Today is World Food Day 2019, and the internet is abuzz with a thousand different messages, and a hundred different hashtags.
It's awesome that a cause like this is gaining so much traction, so much awareness - since that is part of educating people to the needs and to catalysing change. But it's so easy for these days to come and go, and little has changed.
A useful lesson I have learned in life when it comes to tackling my To Do List, is that it is easier to pick two or three priority tasks, and tackle those with gusto, rather than facing the whole list and becoming paralysed with the volume of the task at hand.
So I am wondering if that is perhaps the way we should be tackling this "task" ahead of us. There are so many facets to the subject of food - zero hunger, food safety, food security, sustainable food sources, healthy nutrition, food fraud, food waste... and so much more.
In fact the FAO theme for this year focuses on making healthy and sustainable diets available and affordable to everyone. Visit their website for more info on this
The challenge is not to get lost in the myriad of ways we can make a difference, but to rather choose one or two key areas that we can truly tackle the challenges facing us, and make a significant difference.
Food Focus is committed, as always, to educating and nurturing conversations and engagement around the topic of food safety and sustainability - to supporting the ways that make it possible for the food industry continue to make food in a way that is safe and yet sustainable.
And another key area we are throwing our weight into is that of food waste.
So much of the food that we produce is wasted at some point along the value chain, whether that be at the farm, in production or manufacturing, during distribution or even at the retailer and hospitality outlet. And then there is the role the consumer plays in food waste either, that is significant too.
We are not alone in seeing the importance of this - we join countless other organisations who are fighting this cause, including the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa, WRAP , WWF,and so many more.
So although today, 16 October, is a World Food Day, let's not forget that these issues exist every day, and our commitment needs to be sustained, in order to make a real difference.
We'd love to know what burning issues you are planning on tackling in the 365 days that lie ahead - share your story with us, we'd like to use it to inspire others.
Drop us a line - we promise to get back to you.
