A University of Florida class called Humanity’s 2050 Challenge: Our Uncertain Future explores current issues in human sustainability and well-being in areas related to food, environment, healthy economic and social systems.
Each week students in the course are asked to describe how a particular topic or issue resonates with them or applies to their lives. While examining food security, students discussed food quality versus quantity, as well as the cultural implications of creating sustainable futures for our communities.
Monica Petrella:
Right now in the world we have a large enough quantity of food to feed everyone if evenly distributed. However, that food might not be of the best quality. The understanding that “a calorie is a calorie” is true in a scientific sense but terribly misconstrued in another. I saw a poster on the internet that said “People are overfed but starving to death,” and I could not agree more. Referring to westernized countries in general, people are being fed well enough to achieve the recommended calories count but not well enough to fulfill their hunger needs. The quantity is there but the quality is different.
Katelyn Meeks:
In today’s world, the challenge of ending hunger is a huge hurdle. We are able to produce enough food, but the issue of food distribution creates many concerns. Here in the United States, we have a plethora of excess food that goes to waste because we do not make enough effort to get it to those who need it or the food is unable to get to a distant location without perishing. This is one of the big issues of why unhealthy food is so prevalent in our society today. It is obvious that unhealthy foods, such as fast food and candy, are more easily accessible and cheaper. Many cannot afford to purchase healthier foods or take the time to go to the grocery store when there is a McDonalds within walking distance of them. In other areas, it is impossible to access healthy foods and they simply take what they can get, which is very likely non-perishable goods that will fill them up but not satisfy their nutritional needs.
Marissa Frazer:
It’s an undeniable fact that to feed the world in 2050 we’re going to have to produce a lot more food than we ever have before. But upping the quantity without producing food of quality could just as easily create more problems than it would solve. From an ethical standpoint, every individual deserves the opportunity to feel actualized. While we may not all share the same values or have the same ability levels, all of us should be afforded the opportunity to maximize our own personal potentials, and in doing so, pursue a sense of fulfillment that is the essence of success and, I think, human life itself. From a practical standpoint, sustainability in each of the respective systems, likewise, hinges on the total accumulation of all our maximized potentials. With that being said, the ability to function at our utmost mental, physical, emotional and spiritual capacities is directly connected to our health, and our health is a product of our nutrition. We need enough food and the right foods; it’s imperative that we both survive AND thrive; we have to have both quality and quantity to fulfill ourselves as well as the ultimate goal of long-term sustainability of the global human population.
Clara Mabour:
We often discuss the importance of education in solving the hunger and food disparity issues in our country or other countries, but we don’t often focus on how the people that we educate can implement that education based on their socio-economic background.
Tommy Tate:
Food insecurity is a problem that is faced not only in developing countries, but also right here in our own neighboring cities. There are plenty of areas in our nation that are highly developed, like New York City for example, where there are certain neighborhoods where the nearest food distributor is out of feasible economic reach. The people located in these “food deserts” must resort to unhealthy methods of obtaining foods, like consuming fast food or snacking from nearby gas stations and convenient stores (which as we know has horrible nutrition).
Liza Southerton:
It is so true that our emotions override so many aspects of life, including food safety and security, whether subconsciously or not. I can think of 2 examples right off the bat. One would be the way that a mother gives her starving child the next bite of food, not knowing when HER next bite would be. The mother’s emotions for keeping her child nourished overrode any hunger she was most likely feeling herself. Another example would be the way that certain people automatically reject food, even when they’ve never tried it before. This could be for many reasons. Maybe they have a friend who had food poisoning from a certain food and now they’re reluctant to try it, because emotionally they feel as though the same thing will happen to them. Or maybe it’s because the smell of the food is unappeasing to that person and no matter how much another person may coerce them, they will not give in to that putrid smelling dish.
