By Roxana Isaacs
On this year’s World Food Day, we are called to stand ‘Hand in Hand for Better Foods and a Better Future’. Food insecurity is not only about scarcity; it is also about the quality of what is available. What counts as “better” food, however, will sometimes vary from person to person. For a variety of reasons, we choose to eat certain foods and not to eat others. We reserve particular foods for special occasions and would notice their absence if they were not available. It is easy to take for granted that we can make these choices—that we can decide not just whether to eat, but what to eat, and when.
In 2023, I developed a resource titled ‘A New Flavour of Giving’. The aim behind it was to call for food donations that are culturally appropriate. I made note of dietary requirements and foods that are traditional features of festivals, focusing on the Jewish, Muslim, and Hindu communities. This was not an exhaustive list, but it was enough to demonstrate that, with regards to food, different cultures are characterised by different needs and preferences. As such, they are an important way of shaping one’s cultural identity.
In my experience of Jewish culture, food has consistently played a central role. Many of the Jewish festivals throughout the year are marked by different foods: apple and honey on Rosh Hashanah, matzah on Pesach, fruit on Tu B’Shvat. They serve as a powerful method of symbolism and draw a line back to past generations of Jews who ate the very things for the very same reasons. Even if we did not keep to particular traditions, we could still recognise the place that those traditions hold in other people’s lives. If they matter to someone, they should also matter to us.
As has continued to be the case, however, food banks are struggling to accommodate cultural preferences. Since writing my resource, the state of food insecurity is yet to have significantly improved. It is currently affecting 14% of households, with 6.5 million people turning to charitable food providers. Within this 6.5 million are a range of cultural groups, but food donations are, for the most part, not geared to reflect this diversity. Consequently, with access to food limited to this extent, so too is the freedom to engage with an essential element of cultural experience.
To truly be standing ‘Hand in Hand’ here, we also ought to recognise that food insecurity is not limited to one particular sect; it is a cross-cultural issue. And each cultural group has an equal claim to food that is appropriate to them. With that being so, our food donations should be made with intention, conscious of the distinctive needs of a range of people.
Indeed, looking to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we must see Article 25, establishing the right to an adequate standard of living, firmly alongside Article 2: “Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion”. We cannot neglect the latter as we pursue the former.
We can further extend our hands out to each other by collaborating in this effort. We can actively spread awareness of this limited access to culturally appropriate food and the fact that this is an issue which matters. Part of the reason for limited awareness is that many are not acquainted with the specific cultural preferences of different groups. My resource is only one method of remedying this, but it cannot replace the words of those who have experienced, first-hand, their community’s relationship with particular foods. It will therefore be valuable to offer insight into personal experience as well as sharing the testimonies of others. By being prepared to guide and be guided, our collective effort here could make a real difference.
As we move into the later months of this year, a period enriched by various festivals (Hanukkah, Diwali, Christmas, Bodhi Day, just to name a few), we should not underestimate the impact that can be made through being intentional about our food donations. If we acknowledge each group’s equal claim to food that can suit their specific needs, and work together to build a shared knowledge base, we can go a long way in helping preserve and celebrate cultural identity.
