Grocery Shopping Nightmare in Venezuela

Venezuelan citizens are outraged about the current laws surrounding grocery shopping. Yes, grocery shopping... There is a grocery shopping system in Venezuela which allows citizens to grocery shop a maximum of once every four days, the day depending on a number on each person's ID card. Not only are there restrictions on when and where these people can buy their food, but there is a massive food shortage in Venezuela. Grocery store shelves are empty people are hungry for change.


Empty shelves like these are a common sight amongst grocery stores across Venezuela.

Venezuela is known for being rich in oil, but low oil prices across the globe and high levels of inflation has made Venezuela one of the worst countries economically, according to NPR.org. In fact, the government has seized giving economic statistics. The statics available are from independent economists who report that inflation is north of 100% annually (according to the Wall Street Journal). The people of Venezuela grocery shop in fear. Fear of thieves snatching the little food they are able to purchase. Fear that they won't be able to gather enough food for their families. This issue is a contributing issue to that of the hunger crisis which effects too many countries across the world.

On planet Earth, nearly 842 million people are suffering from hunger. That's about 3 times more than the entire population of the United States. An unfathomable amount to most people. Hunger kills more people each year than AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined. Hunger kills more than 5 million children each year. Considering the amount of food that goes to waste in the United States alone, hunger shouldn't be as large of a tragic problem as it is.

In the USA, 30-40% of food the entire food supply goes to waste. This results in more than 20 pounds of food wasted per American each month. For some reason, the United States has its own hunger crisis. with these statistics in mind, there is no reason for anyone in the United States to not have enough to eat. How can we change this issue for the better? In order to avoid food waste as much as we can, we must become smarter in regard to grocery shopping. A large percentage of food purchased by Americans goes to waste whilst cleaning out our pantries and cabinets. If an amount of the food we throw away was never purchased in the first place, would it go to waste? The answer lies with the management of your local grocery store. Find out if your grocery store donates food after its "sell by" date. If not, you can still make a change by switching to a grocery store that does donate food or suggesting that they should do so. A suggestion never hurt anyone. If this issue is something you find passion in, volunteer. Local food banks and food pantries won't turn away extra help and some are in need of it. In order to fight world hunger, we have to start in our own backyard.