Italy Day 2: FAO

January 5, 2018The second half of our day consisted of visiting FAO, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, which serves both developing and developed countries to create a "world free of hunger." Hunger comes in multiple forms including, but not limited to, malnutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, obesity and calorie deficiencies. FAO is a mediator of sorts for discussing policy and negotiating agreements in the food insecurity space and is present in over 130 countries.The most inspiring takeaway from FAO centered around viewing "rural people as agents for change"  which was weaved into discussions about the FAO framework, measurements for hunger and projecting global food demand. This idea is exactly how I feel and have felt about the people in towns like the one I grew up in."Voices of the Hungry" is centered on collecting, analyzing and disseminating data about food insecurity and was launched in 2013 to provide up-to-date information that is policy-relevant and contributes to strengthening political will - information that speaks to people and leads to change. The project has a tool called the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) which measures food insecurity through people's experiences by asking them directly after their experiences. There is no "best" way to measure food insecurity but I think this tool is special because it relies on people's directly responses to questions regarding their access to adequate food and brings that data to a tangible resource that can be used to make an actual difference.Here is a little video that explains it further: Measuring food insecurity: how the FIES Scale was born. Bringing the numbers to life.

The questions used in the FIES Scale are below.During the last 12 months, was there a time when, because of lack of money or other resources:

1. You were worried you would not have enough food to eat?2. You were unable to eat healthy and nutritious food?3. You ate only a few kinds of foods?4. You had to skip a meal?5. You ate less than you thought you should?6. Your household ran out of food?7. You were hungry but did not eat?8. You went without eating for a whole day?

After today's visit with FAO I would have liked to know more about how specifically looking at the direct experiences of individuals makes progressing food insecurity easier and/or more challenging. We discussed a bit about the differences between qualitative and quantitative data, but I wanted to dive into the process and what FIES Scale hopes to address more. As a journalist, I am interested in how FAO puts a "face" to the data and actually "brings the numbers to life." If the data presented through the FIES Scale is making an impact in food insecurity measurement, how can we take that data and change the public conversation about hunger? How can we better demonstrate the realities of an individual facing food insecurity in visually captivating ways? Does this include social media engagement?