Contributing Writers: Azad Ali, Tangerine Clarke,
Nelson King, Vinette K. Pryce, Bert Wilkinson
GENERAL INFORMATION (718) 260-2500
Caribbean L 10 ife, OCT. 29-NOV. 4, 2021
By Mario Lubetkin
ROME, Oct. 27, 2021
(IPS) – During October, the
World Food Month, there
has been a huge increase
in the number of qualified
voices promoting new ways
to transform food systems
that would allow to reduce
and eliminate hunger, of
which more than 811 million
people in the world are
already victims.
Based on the conclusions
of the Food Systems Summit,
held virtually on September
23, as well as its “hybrid”
preparatory phase that took
place in Rome in July, with
the physical presence of 540
delegates and virtual presence
of more than 20,000
people around the world, a
growing number of personalities
continue to advance
into these reflections.
This should pave the way
to new avenues paths that
will fulfill the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs)
foreseen by the international
community by 2030,
for which the eradication of
hunger and poverty are considered
to be priorities.
The transformation of
agri-food systems must
begin with normal consumers
and the decisions they
make about the food they
consume, where it is bought,
how it is packaged, where
it is discarded, on the basis
that all this will have an
impact on the future of the
planet, so it is necessary to
reduce food loss and waste.
Globally, about 14 percent
of food produced is lost
between harvest and retail
sale, equivalent to a loss of
$ 400 billion per year, while
food waste is estimated to
reach 17 percent of total production:
11 percent is wasted
in homes, 5 percent in food
service establishments, and
2 percent in retail trade.
Pope Francis, in his message
addressed during World
Food Day on October 16,
recalled that “currently we
observe a true paradox in
terms of access to food: on
the one hand, more than 3
billion people do not have
access to a nutritious diet,
while, on the other hand,
almost 2 billion people are
overweight or obese due to
a poor diet and a sedentary
life.”
“Our lifestyles and daily
consumption practices
influence global and environmental
dynamics, but if
we aspire to a real change,
we must urge producers and
consumers to make ethical
and sustainable decisions,
and educate younger generations
on the important role
they play to make a world
without hunger a reality,”
stated the pontiff.
And for that, he emphasized,
we must begin “with
our daily life and simplest
gestures: knowing our common
house, protecting it and
being aware of its importance,
which should be the
first step to be custodians
and promoters of the environment.”
According to UN Secretary
General Antonio
Guterres, the way food is
produced, consumed and
wasted “is having a disastrous
consequence for our
planet”, and “this is putting
historical pressure on our
natural resources and the
environment” and “it is
costing us billions of dollars
every year”, underlining that
“the power of change is in
our hands”.
The Director-General of
the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United
Nations (FAO), QU Dongyu is
convinced that efforts must
be accelerated towards the
achievement of the SDGs
foreseen for 2030 “with a
view to halving food waste in
the world and reducing food
losses in the production and
supply chain, including postharvest
losses,” noting that
“there are only nine seasons
(harvests) left to do so.”
The Executive Director
of the United Nations Environment
Program (UNEP),
Inger Andersen, recalled
that food loss and waste “are
the origin of 10 percent of
greenhouse gas emissions”,
which means that “valuable
land and water resources are
being used for nothing.”
She added that reducing
food loss and waste will slow
“climate change, protect
nature and increase food
security at a time when we
desperately need that to happen.”
Dr QU, FAO’s head, agreed
and considered that “it is not
possible to continue losing
75 billion cubic meters of
water per year in the production
of fruit and vegetables.”
Experts from FAO estimate
that it will be necessary
to invest between 40
and 50 billion dollars annually
to end hunger by 2030.
In particular, they highlighted
the implementation
of low-cost and high-impact
projects that can help hundreds
of millions of people to
better meet their food needs,
mainly with research, as well
as with development and
digital innovation to achieve
advanced technology agriculture.
These thoughts and initiatives
are added to those
already made by the Foreign
Ministers of the Group of
20 (G20) in Matera, Italy, in
June, and the G20 Ministers
of Agriculture in Florence,
Italy, in September.
By Craig Cipriano
With the school year now well
underway and more New Yorkers
returning to the office, the transit
system is hitting new ridership
milestones what seems like
every week.
Our latest numbers show the
buses, subways and paratransit
system are back to carrying more
than 4.6 million customers daily,
or 55 percent of our pre-pandemic
base. This is great news.
We know that to keep the
momentum going we need to
provide the best service we can.
Accordingly, the Transit team
has taken aggressive action to
address the crew shortages that
have caused some delays (and
headaches for our customers!)
recently.
There are currently 300 future
train operators and conductors
now in training classes. Of that
number, we expect 91 conductor
trainees to graduate before
the end of the year. The operator
classes take a bit longer since
they are more intensive, but 47
graduates should be on the rails
by New Year’s, with more set
to finish in the first quarter of
2022.
In the meantime, we’ve been
reaching out to recent retirees
to try and fill the gaps. So far,
nearly 60 former employees have
graciously volunteered to come
back while we continue to staff
up. We also remain focused on
making the most efficient use of
existing resources in our schedules
and assignment of extra
board employees.
On the buses and paratransit
side, 900 operators have completed
their training, and we’re
looking to bring on hundreds
more by year’s end. Additionally,
we have expanded our broker
capacity, dedicated operator hiring
and continue to provide 85
percent direct trips to our customers.
But it’s not enough to just
hire new colleagues. As traffic
returns, we need to make sure
that when they’re on the roads,
operators have all the tools they
need to deliver safe and efficient
trips, and well-enforced bus priority
is the single best gift we
could give them.
Our dedicated busways
and bus lanes continue to see
improved speeds compared to
2019 on almost all corridors and
time periods. Take the busway
on Main Street in Flushing for
example — since it opened last
January, speeds have increased
by up to 51 percent in the afternoon
rush, which is when traffic
is generally the heaviest. And
on 181st Street in Manhattan,
they’ve shot up by 42 percent in
the same time frame. This isn’t
a coincidence; it’s smart transit
policy in action.
Following these successes,
we’re looking forward to opening
new busways on Archer Avenue
and Jamaica Avenue this month.
And there’s more to come after
that, too. Back in August, the
city set a goal of adding up to 20
miles of new or improved bus
lanes — including up to five new
busways — and we can’t wait to
fully deliver on that promise.
New Yorkers have long known
that mass transit is the best way
to get around town, and today’s
congested streets have made that
fact clearer than ever.
Craig Cipriano is acting MTA
New York City Transit president.
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Transforming food
systems to defeat hunger
Bringing NYC Transit back
up to speed with the city
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