Connect with nature, connect with future

These observances are intended to raise global awareness to take positive environmental action to protect nature, the oceans and planet Earth by extension; but simple yet compelling education must be shared.

In doing so, we must develop a greater sensitivity to the impact of the food industry, water usage, the ecological and environmental footprint created by food production, and an appreciation of the challenges faced by rural and coastal TT .

Put another way, statistics from the Food and Drug Administration of the US show that the average human consumes an estimated one ton of food a year.

Further, waste produced by the food industry, food loss and the wastage of food pose several challenges and missed opportunities that are perhaps immeasurable.

At a national level, we need to look at building the resilience of farming and fishing communities to strengthen their adaptive capacity and reduce their vulnerability to exogenous issues such as climate change, but importantly to give them a voice in governance.

We also need to expand consumer thinking to an interest in where our food comes from, how it is produced, and the circumstances of the men and women who feed our country.

There is a greater awareness of our dependence on food imports, especially of commodities which can be grown/produced locally and those of dubious nutrition and quality, coupled with the change in economic climate which has encouraged food sufficiency to develop in different ways, especially at the household level.

I believe that educating about and understanding the food industry will bring people closer to the land, the oceans and encourage greater respect for the men and women who feed us.

By connecting with nature, we begin to focus on sustaining people and their livelihoods, the future.

OMARDATH MAHARAJ agricultural economist