The month of August 2023 has manifested itself and is about to be consigned to the abyss of history. Increasingly, many people are waking up to the reality of the interconnectedness and the centrality of the current food system’s contribution to the four key crises of the 21^st century, namely;

• The climate change crisis, increasingly a ‘climate emergency’

• The increasing loss of biodiversity and soil degradation with reduced yield and productivity

• The deepening food insecurity directly linked to increasing poverty

• The increasing burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), including the diabetes and cancer epidermics

To do justice to the aforementioned four crises of the 21^st century, one would need separate articles to provide an overview of each crisis and how these crises are linked. As an introduction to the manifestation of the ‘problem’ and the centrality of the current food system, which urgently needs fixing, here below a couple of articles that elaborate on and provide evidence based indictment on the current food system. This food system is largely owned by multinationals and corporate monopolies. These monopolies are not farmer owned and yet, they control key food production inputs which include fertilizers and seeds which ideally should be owned or part controlled by farmers or farmer owned entities.

Additionally, the same monopolies control food production and the entire value chain of the current food system. Find below a couple of related articles, with embedded evidence, demonstrating why and how the current food system is ‘poisonous’.

• https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/rfk-jr-food-farming-policy-roundtable/

• https://www.naturalnews.com/2023-08-16-rfkjr-slams-corrupt-system-that-produces-poison-food.html

Now that evidence of the poisonous and toxic nature of the current food system is apparent, supported by more research evidence linking the broken food system to the emergence of climate instability, increasing food insecurity(hunger), loss of biodiversity and soil degradation, increasing poverty and the rising burden of NCDs with the accompanying negative socio-economic impacts.

• Do we have evidence that the food system is broken and has failed? YES
• Do we have proven alternative sustainable food systems that address and mitigate the quadruple crises, as outlined in this article? YES

Subsequent articles will focus on outlining and highlighting science backed solutions to the current broken food system that are a key contributor to the quadruple crises.

Stay tuned…till next.

The month of June is here and just about gone…and life goes on or does it?

Yes, it does and with it, every day, every week, every month and every year, more and more toxic herbicides and pesticides continue being dumped into our soils and atmosphere in the name of growing food. This is in addition to increasing use of synthetic fertilizers ostensibly to increase yield and productivity. Published evidence is that this artificial method of increasing yield is counterproductive as it destroys soil health and in the long run results in the ‘death’ of soils and the life sustaining microbial life within the soil.

The month of July is about gone but not without of a couple of milestone events: The transitioning of a great matriarch, the mother of the author of this blog, was the one event and the execution of the week-long healthy foods campaign, ‘My Food is African’ by the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) was the other event.

• This blogpost is rather unique in the sense that it doesn’t feature a particular agroecological issue but rather provides a summary of two milestone events; while these two events appear unrelated on surface glance, a deeper look reveals that the transitioning of a matriarch and a call to reconnect with ‘My Food is African’ are indeed related and intertwined.

• Why? Among other reasons, because this matriarch, of legendary proportions, typified the African grandmother whose knowledge, belief and practice of all things ‘My Food is African’ was not only exemplary but informed the quest and passion of the blogpost author to pursue what has turned out to be a lifelong mission to promote and advocate for the cultivation, value adding, preparation and consumption of nutrient rich and ecosystem friendly foods that resonate with ‘My Food is African’ philosophy and practice.

• The book, 'My Food is African'  can be downloaded here: https://afsafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/bfg-my_food_is_african_-_lores.pdf

• The event of the transitioning of the great matriarch and related posts are captured here: https://web.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10232895228508725&set=pcb.10232895294030363&type=3&theater

• The blog author, despite the difficult period, found time to post a comment during the ‘My Food is African’ Food Campaign. The  food campaign emphasises the urgent need to transition from the current industrial food systems to the more sustainable agroecological farming, food production and related food systems and outcomes; These positive outcomes range from healthy soils and healthy diets to a more sustainable socio-economic environment, free from climate change and other crises, like the increasing burden of non-communicalbe diseases(NCDs) due to the current unhealthy diets. Find the comment here on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Afsafrica/status/1684213030442106880

• Finally, keeping it short and sweet, find here the ‘Thank you’ message from the Communication Officer of AFSA, Mr. Kirubel, who successfully led the one-week long campaign to promote and advocate for adoption and consumption of African foods and related cuisines. https://afsafrica.org/celebrating-six-days-of-the-my-food-is-african-campaign-and-marching-forward/

Thank you.