The Sustainable Development Goal #2 is ending hunger, achieving food security and improved nutrition and promoting sustainable agriculture. While sport’s direct connection to this SDG may not be apparent, sport still has a role to play.
Sport-based initiatives and athletes can mobilize resources or raise awareness for assisting vulnerable communities. Manchester United star, Marcus Rashford, just set up a taskforce in September 2020 to help put an end to child hunger in the UK. The End Hunger Games is an initiative that is held yearly to raise money for families who struggle with putting food on the table in Montana, USA. These programs can help put an end to hunger by giving much needed relief to those in need.
Participation in sports requires balanced diets, and an understanding that eating the right foods can help you be a better athlete. Sport can promote the importance of proper nutrition, eating less processed foods and replacing them with healthy foods. This aligns with target 2.2 of ending hunger, ending all forms of malnutrition.
Sport events can also raise awareness on food waste by being a leader and putting in place systems to reduce food waste produced at large sporting events. Food waste was an issue that the organizers of Tokyo 2020 wanted to tackle. A study found that there were a total of 2,443 tons of food waste during the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics in London, 21% of that had become rotten during storage, 34% was leftovers, and 45% was food thrown away during preparation. If Tokyo 2020 is successful in lower food waste, it will serve as an example for how food waste can be tackled anywhere.
Sport may not be able to end world hunger on its own, but it has a role to play in raising awareness, educating on the need for proper nutrition and helping create a more sustainable food system.
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