COVID was a universal experience. Regardless of the economic or technological status of a region, the entire human family was impacted. Households played an essential role during the unfolding health, policy and economic crisis, seeking to feed and care for their members through the lockdowns that disturbed supply chains and institutional efficiency.

Food and nutrition education is core to the home economics discipline. It builds resilience in food selection and preparation that can assure prevention of malnutrition and relevant morbidity.

However, the increasing rise of for-profit opportunities for “on-demand” food, often with low nutritional value, has resulted in individuals that do not know how to cook and the off-siting of food production from households. This leaves people vulnerable in the case of an emergency, when off-site production of food is snarled by supply chain issues or broken by “lock-downs”.

Home economics education provides a variety of technical skills for safeguarding good nutrition and can focus on low technology solutions. IFHE therefore calls societies to embed home economics literacy into educational programs so they are better positioned to achieve SDGs related to the reduction of poverty and hunger.

• IFHE call to the Commission for Social Development 2022