World Food Day

Susan Itty
Clinical Nutritionist
Aster Medcity, Kochi

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) celebrates World Food Day each year on 16 October to commemorate the founding of the Organization in 1945. Events are organized in over 150 countries across the world, making it one of the most celebrated days of the UN calendar. These events promote worldwide awareness and action for those who suffer from hunger and for the need to ensure food security and nutritious diets for all. It’s also a day for us to celebrate the progress we have already made towards reaching Zero Hunger.

The theme of World Food Day 2017: “Change the future of migration. Invest in food security and rural development”.

Ten Facts You Need To Know About Hunger

1. The world produces enough food to feed everyone, yet, about 800 million people suffer from hunger. That is one in nine people. 60% of them are women.

2.  About 80% of the world’s extreme poor live in rural areas. Most of them depend on agriculture.

3.  Hunger kills more people every year than malaria, tuberculosis and aids combined.

4. Around 45% of infant deaths are related to malnutrition.

5. The cost of malnutrition to the global economy is the equivalent of USD 3.5 trillion a year.

6. 1.9 billion people – more than a quarter of the world’s population – are overweight.

7. One third of the food produced worldwide is lost or wasted.

   
   
   
   
   

8. The world will need to produce 60 percent more food by 2050 to feed a growing population.

9. No other sector is more sensitive to climate change than agriculture.

10.  FAO works mainly in rural areas, in 130 countries with governments, civil society, the private sector and other partners to achieve #ZeroHunger.

8 Reasons Why Zero Hunger Changes the World

1. Zero hunger could save the lives of 3.1 million children a year

2. Well-nourished mothers have healthier babies with stronger immune systems

3. Ending child under nutrition could increase a developing country's GDP by 16.5 percent

4. A dollar invested in hunger prevention could return between $15 and $139 in benefits

5. Proper nutrition early in life could mean 46 percent more in lifetime earnings

6. Eliminating iron deficiency in a population could boost workplace productivity by 20 percent

7. Ending nutrition-related child mortality could increase a workforce by 9.4 percent

8. Zero hunger can help build a safer, more prosperous world for everyone

How World Food Day Is Celebrated In India

In India, World Food Day is the occasion, through which several non-voluntary organizations highlight the importance of eating healthy food and avoiding fast food in urban India. Volunteers also stage street plays demanding public consultation on BRAI (Biotechnology regulatory Authority of India) bill. It is one of the biggest dangers to our food safety as it is being proposed to promote the introduction of Genetically Modified crops in India.

Suggestion For Celebrating World Food Day In India In Better Way

India is a vast country with diverse culture and tradition. The tradition varies from state to state and different festivals are celebrated in different styles in each state, but food is the common element at every celebration. Varieties of food items get prepared, eaten and distributed amongst the families and friends as rituals. Marriage is also one of the most important occasions for Indians and various food items get prepared and leftover gets wasted. Such families may preserve extra food and distribute the same to the poor and needy ones; this will make a lot of difference as no food would get wasted and hungry may be fed. Private companies and Government organizations may run a scheme where a certain percentage of salary get deducted from those employees who voluntarily want to donate for the food bank and such money collected may be utilized at the times of natural calamities, disasters, etc.

Conclusion

Even though, agriculture is highly important and one of the major driving forces in the economies of various developing countries, this critical sector is often starved of investment. In specific, the foreign aid to agriculture has shown remarkable declines in the past 20 years. Food and its security are of utmost importance to every country worldwide. Government organizations and the private institutes must join hands for organizing events, debates, discussion, etc on the World Food Day for making general people aware of the security of the food in days of crisis and importance of agriculture to grow sufficient food. World Food Day is the best platform for creating such awareness.