New, Hopeful, and Effective Inter-Religious Solutions to the World Food Crisis

The world is now experiencing the most dire food crisis ever recorded in more than 60 years by the UN FAO. The combination of climate change, COVID-19, and conflict have disrupted national and international checks and balances against hunger. Right now, over 150 million are newly suffering since 2020 from severe food insecurity, including famine. Our session tracks the causes and consequences of this crisis and critically identifies key factors that are amenable to companionate, just, and sustainable solutions through the combined efforts and actions of inter-religious (IR) groups. The orientation of our session is toward the needs of small family farms that produce most of the foods but are in the greatest need and often have the least policy attention. Our session identifies the most promising areas of integrating knowledge and resources from both the small family farm perspectives and the roles of national and international agencies, businesses, and government policymakers.