This sheet on Genesis 47 was written by Shoshana Michael Zucker for 929 and can also be found here
Concealed, but not quite, within the story of Joseph in Egypt is an important lesson about the global food supply. As Joseph predicted based on Pharaoh’s dream back in chapter 41, Egypt and the surrounding region have experienced seven years of plenty followed by drought and famine. Yet, because of shrewd management, there is food in Egypt, enough not only for local consumption but also for export.
The heart of Joseph’s food management program was collecting surpluses, storing them and redistributing them in times of need. Joseph’s use of the food he gathered during the years of plenty as a means for nationalizing Egyptian lands, and enslaving the Egyptian people to Pharaoh in chapter 47 are controversial. They can even be understood as the immediate reason that a later Pharaoh “forgets” Joseph and enslaves the Israelites, but that is an another topic.
I want to make a different, simpler point: the world produces enough food to feed its population (although population growth and climate change could alter that). Hunger (or “food insecurity,” if you prefer) exists because of human-caused storage and distribution problems.
For example, based on official statistics, Leket Israel’s “The Food Waste and Rescue in Israel Report for 2017” found that 465,000 families in Israel live with food insecurity, but their needs could be met if only 20% of the 2.3 million tons of food wasted in Israel each year, 33% during production processes, was rescued. Leket Israel further estimates half of the food wasted is suitable for human consumption, and could feasibly be rescued, for less than 40% of the cost of closing the gap with monetary allocations. The situation is only slightly better in other western countries.
From the story of Joseph, we learn not only that there is adequate food in the world and that it can be redistributed according to need, but also that the social consequences of doing it poorly can be almost as severe as not even trying. Our world is vastly larger and more complex than the one in which Joseph worked, but the challenge remains: getting surplus food onto the plates of people in need, without degrading them in the process.
The heart of Joseph’s food management program was collecting surpluses, storing them and redistributing them in times of need. Joseph’s use of the food he gathered during the years of plenty as a means for nationalizing Egyptian lands, and enslaving the Egyptian people to Pharaoh in chapter 47 are controversial. They can even be understood as the immediate reason that a later Pharaoh “forgets” Joseph and enslaves the Israelites, but that is an another topic.
I want to make a different, simpler point: the world produces enough food to feed its population (although population growth and climate change could alter that). Hunger (or “food insecurity,” if you prefer) exists because of human-caused storage and distribution problems.
For example, based on official statistics, Leket Israel’s “The Food Waste and Rescue in Israel Report for 2017” found that 465,000 families in Israel live with food insecurity, but their needs could be met if only 20% of the 2.3 million tons of food wasted in Israel each year, 33% during production processes, was rescued. Leket Israel further estimates half of the food wasted is suitable for human consumption, and could feasibly be rescued, for less than 40% of the cost of closing the gap with monetary allocations. The situation is only slightly better in other western countries.
From the story of Joseph, we learn not only that there is adequate food in the world and that it can be redistributed according to need, but also that the social consequences of doing it poorly can be almost as severe as not even trying. Our world is vastly larger and more complex than the one in which Joseph worked, but the challenge remains: getting surplus food onto the plates of people in need, without degrading them in the process.
(יג) וְלֶ֤חֶם אֵין֙ בְּכָל־הָאָ֔רֶץ כִּֽי־כָבֵ֥ד הָרָעָ֖ב מְאֹ֑ד וַתֵּ֜לַהּ אֶ֤רֶץ מִצְרַ֙יִם֙ וְאֶ֣רֶץ כְּנַ֔עַן מִפְּנֵ֖י הָרָעָֽב׃
(13) Now there was no bread in all the world, for the famine was very severe; both the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine.
Shoshana Michael Zucker is a translator and editor and lives in Kfar Saba
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