Making a Difference

I just read an interesting BBC News article that discusses the food expenditures of six families from different parts of the world. I’m not familiar enough with the price and availability of food in other countries to objectively assess whether these families are making the best possible use of their resources, but my guess is that most of them are.

What struck me most about this article is that the primary grocery shoppers profiled have all made changes to their diets as a result of rising food prices. Most families in the story mentioned reducing meat consumption, and the Egyptian family profiled actually cut back from three daily meals to two. I’ve been reading similar stories all over the frugal blogosphere. Primary shoppers are serving more vegetarian meals, eliminating specialty foods from their diets, and even raising their grocery budgets. Everyone is feeling the pinch.

Those of us who live in industrialized nations are not facing starvation, by any means. However, our counterparts in developing countries are not as fortunate. The rising cost of food in places like Zimbabwe, which is currently experiencing massive inflation, means hard-working men and women cannot provide for their families. This is why it’s so important for those of us blessed with plenty to be wise stewards of our wealth.

Reducing meat and sugar consumption is one way to make better use of our earth’s limited food resources. The meat and sugar industries are currently two of the most wasteful on the planet. The vast amount of land used for commercial meat grazing and sugar agriculture could be put to better use growing nutritious, high-protein grains and legumes for the earth’s poor. Much of the grain currently cultivated as cattle feed could be used for human consumption. If meat and sugar use were to be significantly reduced, food prices would decrease, worldwide nutrition would increase, and we would all be better served.

Obviously, no one family is going to change the way the world works by adjusting its eating habits. However, every small change we individuals make is a step in the right direction. If we all take responsibility for consuming fewer of the earth’s precious resources, collectively, we can make a difference. We can literally save lives.