Heavy Burden of An Empty Plate

Nitin Mehta, Pawan Kumar, Bilawal Singh Department of Veterinary Gynaecology and Obstetrics Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana

Grow, nourish, sustain. Together is the theme for World Food Day 2020 which is celebrated every year on 16th October. It seems very pertinent in light of recent global health crisis which has uncovered many myths of mighty human race.During lockdown period, one of the most essential tasks of governments around the globe was to ensure supply of food to poor and vulnerable communities. It made all of us to ponder that the commodity which was taken for granted by majority of us, needs utmost respect and appreciation. Advancements in agriculture since last many decades has made us selfsufficient and well competent to feed our people but an inherent imbalance in food systems has created a big divide. A double burden of malnutrition with hunger and deprivation on one side and obesity on other has come up as a big challenge for country like India. A study reveals that impact of malnutrition in all its forms viz. under nutrition, micro nutrient deficiency and obesity on global economy is USD 3.5 trillion per year. Thus, the divide between haves and havenots seems to be unending and the covid economy has deepened the carves further. We are setting up targets to surpass the leading global powers and relentlessly working for that since last many years. But it is true that the fiercest battles can't be won with empty bellies. According to Global Nutrition Report 2018, India contributes one third of the global burden of undernutrition and 25.5 million children out of 50.5 million children, who are wasted globally. A dream to be a vibrant economy striding high on developmental agenda can't be achieved with consistent hunger pangs. In my view, there is no dearth in food production but a continuous food wastage right from farm to fork, which adds to plight. According to UNDP, 40% of food produced in India is wasted and never reaches the needy. This in turn puts an undue pressure on other natural resources like water and fossil fuels which have gone waste along with that food. I t s e e m s t h a t h u n g e r i s undoubtedly a supply chain and logistics challenge which needs apt scientific interventions. Government is investing lot of efforts in combating this danger of malnutrition. Poshan Abhiyaanor National Nutrition Mission, is Government of India's flagship progarmme targeting holistic nourishment with a tag line of “Sahi Poshan Desh Roshan” . Recently, United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), which has been awarded Nobel Peace Prize, 2020 for their interventions in battling malnutrition and Uttar Pradesh's Rural Livelihood Mission agreed in setting up over 200 supplementary nutrition production units to support distribution under the government's Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme. Apart from these key interventions, commitment of the people is extremely important, who can pledge not to waste even a single bite. It is proven that reduction of food waste is vital for India's food securityand one should treasure food as a precious jewel. Rightly said that Pruthivyaamtreeeniratnaanijalamannamsubhashitam means there are only three precious things on earth, namely food, water and subhashitas (eloquent sayings). It is thus prime duty of each one of us to eat sensibly and behave diligently.