Food Prices, Crisis and Keeping My Home Stable

FAO choose a correct theme for World Food Day 2011. The theme is "Food Prices - From Crisis to Stability." However, unless a country is producing enough food to ensure its food security, the prices will be primarily subject to external factors. We, the consumers, are hardest hit when climate change, oil wars, invasions, economic downturns and the like increase the cost of food.

We also have to make better choices and by this I mean healthier choices. The first cry becomes healthier means more expensive. One of the Health Care Advocates who visited our PTA meeting reminded us that eating well today saves on medical bills in the future.

I look at fast food and compared it to the healthier choices. If I can get three apples or oranges for $1.00 then that's only $0.33 for each apple. A bag of cheetos is more than $0.50. One store has ripe bananas for $0.79 per pound. One banana does not weigh one pound and it may only weigh a quarter of a pound. My only problem with bananas is that my children will squash them in the bags but I can always cut them up.

I love shrimp but shrimp is not a necessity. Salmon can be considered a need because it is an excellent source of protein. However, you have to shop within your budget to try to get ahead. Things like ketchup, sugar etc, the staples, can be sought through comparison shopping for the best deal.

I learned that if I want my nice fresh produce to be used and not wasted, I need to turn it into fast food. I do not mean by frying! I take the grapes off the stems, wash them and store in a zipper bag. I cut up my lettuce and store the same way. I try my best to season my fish and meats immediately and store in the same matter.

I think more people need to try the green thumb method. Plant some herbs, tea bush, peppers or tomatoes to save and to also eat healthy.

We have to find ways to keep healthy while still saving and enjoying life!

 I have registered for Blog Action Day 2011. Join me in the global discussion about Food. http://bit.ly/BAD11

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FAO Celebrates World Food Day on October 16

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.