Food is a human right. Food access is justice in action. These are two of the core beliefs of the Nosher’s Nest because they are my core beliefs. I’m not going to share a recipe today or tell you about my weekend. Instead, we’re going to come together and start (just start) to talk about food and justice and how we take part in it. How we consume, process, and activate against injustice in the world. How we take action, even in the smallest of ways.
On April 1st, the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) attacked three separate World Central Kitchen aid vehicles marked and cleared to be delivering food aid in Gaza. The attack killed seven aid workers: Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha, John Chapman, Jacob Flickinger, Zomi Frankcom, James Henderson, James Kirby, and Damian Sobol. This week, the World Central Kitchen resumed its work in Gaza “at scale”, as their founder, world renowned chef Jose Andrés shared in an Op Ed in the Washington post: “We have 276 trucks, representing almost 8 million meals, ready to enter Gaza through the Rafah crossing in the south. We are also sending trucks from Jordan as we push to distribute food into northern Gaza, where the situation is most dire.” (Washington Post)
World Central Kitchen functions on the belief (and truly, it is more than just a belief) that food is a universal human right. This means that food can also most easily be used as a weapon. I won’t spend time on history, I won’t pull in outside examples. I will say only that in this moment of humanitarian crisis, we know that malnutrition is one of the greatest threats to life in the Gaza Strip most specifically. In a news release published on February 19th, the World Health organization shared findings of the report “Nutrition Vulnerability and Situation Analysis – Gaza,” stating “5.6 per cent – or 1 in 6 children under 2 years of age – are acutely malnourished. Of these, almost 3 per cent suffer from severe wasting, the most life-threatening form of malnutrition, which puts young children at highest risk of medical complications and death unless they receive urgent treatment.” (WHO) The report also shared that 95% of children under 2 and 90% of pregnant/breastfeeding women faced severe food poverty. Each of these numbers can only have gotten worse.
Food poverty and malnutrition are preventable. Providing safe and abundant food is possible. Providing clean water for drinking, cooking, and hygiene is possible. Restricting access to food is a weapon – not just in Gaza, but in my own backyard as well. In yours too.
Food is used as a weapon used to enforce racism, wealth disparity, health outcomes, and so much more. Folks with power will and have always used food to segregate, to impoverish, and to alienate. In the most dire moments, like what we are facing in Gaza now, perhaps it’s more blatant – that withholding food leads to death. Preventable death. Of children. Of the most vulnerable. But forced poverty, forced hunger, kills over time too. It leaves indelible scars. It impacts life expectancy and the ability of folks to live their fullest lives… not just now, but ever.
Food is being used as a weapon on our college campuses as we speak. As administrations order police barricades to bar encamped students from receiving food. Hunger is a universal experience. Food is a universal human right. Standing for that right should be an unencumbered practice. Upholding that right should be protected at all costs.
I am a Jewish woman. This past week we observed Passover, the time of year I most deeply enjoy the act of feeding others. I shared food. I cooked for and with others. I engaged in ritual that reminds us of the inhumanity of forced hunger. The steps we take to feed and be fed. The way we stand against those who use hunger against us.
My dear friend, a faith leader, brought food to student protesters this week. We agreed: that to feed is to do holy work. To uphold humanity. Regardless of what you believe. What you experience. You deserve to be fed. It is your right to be fed. And so is it of every human. That is undeniable.
There is so much more to say. So much more to do. As a small step, I urge you to follow along with World Central Kitchen. Follow the WHO. Donate – funds, food, time. And if this makes you feel defensive, take some time to think. Take time to think about what humanity is to you. Take some time to dive deeper into why this hurts. And then come back and read again.
You can read more here:
- World Central Kitchen Resuming Gaza Operations – World Central Kitchen
- José Andres: Let People Eat – The New York Times (Opinion)
- Our Story – World Central Kitchen
- We’re going back to Gaza to feed people. Here’s what we need from Israel. – Washington Post (Opinion)
- Children’s lives threatened by rising malnutrition in the Gaza Strip – WHO
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