SDG 2: Zero hunger

Do not buy or use anything processed or packaged. Support sustainable farming by buying groceries from sustainable farms. This helps avoid the use of chemicals in food growing, processing and packaging which ends up as waste in soil, water or air. Also, the process of processing and manufacturing consumes energy and emits gases that are harmful. I believe if each person can commit to sustainable eating which contributes largely to pollution and climate change, it will make a big difference.

I have worked at a food and retail store for just about half a year, and throughout my time I have witnessed and seen food thrown out just because of it passing a time limit, even though it is still acceptable to eat. It is true that the managers have to take the responsibility of keeping all the food safe and healthy to consume as well as making sure that the customer is looked after with high-quality products. This however does not justify the amount of consumable nutritious foods thrown out, where all these are thrown away, where they could nourish families in need. This is sadly a common scenario where 207 kilograms of waste is generated per person per year to feed Melbourne, while 40% of Melbourne’s food waste comes from households, cafes and restaurants. Reducing food loss and waste is critical to creating a Zero Hunger world and reaching the world’s Sustainable Development Goals. Unable to negotiate with the manager to have some of the less perishing foods be sent to a local food bank, I thought of ways to take steps to change my behaviour with food. I now buy my groceries from the Dandenong market, a traditional market, that sells fresh produce straight from local farms or even other's gardens. I have made it a point to not buy groceries from commercial stores, as perfectly edible fresh produce is often turned away from supermarket shelves because it does not meet the optimal criteria for consumers, such as shape, size and colour. This helps me not only save money by buying these healthy foods in bulk, but with my initiative, I am also able to decrease the amount of energy used to transport these products from one facility to another, decrease the amount of food wasted by supermarkets for it not being optimal, and also helping out small local vendors and farmers by using their fresh produce. I also created a food vlog on Instagram, where I hope to share recipes and techniques on the benefits of eating local fresh produce and using them to the best of their potential. {Image: Intermarche Inglorious fruits and vegetables}

My commitment to sustainability will start in my own home, in particular, my own garden. Over the past year, I've spent lots of time at home and realised that the seemingly minuscule actions we take each day really do amount to something. Last year in 2020, it was the first time global carbon emissions fell for the first time in decades, and whilst it did take a global pandemic for this to happen, it also made me acknowledge all the ways I could make a commitment to sustainability whilst at home. I spent countless hours during quarantine tending to my garden and was finally able to reap the rewards. The process of growing food in my own home, eliminating the costs and emissions involved with transport, packaging and harvesting showed me that sustainability is a highly rewarding and fruitful process. This year, I'd like to grow more fruit and vegetables at home and improve not only my impact on the environment as I consume more consciously but also improve my health and wellbeing in the process.

- Stop using plastic bags and use reusable bags instead. - Use keep cup to reduce plastic and paper cups - Reuse, reduce and recycle more - Use an alternative source of energy, cleaner version such as solar and focus your future on that.

In 2020 I became the Youth Member for the electorate of Currumbin appointed to the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee in the Queensland Youth Parliament. One of the many things I did during my tenure was publish an article on Australia's $10 billion food waste issue. Although it's far from being a glamorous topic of conversation, food waste is something I'm actually quite passionate about. For years I've been researching and discussing the multifarious implications of food waste and brainstorming ways in which to mitigate this global phenomenon. In 2018 after being in the first cohort to complete the Macquarie University Incubator's pilot 'Go Start' Program, I participated in the Sydney-Hong Kong Ideation Exchange Program where I spent two-weeks visiting start-ups, universities and businesses in Australia, Hong Kong and China. During this time, I co-created a new start-up called 'Ag-Eye' which sought to utilise drone and smart technology to facilitate farming practices; reducing costs, manpower expenditures and food waste for Australian farmers. In 2019 I wrote my thesis for my major in anthropology at Macquarie University on the benefits of community gardens. Through my six months of participant observation research I found that community gardens had a plethora of mental, physical, environmental and monetary benefits to individuals, families and communities - in particular newly arrived immigrants. My goal with this 'Take One Step' initiative is to continue my journey and challenge students, staff, residential halls and food venues at Monash University to mitigate the amount of food they waste.

Taking a permaculture design course so I can learn about regenerative agriculture and making the most of the resources I have available to me. A lot can be grown in a backyard. I've been growing veggies for some time already, the photo is part of my harvest from 2020.

The impact of the dairy and meat industry on the world and its ecosystems is hard to overstate. In Australia, the agriculture sector produces 84 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent each year, most of which is a result of methane production by cattle and sheep (Department of Agriculture, 2014). Livestock also put strain on water sources with almost one third of freshwater globally being used for animal products (Gerbens-Leenes et al., 2013). Furthermore, the livestock industry is a leading cause for deforestation and land degradation. 80% of deforestation in the Amazon is a result of arigcultrual clearing which then provides the vast areas required for livestock food production and grazing (Nepstad et al., 2008). This leads to habitat destruction, land erosion and less carbon sequestering forests. While health conditions and access issues may mean that cutting out meat and dairy sources is not appropriate, the more we can reduce the reliance on the livestock industry the less it will weigh upon our environment. As such, I will be taking one step to cut out my meat and dairy consumption.

I will try to keep my consumption of earth's resources at a moderate reasonable level. I will not consume more than I need in any category (food , clothes and energy). I will try to the best of my ablity not to waste resources and I will try to keep conscious of other people in other countries who might be in critical need for such resources.

In regards to "Small Changes Count ", This step is that with one small action done by one person can change someone's life .During this pandemic we are in Lockdown and that should not stop us from being environmentally friendly and also being more healthy. Small changes we make in our everyday living will make a big difference in the environment .

I will progressively increase my greens- vegetables, and fruits consumption while reducing my meat consumption. With something so routine like meat, which forms the foundation of our daily meals, something which is the number one food on the tables of people worldwide, contributes significantly to climate change. Moreover, animal culture for food production is regarded as the most disastrous invention of humankind. The rationale underlying being the inefficiency in meat production. The production of meat involves an immense burden on the ecosystem. To cultivate one kilogram of beef, it improvidently demands 25 kilograms of grain or fodder to feed the livestock (Kehoe, 2016) and nearly 15000 liters of water (World Water Development Report,2019). Pork is comparatively less exhaustive, and chicken is less still. Furthermore, about 30% of the earth's arable land is used to foster livestock (Steinfeld,2006), collectively responsible for 18 percent of global greenhouse-gas emissions (FAO, 2007). These resources could be progressively used for the reconstruction of the socio-economic fabric. Meat production and consumption are escalating progressively – The Global meat production has quadrupled over the past 50 years – The total production was roughly 71 million tons in 1961 to over 340 million tons in 2018 (Hannah Ritchie, 2019). And to support this extravagant production, more than 80billion animals are slaughtered each year for meat at an unsustainable rate to feed the rapidly multiplying population- The current global-human population of 7.6 billion is estimated to attain 8.6 billion in 2030. And then to 9.8 billion in 2050 and 11.2 billion by the end of 2100 (The World Population Prospects, 2017). Without opting for prescriptive measures to mitigate carbon-emissions from a population that continues to grow and consume more than in the past, exceeding the biosphere's absorption capacity leading an unhealthy amount of emissions left unabsorbed by the ecosystem as a consequence. Meat production is predominantly a hefty check written against our planet's dwindling reserves and is solely accountable for World Hunger, Environmental Degradation, Human Health, and Animal Welfare; All at Once (Friedrich, 2018).