The Island Editorial

Food for thought

11 January 2017

 

Even those who did not adore the late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayaram Jayalalithaa may agree that some of her political programmes stood the poor in good stead. She set up 657 eateries to serve decent food at nominal prices, according to a report we published yesterday. She may not have wanted to give away food owing to social stigma associated with free victuals. These eating places popularly known as ‘Amma canteens’ are said to be fully functional even after her death. Her example is worthy of emulation.

President Maithripala Sirisena struck a responsive chord with all right-thinking people the other day when he, addressing a ceremony to mark the second anniversary of his assumption of office, said the number of poor people in this country could be higher than the official figure. Pointing out that many more people should receive Samurdhi benefits he reaffirmed his commitment to poverty alleviation.

Propagandists of the previous government projected former President Mahinda Rajapaksa as a leader who was like a father (appachchi) to all Sri Lankan children. It was open house at Temple Trees for children during his tenure as President. His habit of feeding thousands of people drew heavy flak from his critics who said he was wasting public funds. The late President Ranasinghe Premadasa introduced the mid-day meal programme in schools besides the distribution of free uniform materials. Now, it is up to President Sirisena to help the poor in a tangible manner and feed the hungry.

There are charities dedicated to fighting hunger even in the capitalist world. Feeding America runs programmes like school-based food pantries, emergency disaster relief, and Kids’ Café as part of a nationwide network geared to save people from hunger. The outfit says that in the US, which wastes billions of pounds of food each year, it is shocking that anyone goes hungry. The People’s Kitchen in the UK also renders an invaluable service to the needy by making food available to them. It is also run by volunteers who visit markets, collect food items and serve cooked meals free of charge.

Giving is nothing new in this country. Food is given away during all religious festivals, especially Vesak and Poson. Sadly, the provision of food at dansel on these occasions has come to be a form of entertainment and many people partake of free food for the fun of it. These poorly targeted yet commendable efforts to dull the pangs of hunger can be properly coordinated and focused with the assistance of the business community and the public enlisted to help the poor.

Food that goes to waste in Colombo may be sufficient to feed all the hungry mouths in the poor quarters of the city. We have pointed out in these columns that at least 2,000 people can be fed with the amount of food discarded by parliament canteens every month. Instances are common where farmers destroy their produce in protest, unable to dispose of it following bumper harvests. A few years ago irate dairy farmers poured thousands of litres of milk into public drains and waterways in the central hills as they could not sell it. Waste is rampant in market places. It was reported in February, 2016 that about 32 million kilos of rice had perished in Sathosa warehouses due to improper storage. This kind of criminal waste of food occurs in a country where nearly one-third of children and one quarter of women are malnourished according to UN data.

The present dispensation came to power promising compassionate governance. Now that food prices have gone into the stratosphere with more and more people hitting the sack on empty stomachs, the government ought to give serious thought to looking after the needy.

President Sirisena may not want to emulate his predecessors, especially Rajapaksa, for obvious reasons, but he can adopt the Amma method of feeding the hungry and set up Appachchi/Appa canteens.