Celebrate World Food Day!

Here's some food for thought, courtesy of Slowweb http://www.slowfood.com/

World Food Day
By: Bess Mucke

‘World Food Security: the Challenges of Climate Change and Bio-energy’, is the theme of this year’s World Food Day activities, expected to involve more than 150 countries. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) celebrates World Food Day each year on October 16 to mark the date on which the organization was founded in 1945.

‘Hundreds of millions of small-scale farmers, fishers and forest-dependent people will be worst hit by climate change,’ commented Assistant Director-General for FAO’s Natural Resources Management and Environment Department.

‘Global warming is already underway and adaptation strategies, especially for the most vulnerable poor countries where most of the over 920 million hungry people live, need to be urgently developed, reviewing land use plans, food security programs, fisheries and forestry policies to protect the poor from climate change,’ stated Mueller.

The FAO Committee on World Food Security, with representatives from more than 100 countries and a number of civil society organizations, are meeting in Rome over October 14-17 to assess trends in world food security and nutrition.

Major events to mark World Food Day are planned in Albania, Egypt, Morocco, South Korea, a number of Asian and Latin American countries and throughout Europe during October. In Ireland, the Freedom from Hunger Council has organized a seminar in Dublin and similar events are being held throughout Italy. In Spain, the annual WFD Telefood gala will take place on November 8.

Together with the European Professional Football League (EPFL), FAO also launch its Professional Football against Hunger initiative yesterday in Rome. This campaign involves 960 EPFL clubs in raising awareness among young people.

Source:
FAO

Bess Mucke
b.mucke@slowfood.com