Malnutrition and starvation have tragically become a frequent feature and weapon of war. From conflicts in Gaza to Sudan, we’ve seen horrific images of starving children suffering the devastating impact of food shortages. United Nations experts recently accused Israel of a targeted and intentional starvation campaign in Gaza, and said the warring parties in Sudan’s civil war are using starvation as a weapon of war.

In today’s critical race newsletter, we revisit the Don’t Call Me Resilient podcast episode that unpacks how colonial forces also used starvation as a tool of oppression in two very different conflicts of the past: the genocide of Indigenous Peoples in North America and the Bengal Famine of 1943. Host Vinita Srivastava talks with James Daschuk from the University of Regina and Janam Mukherjee at Toronto Metropolitan University about how colonial forces inflicted famine upon Indigenous populations to control them, their land and their resources.

Some other articles from our network to check out:

Intentional starvation campaigns undoubtedly fuel famine, but economic impacts, market disruptions and restricted humanitarian access can also drive hunger in conflict. Khalid Siddig and Rob Vos, two researchers from the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFRPI), write about how Sudan is now confronting its most severe food security crisis on record.

Hasan Khatib from the University of Wisconsin-Madison discusses the ways stress and trauma may exacerbate the long-term consequences of starvation in Gaza for generations to come.

And Roger B. Alfani from Seton Hall University and Nicole Eggers from the University of Tennessee uncover why African refugees fleeing conflict and famine face similar food insecurity in the refugee camps designed to support them.

Also today:

• Underfunded and unstudied: The need for Red River Métis health research funding
• Rape myths can affect jurors’ perceptions of sexual assault, and that needs to change
• How overcrowding impacts the world’s tourism hotspots
• Groundwater plays an invisible role supporting lakes

All the best.