agriculture is a field with historic relevance leading back to the early hunter-gatherer societies of humanity. during these times, it was a cultural expectation that everyone had a role in maintaining the land. traditionally, men would embody the role of the hunter, while women maintained the agricultural land as the gatherer. although having different roles, commonality was met with the expectation that all youth would continue the tradition and become the agricultural leaders needed to ensure the survival of their society. a tradition that has since diminished in the majority of society, as generational farmers continue to exist, but their children are becoming less likely to carry-on the family legacy.

the idea that young people think that farming is not cool, the desire of youth to live in thriving cities, or that farming is hard physical work that young people today don’t desire; are some but not the main points of why youth are not interested in farming. additionally, yes, though job security and our society’s push toward medical, technological, and engineering careers are a greater cause for this generational divide; i believe that the answer to this question is rooted in a greater issue: knowledge.

with our world globalizing at a pace faster than ever before, information is at its optimal point of accessibility in today’s society. it is in this society where the media focuses on trending topics where agriculture is lost among the millions of strands of information accessible by a click of a button. without this knowledge, the mundane traditional perceptions of farming will continue to spread, as the field continues to diminish, while youth continue to believe that there is not a place for them in agriculture. however, what if i told you that this was just not true; and that in fact the agriculture field is a place of opportunity for youth and older generations alike? here are three debunked misconceptions about youth in agriculture.

1. technology is growing in agriculture. in fact, it even has its own word, agri-tech. agri-tech, is the use of technology for agriculture, aquaculture, and horticulture that is developed to improve efficiency and profitability. this includes the usage of mobile applications for agriculture focused on efforts of connecting farmers and sponsors, to the usage of drones for agriculture, focused on monitoring fields and livestock. it even includes information communication technologies (ict) like podcasts and other social media efforts (on platforms like planet forward) to bring awareness to agriculture. lastly, and what i found most impressive is that it there is even blockchain for agriculture, which allows the usage of virtual money such as bitcoin to be used in investment and sales of produce and agritech. in fact, according to forbes magazine, agri-tech is a key area of focus for investors globally. a field that continues to surprise, and actually has many career paths and even more job opportunities in agriculture technology.

2. farming can be very profitable. though sometimes becoming a farmer may have humble beginnings, it doesn’t mean that you can’t make a profit out of it. in fact, there are actually multiple financial resources available in the u.s. alone. additionally, if you’re considered to be youth, there are even more financial opportunities for you. with there being such high-demand in the agricultural field, specifically in farming, many governmental and non-profit organizations are creating financial opportunities and rewards to encourage people, specifically youth, to pursue a career in the field. after you’ve secured this funding the next part can be tricky, but with the right practices, your farm can be very profitable. this highly depends on two things: the type of crops you grow and how you choose to operate your farm. from a face-value level, the type of crops you grow can increase your potential profit greatly. just check out these two links which explain the five and 10 highly profitable farming ventures. through this method, you are essentially guaranteed a higher potential profit by growing and raising produce that is in high demand on the market. on the contrary, for someone who does not have the capabilities or environment of producing products such as this, your second option is to alter the manner in which you operate your farm. according to agweb.com, though all farms can be profitable, there are common denominators in the farms that have the biggest success. this includes things from the inclusion of more technology or using outside experts, to revamping their accounting practices to better represent their actual costs. nevertheless, if they can do it, so can you.

3. agriculture can complement your life goals. there are a multitude of agriculture jobs beyond farming. although farmers are in high-demand, the remainder of the agricultural field is vast. this includes jobs from agricultural engineering and wildlife/forest conversation to forest health specialist. this field is not only sustainable within itself, but can easily pair with your own ambitions and goals. for example, if you’re a student majoring in finance with hopes of venturing into banking, consider adding a focus in agriculture and there are jobs such as a wells fargo senior business relationship manager – agriculture available. banking isn’t your thing, but you’re really interested in working in communications? perfect. most companies or organizations focused in agriculture, aquaculture, etc., also have to maintain communication and public relations with the surrounding world. so as you’re thinking about your future, think about how agriculture might pair well with your career goals and apply to an internship or two to give it a try.

agriculture is the world around us, and just like the world around us, it is versatile and open to all. though it has had a negative perception, the agricultural field is actually a field of opportunity. so, truth be told, it’s not that there is not a place for youth in agriculture, instead, it’s that youth have the opportunity to make agriculture something that it never has been before.

the future of agriculture is technology, it’s youth, and it’s change. for the agriculture of tomorrow begins now, with you.

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editor’s note: this series, a zero hunger future, is generously sponsored by the un-fao. all editorial content is created independently. to discover more experiential learning opportunities, email editor@planetforward.org.

the un had just released an alarming report, which warned that 12 years from now we will be beyond the tipping point — the point-of-no-return — when the global warming trend will be irreversible.

global warming isn’t the only issue on the u.n.’s agenda. this year, delegates at the un-fao launched a mission to end world hunger by 2030. the u.n. estimates that more than 820 million people are hungry. that number has been increasing since 2014, despite the un-fao’s previous efforts to rid the world of hunger.

what are global leaders doing differently now to ensure that their end world hunger campaign works this time around?

one of their focuses is to build resilience. several weeks before the un-fao’s annual world food day conference, the fao partnered with the european union on a €77 million (approximately $80 million) project to build global resilience to food crises.

a community is considered to be in a food crisis when at least one in five households have high malnutrition, even with humanitarian aid, according to the famine early warning systems network.

“investing in resilience is key to fighting hunger today and in the future. in view of the magnitude and persistence of food crises,” josé graziano da silva, head of the fao, said in a press release. “we need to invest more in resilience interventions and create stronger alliances with all parties.”

food crises are caused by conflict, drought, flood, disease, and unstable food prices, the un-fao reports. in 2017, a total of 51 countries were affected by food crises, according to an fao report. the same reported estimated that 125 million people are food insecure as a result of food crises. these individuals equal 15% of the global hungry population.

günther hemrich, deputy director of the fao’s nutrition and food systems division, lived in mwingi, kenya—a town tormented with food crises—for three years.

hemrich said that the first crop season he witnessed in mwingi was a failure. the village survived off of humanitarian aid, which was mostly corn. the second season also failed. corn for dinner again. then so did the third. and the fourth. so, more corn was delivered to mwingi.

finally, the fifth season prospered. the rainy season allowed the crops to thrive, but it also triggered a devastating cholera outbreak.

disease is among the top causes of food crises, the un reports. hundreds of village members were affected. those who were healthy enough would carry their neighbors to health centers in wheelbarrows, hemrich said.

although kenya faces food crises, it is not a country that will receive aid from the fao and eu’s 3-year-long project. the food resilience project will focus on 12 countries: yemen, cuba, venezuela, myanmar, madagascar, ethiopia, somalia, sudan, niger, chad, mali, and nigeria.

yemen was the most hunger-stricken country on the globe last year with more than half of the population—about 17 million people—considered food insecure as a result of conflict, displacement and economic collapse.

other countries on the list, such as ethiopia and madagascar, have been affected by extreme weather. ethiopia is still facing the effects of the el nińo drought and madagascar has been impacted by cyclones.

it is not yet clear what these projects will entail or how they will build resilience, but leaders agree that the effort is necessary.

with a growing global population — which is projected to hit 10 billion by 2050 — and the effects of climate change, un leaders feel the pressure to enact monumental change.

“either we carry on doing the same thing, which is not getting us any closer to zero hunger, or we do things differently,” arvelo said.

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editor’s note: this series, a zero hunger future, is generously sponsored by the un-fao. all editorial content is created independently. to discover more experiential learning opportunities, email editor@planetforward.org.

president of the united nations food and agriculture organization (unfao),  josé graziano da silva, challenged delegates in the plenary to stay grounded in this question as they would spend the next week discussing and devising solutions to end global hunger by 2030.

interestingly enough, this was not the first time i found myself facing this powerful question. in my medical school training, we often are asked to take pause on similar questions: “did i think of every possible diagnosis?” “did i ask every relevant question?” “did i evaluate all possible outcomes?” all these questions ultimately boil down to, “did i do everything i could for this patient when there was still a chance?”

at these united nations’ meetings, the “patient” is the world and the outcomes to prepare for range from decreased crop diversity to increased strain on resources. throughout the week, delegates worked to create plans so we could do “everything” we can to keep perhaps our most important patient healthy.

medicine and health played a notable role in these meetings. the united nations 2nd sustainable development goal outlines, “a profound change of the global food and agriculture system is needed to nourish today’s 795 million hungry + the additional 2 billion increase in global population expected by 2050.” queen letizia of spain noted a critical element in devising solutions for this goal: “it is not just about feeding, it is about nourishing.”

throughout the week, it was highlighted that diet is the no. 1 risk factor globally for disease. as the world prepares to reshape our food systems, this statistic and the important health consequences from food cannot be ignored.

from a medical viewpoint, malnutrition is understood to be, a “dysfunction resulting from a failure to consume or to metabolize sufficient nutrients to support the body’s structural and functional integrity,” according to the sabiston textbook of surgery (2017). malnutrition can be caused by starvation, metabolic disorders, or even obesity due to intake of inappropriate and nutrient poor foods. prolonged malnutrition can impair organ systems, leading to respiratory insufficiency, delayed wound healing, skeletal muscle wasting, renal atrophy, immunosuppression, or cardiac dysfunction.

while hunger can have devastating impacts on individuals and communities, malnutrition extends beyond hunger. the meetings importantly pointed out that 8 of the 20 countries with the fastest rising obesity rates are in developing parts of africa and just under 40% of adults in the united states are obese. malnutrition is a disease of both poverty and wealth. with an increasing trend in non-communicable diseases, like cardiovascular disease or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, it is imperative to recognize how food trends are influencing the global health landscape.

given the close interplay between health and food, it is clear that policies to end malnutrition will require a close collaboration with the healthcare sector. clinicians need a seat at the table to advocate for patients around the world and to offer insight on the downstream health consequences of shifting diets. in order to “do everything we could when there was still a chance,” we need to involve everyone we can while there is still a chance. from tackling problems as far-reaching as the interplay of climate change and global food security to overcoming microscopic obstacles in a clinical setting, solutions are made stronger when diverse perspectives are involved.

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editor’s note: this series, a zero hunger future, is generously sponsored by the un-fao. all editorial content is created independently. to discover more experiential learning opportunities, email editor@planetforward.org.

the meetings concentrated on discussions concerning worldwide progress being made on global food security measures, specifically relating to the second sustainable development goal: zero hunger. the goal focuses on eliminating hunger completely by the year of 2030. currently, one in nine — 815 million people — around the globe are considered to be malnourished, with the majority of the people living in a developing country. furthermore, 45% of childhood deaths under the age of five are a result of undernourishment.

josè graziano da silva, director of the food and agriculture organization of the united nations said, “zero hunger is not just about feeding people, but nourishing people.”

achieving the goal of zero hunger must include a dynamic, collaborative solution involving public policy, the private sector, and all citizens on this planet including all countries. based on the comments stated throughout the committee on global food security meetings, hunger can be divided into two parts: obesity and starvation.

obesity

malnourishment is not solely defined by starvation, or a lack of a calorie-dense diet. obesity is also a form of malnourishment of epidemic proportion that increases peoples risks to non-communicable diseases by consuming too many calories compared to the amount of exercise the individual is performing.

there are currently 38 million children under the age of five who are overweight and one in eight adults who also struggle with obesity. this health epidemic affects both developed and developing countries. obesity is most prevalent in developed countries, most commonly found in north america. discussion around obesity at the committee for global food security meetings was related to low income budgets turning to foods that are calorie-dense and nutrient-poor including fast food and highly processed foods. these poor food choices are much cheaper and offer a high-calorie food source, which families resort to in an effort to combat their food insecurity. the delegates at the meetings promoted sourcing and creating fresh foods available to these families and also educating the youth on how to implement these fresh foods into their diets and preparing them to be tasteful.

starvation

achieving the goal of zero hunger by reducing starvation requires, perhaps surprisingly, a continued emphasis on the empowerment of women, according to the food and agriculture organization. with agriculture being the single largest employer in the world, employing more than 40% of the global population, there is a continued need for women to be included in active roles in agriculture. the female farmers of the world predominately run agricultural operations with the goal of producing enough food to feed their families, specifically in developing countries. some of the ways women are empowered to promote efficient agricultural production includes education of methodology, implementation of technology, and utilization of proper storage techniques all of which help maximize yields. finally, women need to continue to tell their stories about how they are driven to subsist and feed their families.

we heard about an example demonstrating the importance of storytelling in agriculture is a first-time farmer from sewa, zala shardaben fathesinh. zala strives to produce food for her family to live on and had to begin her operation by borrowing money, and, as a result, was trapped in a vicious cycle of trying to pay the money back to the lender, while also producing enough food for the family. zala discussed some of the challenges that she faces on a regular basis, including drought that has been worsened by climate change and a lack of technology to help optimize her operation. zala’s story exemplifies issues being discussed within the united nations to achieve the goal of zero hunger through the reduction of undernourishment.

food is a basic necessity for life. the type of food available can determine the health and opportunities available to an individual. civilization needs to strive to produce more food, on fewer resources, with more nutrients to sustain the growing population. how is this world going to be able to ecologically sustain the amount of food we need to produce to feed the entirety of the expected population of 10 billion?

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editor’s note: this series, a zero hunger future, is generously sponsored by the un-fao. all editorial content is created independently. to discover more experiential learning opportunities, email editor@planetforward.org.

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m.j. altman uncovers the hidden human stories about people and food on the frontlines of hunger in her podcast called “hacking hunger.” as editorial director at world food program usa, she also oversees the organization’s multimedia projects, op-eds and communications outreach. her previous work experience includes writer-reporter for time magazine and public affairs producer at the smithsonian institution.

altman’s podcast features interviews with aid workers and families in the field who are involved with the world food program in some way. “hacking hunger” is currently in its second season and was downloaded more than 10,000 times since starting last year.

for altman, “hacking hunger” is more than just one aspect of her role at wfp usa. she elaborated on that in a conversation with planet forward:

q: has your work with global hunger issues changed the way you perceive food?

a: one thousand times yes. it has changed the way i look at food in so many ways. a third of the food grown globally is wasted and if we didn’t waste that food we could feed most of the hungry people on the planet, which is mind boggling and it’s developed countries like the u.s. that are responsible for a lot of it.

i’m very conscientious about throwing out food. i’m that person where if it’s a half eaten sandwich, i’m asking for a to go box.

q: “hacking hunger” has been going on for some time. have you noticed an impact?

a: this upcoming episode on south sudan will be the 18th one. we’ve changed a lot. i won’t lie we dove into this not really knowing what we were doing. the podcast actually raised $25,000, which was huge for us because knowing that with that money you can feed 100,000 people really makes the project even more worthwhile.

q: in january’s episode of “hacking hunger,” you said, “i dove in headfirst without knowing exactly what i wanted hacking hunger to be.” what was your mindset in early episodes of the podcast?

a: you’re in d.c., it’s such a bubble and we didn’t want to be lending our microphones to people who already have a platform. so i found personally that the episodes i did with people that you wouldn’t have otherwise heard from like an ethiopian donor who crowdsourced facebook support for the drought relief in his homeland, those are the stories that really moved me and those are the stories that really moved our listeners.

we realized we had to go deeper. we weren’t aiming to get people like nicholas kristof on the podcast. we wanted the everyday rwandan student who was a refugee, received food from the world food program and later became an agricultural student in the u.s. that’s the story we wanted to tell. those really hidden human stories and i think that was a huge revelation for us.

q: in january’s episode you also said, “i didn’t sound like myself and it took 12 episodes before i could start to find my real voice.”

a: (laughs)

q: what did you mean by real voice?

a: if you go back and listen to the early episodes i sound different because i had an idea of how a podcast should sound. i was channeling diane rehm. so i’m talking in a very soft, just the intonation of my voice, whereas if you know me i’m a pretty loud and outspoken person.

when you’re writing a podcast script it can start to sound really stilted and dry so what i’m really hoping with this second season is that it’s a little more conversational, it sounds just a little more natural.

q: are there any other interviewers besides diane rehm that you have learned from?

a: doing a lot of the interviews over skype because we’re talking to people in juba, south sudan, and iraq is really difficult because you don’t have the face-to-face interaction. you’re not able to read someone’s expressions and get a sense of, “ok are they comfortable with this question?” i think listening to “fresh air” with terry gross has been really illuminating and just other podcasts where people act like themselves.

q: how have your previous experiences like working as a public affairs producer at the smithsonian institute influenced your work on the podcast?

a: my experience, both reporting at time and working at the smithsonian’s american museum, taught me the importance of perspectives. when i was at time i had the opportunity to put together a special anniversary package on the iraq war and for that i interviewed an aid worker, a wisconsin senator, a documentary filmmaker and a soldier. i got very different run downs of what the war had been like. it was just a reminder of how everyone has a different view of what’s happening in the world and the same was true at the smithsonian.

it was a reminder that you can’t make assumptions. we’re always learning and there are just a lot of unreported stories and unreported voices and perspectives that even though we don’t hear them doesn’t mean they don’t exist and aren’t important.

q: do you still consider yourself a journalist?

a: i don’t think i do because i have a bias right? i love the world food program. i love the mission. i feel i’ve had the opportunity to travel to tanzania and bangladesh. i’ve seen wfp’s impact and interviewed families first hand.

i have an agenda and my agenda is to hopefully share that passion with my listeners and get them to understand why this is so important, why they can join this mission, whether it’s listening to the podcast or sharing it with family or a friend, or donating $10 after an episode. i come into it with a deliberate purpose of i want to get you on my team.

q: jane pauley, the anchor of cbs news sunday morning said, “the shows i really admire like ‘oprah’ and ‘ellen’ are distinctly like their hosts. so i think my show will be successful only if we try to stay consistent to my own sense of myself.” do you see “hacking hunger” as a reflection of yourself?

a: i’m starting to. i think because of my journalism background, you’re not supposed to put yourself in the story, or at least traditionally the idea isn’t to be overly narcissistic and just see the world through the lens of your own past experiences. but i am starting to realize that there are experiences i can share with listeners that make them know me more and the importance of building that relationship.

i started the south sudan episode by telling a story about being in tanzania and meeting a 10-month-old baby who was basically starving to death. it’s an experience that changed my outlook on life so much. it haunts me to this day. it always will and it always should. so i shared that in the beginning just because i think fortunately most people are never going to have that experience of meeting a child like that who has been without food for so long that they can’t be saved. i hope that in sharing that people understand my personal investment to this particular story in south sudan.

q: you’ve elaborated on your personal investment and a lot of the significant issues behind global hunger, but has anyone ever told you to focus on what they believed were more important or pressing issues?

a: luckily, i have a really supportive group of family and friends. my husband over christmas announced to my whole family, “did you guys hear that ‘hacking hunger’ raised $25,000? oh my gosh!” it was kind of embarrassing, but here at world food program usa we get comments like, what about hunger in the u.s.? that’s one of the big pushbacks.

i understand that perspective because we do have hunger in this country, but i think it’s important to realize it’s not always a zero sum game. the extent and the scale and the severity of hunger in a place like south sudan is so much worse than we see in this country. it has implications for people in the u.s. even if they don’t realize it.

hunger feeds on violence and instability and spreads. it’s like a virus. if we have the ability to feed a hungry person, we should. if we have the capacity to save a life, we should. even beyond that there are really very serious economic development and national security consequences for ignoring a famine on the other side of the world.

q: are there any episodes of hacking hunger you wish you could change?

a: we always want to have more voices of people who are impacted by hunger and that’s really hard to do not just because of the logistics of getting a recorder to a remote village in syria, but because of the language issues and access generally.

there was an episode we did on this really incredible miracle crop called moringa. it’s coming to the u.s. and it’s helping smallholder farmers in ghana. we didn’t get a chance to talk to a farmer in ghana who has seen her family’s income triple because she started growing this really nutritious, hearty and drought-resistant crop. so there are a lot of examples from last season where i wish we could have heard first hand from the people who are growing these crops or are experiencing hunger, not just the aid workers.

q: how has the podcast influenced your perception of hunger?

a: before i started working here i didn’t have an appreciation of hunger and how much of a problem it is, but also how solvable it is. it’s a paradox. we’re growing enough food in the world to feed everybody and make sure everybody is healthy. the problem is access. people live in remote villages that don’t have roads or they’re not able to get the farming equipment and the financial capital they need to make their farms successful.

this is maybe not a “sexy” topic, but i met a wall street journal reporter named roger thurow — and maybe you’re familiar with him — but he covered agriculture for 20 years. it was market stuff and the developed world’s business side of agriculture and then he covered the famine in 2010 and ’11. he said it was a story he couldn’t walk away from. thurow quit his job at the wall street journal and now just reports on hunger full time. i think that is extraordinary.

q: what does success look like for “hacking hunger”?

a: success is literally anytime someone is moved by our podcast. if you listen to an episode and it opens your eyes to something you never thought about or it changes your perspective or just broadens your perspective, i feel like that’s a win. if you share it with family or friends, even better. if you donate after and you become a supporter of our organization or you become a supporter of any hunger nonprofit, that’s a win. but i think even just starting with if you listen, and you have something that you take away from it, then i feel it’s a success.

friday marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the food and agriculture organization of the united nations (un-fao). founded oct. 16, 1945, as an agency of the un specializing in food and agriculture, “fiat panis,” or “let there be bread,” is a fitting motto. the un-fao continues to lead agricultural innovation with the goal of eliminating world hunger and food shortages.

the organization didn’t designate an official anniversary event until 1979, and oct. 16 has been celebrated as world food day ever since. according to the fao.org page, world food day is meant to draw awareness to hunger in the world, encourage cooperation between developing countries, promote new technology in the developing world and spur international cooperation in the fight against hunger, malnutrition and poverty.

this year, world food day will focus strongly on the theme of social protection as applied to rural poverty. in honor of the anniversary, the official ceremony will commemorate the un-fao’s 70 years of activism and address the 2015 world food day theme as well as the specific un expo theme, “the zero hunger challenge: united for a sustainable world.”

friday’s world food day celebration is expected to be the largest expo event to date. the 2015 world exposition in milan opened in may and closes at the end of october.

fact: approximately 925 million people in the world do not eat enough to be healthy. that means that one in every seven people on earth goes to bed hungry each night.

fact: well over half of the world’s hungry people–some 578 million people–live in asia and the pacific region. africa accounts for just over one quarter of the world’s hungry population.

fact: it costs just us $0.25 per day to provide a child with all of the vitamins and nutrients he or she needs to grow up healthy.

fact: in 2012, the united nations world food programme (wfp) provided school meals to 24.7 million children in 60 countries.

fact: school meals encourage poor households to send children to school and keep them there.

fact: wfp works with governments to allow them to continue wfp-funded program themselves and to create and run their own sustainable school meal program.

listen to paul’s story, and then sound off in the comments – have you benefited from a school lunch program? how has food impacted your life?

leor reef and matt seedorff are seniors at the george washington university majoring in journalism.