The year 2020 is going to be remembered for only one reason. The pandemic that is Covid-19. However, there have been so many other problems that have been caused by the pandemic. For example, families struggling due to being made redundant. In addition, those who still have a job have seen their incomes reduce. As such the impact on families across the world has become even more devastating and left them struggling to put food on the table.
The food security crisis is doubling the number of food insecure people by the end of this year, and the impact will be felt by children all over the world.
In the UK there are currently over 4 million children living in poverty and the Covid-19 pandemic has put even more families at risk.
The UN food program statistic of 1 in 5 children going hungry is heart breaking and shameful.
These are frightening figures: that families are struggling and unable to buy food for their family. We need to raise awareness, and act now and get more people involved.
As parents, what can we do to help?
This Christmas we will be living under very strict restrictions in the UK due to Covid-19 and that’s because transmission is on the increase again. Many of us will sit down on Christmas Day to a turkey dinner in our very own small bubble, but that will not be the case for everybody. Many families and especially children will go hungry this Christmas. This is appalling when you think we supposedly live in an equal world. The truth is there is nothing equal about the world we live in. It’s on all of us to step in and step up to help. Even small actions can add up to make big changes.
Many individuals and organisations are tirelessly helping those less fortunate by giving their time and food to food banks. 2020 also saw leaders emerge such as Marcus Rashford to remind us we have a moral and ethical responsibility to do more and not let our children go hungry.
One way we as parents can do more is by teaching our children from a young age. We need to educate them about food insecurity. If we educate our children now, then future generations will be able to eradicate food insecurity.
Here are a few tips on how to talk to our children about food insecurity this Christmas and beyond.
1. Tell A Story
Open up the conversation and engage your children with a story about a person or somebody that is made up who will go hungry this Christmas. Explain why they won’t have any food and find out in a gentle way how they feel about it. You could maybe ask them to create a story or draw a picture.
2. Do Not Rush the Conversation
It’s vital that when talking to your children about other children going hungry this Christmas, that you pick your moment carefully. Perhaps during a meal when they are focused to listen and they are comfortable to ask questions. It’s important that you do this all year around and to stop once your children lose their focus.
3. Use Resources That Are Available
There are many resources available. For example, a charity such as Save The Children UK have videos and statistics to help start the conversation with your children.
4. Get Your Children’s Teachers Involved
Involving your children’s school and teachers is a great way to teach your children about food insecurity. You can find out if they are planning any lessons on the subject and if they are then you can talk about this at home.
5. Use one of their toys to educate and explain
Using one of their favourite toys can be a perfect way to engage your children in a discussion about food insecurity.
A particular favourite toy that many children can identify with is a teddy bear and this Christmas Dole have partnered up with Save the Children UK and their Unstuffed Bears Campaign.
To help feed a child this Christmas the public of the UK can help feed a plush teddy bear whose tummy is noticeably less full than others with nutritional food. Children can go to Dole’s website and use their donation machine to help fill the tummies of cute teddy bears that represent hungry children everywhere.
Dole’s Unstuffed Bears campaign is all about showing everybody in the world that hunger is not acceptable and people should not be comfortable with it. Dole are fully committed to making a sustainable difference and change when it comes to world hunger, and believe that by collectively getting together we can make a change when it comes to food insecurity.
Dole have been directly donating product in the UK and across Europe during the pandemic, and at the same time inviting people to donate to charities. They have partnered with charities such as Save The Children to help children have nutritional food so they can grow and be healthy. At the very least Dole hope that it will inspire people to act even if it is only in their local communities by helping vulnerable families this Christmas and beyond.
So why not head over to Dole’s Unstuffed Bears campaign now and make a donation to Save The Children UK while filling up a teddy bears tummy which in turn will feed a hungry child this Christmas: Just click the link to donate. https://doleunstuffedbears.com/loc/GB
All donations are made through https://doleunstuffedbears.com/loc/GB and they are managed via Just Giving. All donations go directly to Save The Children UK to help vulnerable families.
Check out the Unstuffed Bears video right here:
In Summary
To help eradicate food insecurity one of the best ways is to educate the next generation, our children. When you combine education with action it’s a powerful formula. To start educating the next generation why not, as a parent. start to ask your children what they could do to make a small contribution to help feed hungry tummies this Christmas and beyond. It could be something as simple as donating food from your home to a local food bank or using some of their money from their savings to donate to a charity such as Save The Children UK via the Unstuffed Bears campaign.
The more we know, the more we can act. The more we act then the more we can change the world.
About the Dole Promise
You’ll probably recognise Dole for their tasty fruit in jelly and nutritious fruit in juice cups (which deliver our recommended 1 in 5 portion of fruits a day). As a brand centred on nutrition, Dole is driven by ambitious goals to champion a world where access to nutrition is a human right equal for all. Dole call this Sunshine For All.
Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic Dole have being donating product to charities they are working with including FareShare UK and St Mungo’s. Most recently they donated 44,000+ units of products. They are constantly working with charities such as FareShare UK to find ways to get nutritious foods to people who need them the most.
This campaign is just one way Dole is living their purpose globally, raising awareness about the affordability and accessibility of proper nutrition and helping those in need today. To learn more about the ambitious goals of the Dole Promise visit www.sunshineforall.com
Dole can be found on social media here:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dolefruitsuk/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dolefruitsuk/
This is a paid post in collaboration with Dole. All thoughts and opinions are 100% mine.
#Unstuffedbears
