Bermuda Is Love ‘ZeroHunger’ Campaign

November 30, 2023

This December, Bermuda Is Love is launching the #ZeroHunger Campaign, in collaboration with various feeding programmes, charities, farmers, and human rights activists, to “advocate for the right to food and the elimination of hunger in Bermuda.”

A spokesperson said, “We are also urging government to help end food poverty by delivering on four key aims:

Universal Free School Meals: No child should go to school hungry in Bermuda. We call for free school meals for every child.
Support Feeding Programmes: Feeding programmes provide a workable solution to food poverty. Government should help fund and expand such services that already provide meals to those most in need.
Boost Agriculture: Government must protect and sustain Bermuda’s food security by enabling a robust agricultural and food sector to flourish in Bermuda.
Legislate the Right to Food: The human right to food must be written into Bermuda law and it must be accompanied by a new Food Authority that has the legal responsibility for protecting all people in Bermuda from hunger.

“Ultimately, safe, nutritious food is essential for life. It helps us stay strong and healthy, and helps to prevent illness and death. Lack of adequate food, on the other hand, leads to health and life expectancy inequality, malnutrition, obesity, and a host of other related problems, including long-term epigenetic changes, and can affect children’s educational attainment and life chances.

“While there is more than enough food in the world to feed every human being, food distribution and access is not always equal or equitable. The result is that not everyone has access to enough food to sustain themselves. In Bermuda, food insecurity is a product of socioeconomic inequality, where people may not have enough money to purchase the healthy foods that they need. Food insecurity is also a product of an unsustainable global food system that treats food as a commodity and not as a human right.

“Bermuda Is Love believes that hunger can be eliminated, and that the right to food and to be free of hunger must be enshrined in law, so that everyone is legally protected from hunger – as we all need food to survive. The right to food is not about charity. It is about solidarity and equality. It is about ensuring that we are all equally free to live in dignity, free from hunger, insecurity, and want. And it is about all people working together as a community to ensure that all persons are able to feed themselves in dignity.

“The full realisation of food as a human right requires a cultural shift in the way that food is currently produced, valued, regulated, distributed, and sold in Bermuda. It requires a change of mindset that recognizes that food should not be produced solely for profit but that it should be produced primarily for feeding society, so that no one has to worry about where their next meal is going to come from.

“The #ZeroHunger Campaign will consist of a number of volunteer events at various feeding programmes across the island, as well as a food drive, school assembly presentation, free school breakfast, free food giveaway, Daily Hour interview, and an informational farming tour with Just A Farmer. Please join us this December as we come together as a community to advocate for the right to food and the elimination of hunger in Bermuda!

“This campaign is approved and supported by Christ Church Warwick, The Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity, First Baptist Church, Ebenezer Methodist Church, Salvation Army, the Eliza Doolittle Society, the Coalition for the Protection of Children, Sheelagh Cooper, Family Centre, Food Forest, Agra Living Institute, Just A Farmer, Sinclair’s Seed Sowing, the Warwick Academy Human Rights Project, the Human Rights Commission, Future Leaders Bermuda, Bermuda Youth Connect, Imagine Bermuda, Social Justice Bermuda, the Daily Hour Talk Show, and the Bermuda Under 40s Reinsurance Group.

“Please see below our list of events for the campaign with corresponding posters attached.”

#ZeroHunger Event Schedule

Saturday, December 2nd – Food Drive
Drop Off Location: 7 McKenzie Way, Cedar Hill, Warwick WK 06
Time: 10:00am to 2:00pm

Wednesday, December 6th – Volunteer at First Baptist Church’s Feeding Programme
Location: First Baptist Church, 134 Middle Road, Devonshire
Time: 3:00pm to 5:00pm

Friday, December 8th – Warwick Academy ‘Human Rights Day’ School Assembly
Location: Warwick Academy, 117 Middle Road, Warwick
Time: 9:00am

Saturday, December 9th – Volunteer at Christ Church Warwick’s Feeding Programme
Location: Christ Church Warwick, 96 Middle Road, Warwick
Time: 9:00am to 11:00am

Wednesday, December 13th – Free Breakfast for School Children
Location: Elliot Primary School, 12 Hermitage Road, Devonshire
Time: 7:30am to 8:30am

Saturday, December 16th – Free Food Giveaway
Location: Elliot Primary School, 12 Hermitage Road, Devonshire
Time: 9:00am to 12:00pm

Wednesday, December 20th – The Daily Hour Talk Show Interview
Location: The Daily Hour Website, https://thedailyhour.com/
Time: 8:00am to 9:00am

Wednesday, December 20th – Volunteer at The Cathedral’s Feeding Programme
Location: The Cathedral, 29 Church Street, Hamilton
Time: 11:45am to 1:00pm

Thursday, December 28th – Volunteer at Ebenezer Methodist Church’s Feeding Programme
Location: Ebenezer Methodist Church, 7 York Street, St. George’s
Time: 5:00pm to 7:00pm

Saturday, December 30th – Informational Farming Tour with Just A Farmer
Location: Just A Farmer, 1 Orange Valley Road, Devonshire
Time: 10:00am to 12:00pm