The Food and
Agricultural Organization (FAO) observes World Food Day annually on October 16
to encourage attention to agriculture and to world hunger.
The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) celebrates World Food Day
annually on October 16. As October 16 marks the anniversary of FAO, this day
remains significant in the promotion of food and agriculture in the growing
world. In November 1979, FAO at its Twentieth General Conference established
World Food Day and this day has been celebrated ever since. With over 180
member countries in FAO, this commemoration has spread globally from the United
Kingdom to the United States of America to the Caribbean among other countries.
World Food Day
Celebrates Agriculture
World Food Day is celebrated
not only to promote literal food but to promote agriculture, food security and
to raise the awareness of hunger and poverty in the world. According to FAO, the
most significant objective is to "encourage attention to agricultural food
production and to stimulate national, bilateral, multilateral and
non-governmental efforts to this end." This means that agriculture must be
a central focus on all levels of leadership both in the private and public
sectors locally and globally. According to FAO, two other key objectives for
observing World Food Day are to "heighten public awareness of the problem
of hunger in the world" and to "strengthen international and national
solidarity in the struggle against hunger, malnutrition and poverty and draw
attention to achievements in food and agricultural development."
According to FAO,
there are almost one billion people in the world who suffer from chronic
hunger. FAO states that "people who are chronically hungry are undernourished
(and) don't eat enough to get the energy they need to lead active lives."
While some people may feel that the prevalence of hunger may be low in their
country, it is important to understand that the hunger FAO refers to is not
only the lack of food but the lack of enough nutritional food in the diet to
get a person through their normal day.
World Food Day is
Observed Worldwide
Other significant
objectives of World Food Day are to "encourage economic and technical
cooperation among developing countries" and to "promote the transfer
of technologies to the developing world." With FAO having its presence
globally and with Governments worldwide having to reduce spending, feeding the
world's population is a global problem. There are countries that rely heavily
on the importation of their food and while they may thrive financially, their
inability to feed themselves is a major concern. What happens when climate
change or economic slumps affect the food supply? As these factors affect the
number of persons who are chronically hungry globally, commemorating World Food
Day brings attention and action to taking a more unified approach to reducing
global hunger.
World Food Day in
USA, USVI & BVI
While the USA has
been observing World Food Day from the onset of the commemoration, World Food
Day is becoming more significant in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and United
States Virgin Islands (USVI) where hunger is not seen on a large scale.
- USA's World Food Day: World Food Day USA encourages Americans to host activities to promote agriculture by organizing agricultural events and farmers' markets, making linkages with the schools or making donations to the needy.
- USVI Makes World Food Day Fun: In the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), the [University of the Virgin Islands (UVI)](http://www.uvi.edu) hosts World Food Day activities. In 2009, UVI sponsored the "World Food Day Youth Super Chef Competition" for junior high and senior high school students and a "Breadfruit Bonanza Cooking Competition" for the public.
- BVI Celebrates World Food Day: In the British Virgin Islands, 2009 marked the first official commemoration of this day with activities by the Department of Agriculture. The department gave donations of produce to the elderly, assisted at a local soup kitchen and held an open house for the public to learn more about agriculture.
Every participating
country celebrates World Food Day at different levels. World Food Day is a
significant day because it addresses the production and availability of food.
According to the FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf, the number of hungry
people in the world should be considered a "tragic achievement in
these modern days". As World Food Day happens annually, it is hoped that
on that day, people everywhere will unite towards the common goal of increasing
and improving agricultural production while simultaneously reducing the number
of persons who are hungry globally.
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