This is 2023, almost a quarter of the way into the 21st century. How is it that people are still dying of starvation?
Of all the preventable causes of death in the world, lack of food is probably top of the list.
Yet, there are reports of four Eastern Cape women literally dying because of that very reason.
Just to be clear, they died slow, agonising deaths because they didn’t have enough food in their bellies. Do you even know how long the body has to be deprived of sustenance, for it to shut down completely? Google says it is weeks, depending on several variables.
Most of us have trouble with the choice of fasting for a mere 24 hours, yet here circumstances are forcing sustained hunger on our fellow citizens, with fatal consequences.
A hundred years ago this would be understandable, but in this age of mass food production and technological advancement, how can we tolerate even the thought of this happening?
Another desperate and troubled Eastern Cape woman felt it was a better fate to commit suicide, after killing her three young children, rather than watch them starve to death.
The torturous hunger overtook her basic survival instincts and she went through with the unthinkable.
These are only the instances we get to hear about. There are almost certainly thousands (if not millions) of similar, untold stories countrywide.
Yet, how often are we simply shaking our heads in mock disbelief when our spoiled kids refuse to eat food they don’t like.
Now consider reports from the Gift of the Givers organisation that they hear stories of extreme hunger on a regular basis.
In some cases, children in rural areas are consuming inedible, wild plants and leaves simply just to get something into their growling stomachs.
This is dietary privilege at its worst – an unforgivable sin that we are allowing to happen. On our doorsteps!
These stories hit especially hard for me because of a comment my partner made recently.
It was meant to be light-hearted, but it spoke volumes of the widening wealth gap in our society.
She said: “It feels like everyone on my social media is on holiday overseas at the moment. This one is in Italy; that one is in Canada and so many are in France. How are people affording this? Isn’t there supposed to be a recession?”
Clearly the recession hits different people differently.
No one begrudges young, hard-working professionals, who reward themselves with a trip abroad.
But it does unintentionally also call sharp attention to the plight of those who may just have survived one more day, if only they could get their hands on the scraps of food those jetsetters discarded in the airport’s duty-free lounge.
We don’t have to look far to find examples of the abject poverty afflicting people at the moment.
I defy you to find a major traffic intersection that isn’t a permanent home to at least one beggar, desperate for any coins, or a left-over lunch bag.
While we barely notice, it is a growing problem that could eventually affect us all.
There’s something unpalatable about me enjoying my overpriced scones in a larney restaurant, watching another five-star hotel coming up across the road from a dozen ramshackle shacks in the heart of our city.
I shouldn’t feel guilty about enjoying the fruits of my labour with my family, and yet I do.
Because I recognise that hunger is the very bottom of humanity’s compassion barrel and should never be scrapped.
These two contradictory truths – entitled food security for some and food uncertainty for more and more people – live side-by-side in our society.
And while this is a modern reality, we have to address the disparity of an era where a scooter can pass a severely malnourished child, while making its way to our doorstep to deliver food of our choice within an hour of ordering.
I don’t know what the answer is, but I know it cannot be sustained.
Throughout history, hunger has proven to be the trigger for social unrest, and eventually revolution.
How long are they going to allow us to eat our cake while they scavenge for mouldy bread in our wheelie bins, before their “hangriness” explodes?
We can look to government for solutions, but preventing it is all our responsibility.
The alternative is our children running through our ruined streets with AK47s, shooting each other, while simply trying to get a bite to eat.
breinou@gmail.com