After the massive earthquake in Haiti, one of my aunts sent a package via the local post to one of her friends there whose farm was destroyed. It contained packaged seeds for several fruits and vegetables so that her friend could start over. There's always some sort of hope when it comes to food because it's ground zero for life. Everything needs to consume something to survive, that's the basic principle.
Where I stay though, we have so much food that our time of leasure revolves around it. We hang out in what we call 'mamaks' which is a restaurant which serves, predominantly, South Indian food. If you had to count how much food people throw away from just ONE day there you'd realise that this habit has to change. We have enough food, wasted, to feed an entire village (of maybe five hundred -- give or take a few hundred)!
Another problem is that many people don't cook anymore. I don't understand when people say that they have no time to cook or that they can't cook. There's a Malay saying that roughly translates to 'If you want something you'll make all the effort, if you don't you come up with all the excuses,” which means their version of I-cannot-cook just means I-don't-want-to-cook.
Now, Food security doesn't just mean the availability of food. It also means that the consumables should be safe and nutritious. In Malaysia and the greater world, food stopped being nutritious and most of them teetering on the edge of being safe. This is especially true in Malaysia.
What's being done? Well, there's a small portion of us technically embracing the simpler things in life such as gardening and composting. I know it's not the most creative thing one can think of but it's a start. Most of us have a little vegetable garden or herb garden in our back yards which serve to supplement our culinary expertise. Some even go as far as to have their own little farm where they remain almost self sustainable.
So start growing your own vegetable! It's a start and you'll know it's not full of chemicals unless you're the one spraying it!
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