Happy World Food Day

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What it is:

World Food Day is a day of action against hunger. World Food Day celebrates the start of Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States on October 16, 1845. It was established in 1979 as a world commitment to end hunger. Nobody should have to be hungry, there are 805 million people and one in nine live with chronic hunger worldwide. “Every human being has a fundamental right to be free from hunger and the right to adequate food” says World Food Day USA. The world produces enough food to feed every person on the planet, however the food is not distributed to every human on the planet. There have been some big improvements because countries are coming together to make change to this huge problem. For example, extreme poverty rates have been cut in half since 1990. Although the US is one of the richest countries in the world, 1 in 7 Americans do not have enough to eat.

The impact of hunger:

With 1 in 9 people living with chronic hunger worldwide there is a huge loss to the world when this number is still so significant. Hungry people have learning difficulties, are less productive, are sick more often, and have shorter lives. Hunger leads to increased levels of global insecurity and environmental degradation. Family farmers are the key to ending hunger. Family farms are fruit and vegetable farms, grain farms, orchards, livestock ranches, and even fisheries and those that harvest non- wood forest products.

What we can do about it:

There are a lot of things people can do to help the issue of world hunger. Events are held worldwide that you can attend or host. To find some great ways to get involved check out their event page.

More information can be found at www.worldfooddayusa.org

World Food Day LogoThis blog post was written by Jessi Thome a student majoring in dietetics at the University of Minnesota.