In 1981, during its twentieth general conference the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization), decides to establish a World Food Day. The FAO is a specialized agency of the United Nations.
The date chosen to celebrate this day is 16th October. It refers to the foundation of the FAO in 1945.
The food is a basic and fundamental human right and particularly a human necessity. It is therefore crucial to defend this right and to make accessible to all a healthy and varied diet.
The FAO decided to make this day a word event, in order to raise awareness among people and leaders about hunger in the world.
It is celebrated in more than 150 countries all around the world in the form of various actions to talk about this difficult issue, and propose ways to eradicate it. It is one of the most celebrated days of the UN calendar.
Each year the World Food Day adopts a different theme in order to choose a common course of action to combat. This year, the them is "Our actions are our future, healthy diet for a #zerohungerworld".
Today, 821 million people suffer from hunger, one out of every nine in the world. So it is urgent to find a way to eradicate this problem. Even worse, these figures increase and get dangerously close to the figures from 10 years ago.
This augmentation in the number of people suffering from the lack of food is due to the 3 main reasons:
Conflicts. Indeed, 75% of people suffering from hunger live in a conflict country. Hunger is now a war weapon.
Climate. The climate change (hurricane, flood, dryness etc...) threaten the quality and the quantity of crop.
Inequities. They can be accentuated by the conflicts and climate change. Not all humans have the same access to water, arable land, to education, to health care etc...
More than fighting hunger, this day demonstrates that it is important to combat these problems which prevent some people to benefit from a healthy and sustainable diet. We are all in the capacity to make a difference. For example, each year, food is wasted, learn to limit this phenomenon.
According to the FAO, while 821 million of people suffer from hunger, 672 million are obese. The food security must be of quality and not quantity for all.