At This Girl Is On Fire we are supporting World Food Day and its goal of zero hunger for 2030. Over 800 million people in this world suffer with chronic undernourishment with 60% being women and girls, nearly the same number of people suffer from obesity and a further 1.3 billion people are overweight.

Just by reading this and changing some of your habits with food, you can do your bit towards #zerohunger… and also look and feel better for it.

What can you do to help achieve #zerohunger by 2030

Wasting less, eating better and adopting a sustainable lifestyle are key to building a world free of hunger. The choices we make today are vital for a secure future of food. Here’s a list of simple actions to help you make #ZeroHunger way of life, to help re-connect to food and what it stands for.

Love your leftovers

If you have leftovers, freeze them for later, or use them as an ingredient in another meal. When you eat at a restaurant, ask for half a portion if you’re not feeling too hungry, or take your leftovers home. Check out our recipe above

Adopt a more healthy and sustainable diet

Life is fast-paced and trying to fit in preparing healthy and nutritious meals can be a challenge if you don’t know how. Healthy meals don’t have to be elaborate. In reality, healthy food can be cooked in a quick and easy way while using only a few ingredients. Share your quick healthy recipes with your family, friends, colleagues and online. Follow sustainable chefs and bloggers online to learn new recipes or talk to your local farmer to see how they cook their produce at home. check our our bircher recipe for a quick and healthy breakfast

Buy only what you need

Plan your meals, make a shopping list and stick to it, and avoid impulse buys. Not only will you waste less food, you’ll also save money!

Store food wisely

Don’t let your food go to waste: move older products to the front of your cupboard or fridge and new ones to the back. Once open, use airtight containers to keep food fresh in the fridge and ensure packets are closed to stop insects from getting in

Put your food waste to use

Instead of throwing away your food scraps why not compost them instead? This way you are giving nutrients back to the soil and reducing your carbon footprint.

Have a conversation with the people around you about respect for food

Food connects us all. Help people re-connect with food for a #ZeroHunger lifestyle and what it stands for by sharing your knowledge and passion with the people around you; at home with your family, with friends and at work. For example, grow your own food at home or participate in a community garden, organize dinners or share recipes. Also, support local charities that work with the homeless and the hungry, and get your families and friends involved.

Keep our soils and water clean

Some household waste is potentially hazardous and should never be thrown in a regular rubbish bin. Items such as batteries, paints, mobile phones, medicine, chemicals, fertilizers, tires, ink cartridges, etc. can seep into our soils and water supply, damaging the natural resources that produce our food

Use less water

Water is the basic ingredient of life and we can’t produce our food without it. While it’s important that farmers learn to use less water to grow food, you can also preserve water by reducing food waste. When you throw away your food, you are wasting the water resources that went into producing it. For example, it takes 50 litres of water to produce one orange! You can also waste less water by taking a shower instead of a bath, turning off the water while brushing your teeth and fixing leaks!

Know where your food comes from

Respect for food is also about knowing where our food comes from and what it is made of. Get to know what you’re eating by checking the labels. Find out what are the unhealthy ingredients and opt for healthier options. Set up a vegetable garden at home or participate in a community garden to not only have access to nutritious and healthy food but also learn about how much goes into producing the food we have available.

Support local food producers

By buying local produce, you support family farmers and small businesses in your community. You also help fight pollution, by reducing delivery distances for trucks and other vehicles.

Pick ugly fruit and vegetables

Don’t judge food by its appearance. Oddly-shaped or bruised fruit and vegetables are often thrown away because they don’t meet arbitrary cosmetic standards. Don’t worry – they taste the same, if not better. Mature fruit can also be used in smoothies, juices and desserts.

Be a conscientious consumer

Once a week, try eating an all-veggie meal (including pulses like lentils, beans, peas and chickpeas) instead of a meat one. More natural resources are used to produce meat, especially water and millions of acres of rainforest are slashed and burned to turn land into grass pastures for livestock. Discover
some tasty pulse recipes and try ‘ancient’ grains like quinoa. When making a purchase, do a bit of research to make sure you only buy from companies that follow sustainable practices and don’t harm the environment. Remember: cheap prices often mean high human or environmental costs

Understand food labelling 

There’s a big difference between “best before” and “use-by” dates. Sometimes food is still safe to eat after the “best before” date, whereas it’s the “use-by” date, which tells you when it‘s no longer safe to eat. Learn also how to identify unhealthy ingredients such as trans fats and preservatives on food labels and avoid foods with added sugar

for more information on #WorldFoodDay #zerohunger #zerowaste click here