A Mindful Approach to Food Fosters Compassion for the World’s Hungry

Rice Farmers

Today, Day 4 of the 21 Days for World Hunger, I am introduced to a reality that I have never known, yet is one that millions of people face every day. I was born into a stable, middle-class family environment in which my father was steadily employed by the same company for over 30 years and my mother stayed home to raise my brother and me. Although they always had to watch their budget, we never went without food on the table. Growing up, I was only dimly aware that millions of other children went to bed hungry every night, despite my mother’s constant reminders that there were starving children in the world who would be grateful for the food I refused to eat.

October 16 is World Food Day–and where do we find ourselves in the fight against world hunger this year? The Western world, in particular, tends to blame the global food crisis on overpopulation, but the reality of the situation differs greatly from that perception. In a global sense, food in 2010 has become nothing more than another trade commodity used to generate profits for giant food corporations. Corporate income grows while people starve. The United Nations estimates that 925 million people will go hungry in 2010, down from 1.023 billion in 2009.  However, in a recent interview with CNN, United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UNFAO) Director Jacques Diouf stated that ”with a child dying every six seconds because of undernourishment related problems, hunger remains the world’s largest tragedy and scandal. This is absolutely unacceptable.” Food politics, food distribution and corporate control are the real reasons behind this crisis.

The United Nations connects the reduction in the number of the world’s hungry to renewed economic growth, but the recent rise in food costs could negate whatever progress has been made. A real gap exists between the cost of food and the ability to afford it. The solution to this dilemma may lie not in just aid to the governments of undernourished countries (that may or may not make it to the people who need them the most); rather, it may lie in helping people reclaim land and resources to grow their own food. Food First’s Policy Brief #13, When Renewable Isn’t Sustainable: Agrofuels and the Inconvenient Truths, Behind the 2007 U.S. Energy Independence and Security Act, states, in part:

“Industrial agriculture dominated by multinational corporations is largely responsible for creating a skewed global food system in which 1 billion suffer from obesity while 840 million people go hungry. As the food crisis worsens, these corporate interests not only profit, they increase their global control over food and the resources needed to produce it.”

Mindful Eating

The venerable Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh teaches that humanity requires a shared global ethic to achieve harmony in times of crisis and offers the Buddha’s Five Mindfulness Trainings as the pathway to sisterhood and brotherhood, understanding and love among all human beings and the protection of ourselves and our planet.

The Fifth Mindfulness Training states, in part:

“Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful consumption, I am committed to cultivating good health, both physical and mental, for myself, my family, and my society by practicing mindful eating, drinking, and consuming.”

This precept shows us the way toward personal and global healing through responsible food consumption. Mindful eating brings us in touch with our food, both in terms of what and how much we eat. Respect for food reflects our gratitude to the sun and to the Earth for providing us with sustenance. Mindful eating also introduces another level of awareness to our lives: namely, compassion for those who do not share our bounty and a desire to do something about it. Mindful farming practices free up resources that can be used to produce more food for the world’s hungry.

Tomorrow’s article discusses how mindful farming practices can help alleviate the hunger crisis.

Consider purchasing a World Hunger: Be the Solution Tee.  Proceeds from the shirt will go to Navdanya, the Small Planet Institute Fund the International Fund for Africa.  All tees are sweat free and available in organic cotton. To see the selection of World Hunger tees at Conducive’s Humanitarian & Human Rights Tee store, click here.

21 Days for World Hunger

Day 1

Day 2 Focus on Hunger: Interview with Vandana Shiva

Day 3 Cambodia: Portrait of Hunger

Day 5 How Does Mindful Farming Help Solve World Hunger

Day 6 Sustainable Vegan Farming Practices Empower the World’s Hungry

Day 7 Food Deserts and Urban Farm Markets

Day 8 Vandana Shiva and the Navdanya Farmers Network

Day 9 World Hunger: From GMO Chemistry Set to Table?

Day 10 The Generational Consequences of GMOs

Day 11 How to Avoid the GMO Bad Nasties

Day 12 What do GMOs have to do with world hunger?

Day 13 Why do People go Hungry in The Big Apple?

Day 14 Hunger in New York City: Meeting the Victims

Day 15 The Urban Hunger Problem:  Causes

Day 16 Becoming a Leader in the Hunger Battle

Day 17 The Psychology of Activism

Day 18 Hunger in Africa:  One Small NGO Making a Big Impact

Day 19 One NGO Fighting Against World Hunger

Day 20 Tools and Support for Getting Your Activist Activated

Day 21 Conducive Chronicle World Hunger Writers on Activism

Consider purchasing a World Hunger: Be the Solution Tee.  Proceeds from the shirt will go to Navdanya, the Small Planet Institute Fund the International Fund for Africa.  All tees are sweat free and available in organic cotton. To see the selection of World Hunger tees at Conducive’s Humanitarian & Human Rights Tee store, click here.

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