminish their profits, then why would they change and take extra steps to ensure that the food is not wasted? I have recently seen videos of employees being required to spray paint wasted food so that people can not pull it from the dumpsters. It almost seems hateful. If someone gets sick after eating food from a dumpster then is the store liable? If not, why ruin the food? Corporations are aware, but why aren't they making real changes?
The job of uncovering the global food waste scandal started for me when I was 15 years old.
I had a similar situation at the same age. Morning of AP US History exams the teacher brought in bagels from Panera. He shared that he picked them up from the store after close because they toss them every night. They were perfectly fine. They just hadn't been purchased before they closed. I lived in a county where most schools were considered title one so it was shocking that in a place where people needed food, it could be wasted so easily.
The highest performing country, Norway, scores 88.
Even with a score of 88 things are not perfect
Debating Structural Racism In Norway https://www.prio.org/News/Item/?x=2691
My 30 year experience with racism in Norway - https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/my-30-year-experience-racism-norway-leonard-kongshavn?articleId=6676227518766297088
What if every country in the world chose to be like Costa Rica in prioritizing human well-being, using its wealth for the well-being of its citizens? Well then, we get to nearly 73, very close to the Global Goals.
This would be an amazing thing to see, and while I would love change, I don't believe it to be realistic in the next decade. There are many countries that repeatedly chose wealth over well-being. It would require a lot of work to break down and reshape these ideas. That would just be the beginning.
So let’s reject business as usual. Let’s demand a different path. Let’s choose the world that we want.
This is much easier said than done. Over the last year, dealing with the global pandemic has shown which counties are more individualistic than others. It is hard to "reject business as usual" when it has been the foundation of a country for years. 2030 is now only 9 years away and its going to take much longer than that to truly get on a new path
This is a really important point; it’s a big shift in priorities — it’s no longer about poor countries and just poverty. It’s about every country. And every country is going to have challenges in getting to the Global Goals.
This is a very important point. Not everyone is on the same level, therefore will not progress the same. This will take the average time for everyone to reach this Global Goals to be slowed down. I can also understand why some people who want change are still pessimistic. If the countries that seem to be on the right track still need a lot of work, what can we expect from those much further behind?