A couple of weeks ago, when we started thinking of the name we could give to our MakeSense mobilisation on Food Security, I couldn’t help but associating this “food security” term with starvation.
Very often, we tend to see the challenge of creating a food-secure world as a matter of development and humanitarian aid. That is why facing food insecurity while being in Europe sounds quite ludicrous!
But let’s think again.
A food-secure world would actually be a place where everyone can access an adequate quantity and quality of food. If we look around us: does everyone really get access to this in Europe? Short answer is no.
Even in Europe we are far from ensuring that everybody is able to access sufficient, affordable and nutritious food. While a growing number of Europeans struggle to put a meal on the table every day, the global demand for food is also rising very fast.
We do also observe an increase of diet-related diseases as long as obesity. All these symptoms are the reflexion of the complexity of our current food system.
Eradicating hunger and encouraging responsible consumption & production and both two objectives of the UN Sustainable Development Goals — as well as strong components of the food insecurity issue.
As citizens, we are many to feel strongly concerned about this issue. And so is Vicy, super active volunteer in MakeSense, who launched a global mobilization on Food Security. And not only in one hemisphere. A global mobilization, where the MakeSense community can mobilize citizens to help solve this challenge.
To make it more realistic, we divided the whole issue in 3 sub-challenges, that once solved, will change the whole equation.
1) Production and Productivity — “assure that people have enough and healthy food to eat”
2) Transformation and Distribution — “assure that food is used efficiently and sustainably”
3) Sustainable Consumption — “assure that food is consumed sustainably and food security is ensured”
The mobilisation already started in different cities in the world, such as in Dakar, in Lima or in Manilla. But not only in southern countries.
With MakeSense hotspots in London, Maastricht, Brussels or Paris ; Europe is also joining the movement!
Social entreprises are a fantastic way to build tangible and agile solutions to tackle social and environmental issues. They often have challenges that we can help them solve. With our problem solving workshops — called hold-ups — we can invite citizens to be part of the change!
We start at a small scale by identifying projects for each sub-challenges and once we have identified the best projects for each of them, we can partner with private and public institutions to help them scale or replicate the solution.
On monday, the MakeSense community in Paris helped Thomas to prepare his crowd-funding campaign for his social entreprise, EnerGaia, to allow him launch his first production of spirulina in France. Spirulina is one of the most nutritious, complete and efficient foods on Earth. It is the most concentrated whole food source of protein.
Consuming more spirulina in northern countries could actually help reduce our meat consumption. Surprising at it may seem, one handful of spirulina equals to the same amount of protein that beefsteak contains.
There are plenty of positive initiatives like this one that we, as MakeSense, can source in different european countries! If in each european countries, we help solving the three sub-challenges of this Food Security track, we can definitely make a big change and help this solutions to scale up and create a bigger impact.
Just like in London, Brussels, Maastrich, Nantes or Paris ; with Charmaine, Adrien, Rohan, Gwenn, Eddie, Gianpietro, Hera, Rachel, Arthur, Gabi, Alberto, Elien, Vicky, Adrien, William, Alice; jump in the global mobilisation and encourage citizens in your city to get involved in the issue of Food Security in Europe!
If you are interested in this topic and would like to launch a mobilization in your city, you can form a team of 3 or 4 people and then get in touch with Solène to discuss it and get some support!
Solene is helping the MakeSense community to grow in Europe. She is working with the different Hotspots to get citizens involved in solving social startups’ challenges.
