Five countries, three continents, one universal custom: sharing a meal with family members. In search of the ingredients of the family meal, visiting families in Ecuador, Chad, Niger, Jordan and Myanmar. Their meals were made possible thanks toUnited Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and funding from the European Union (ECHO). The pictures reveal that desire to share is one of the most essential ingredients, not only for the family meal, but also for a zero hunger world.
In Europe, the word ‘economy’ most commonly refers to matters of society, but its origins are clear to see in the families where WFP provides EU-funded assistance. Scarce resources necessitate truly ‘economic’ choices. In the families in this project, the chief economist of the household was without exception the mother. Such consistency is the basis of WFP’s belief that if you empower the woman, you feed the family.
In the countries where WFP works, 90 percent of the work that goes into the family meal is done by women. From growing and harvesting the food, to its preparation, women are mainly responsible for putting food on the family table. They play a key role in guaranteeing food security for the household.
