World Food Day (WFD) 2013, October 16

“Sustainable Food System  for Food Security and Nutrition” is the theme of World Food Day (WFD) 2013

 
Sustainable food systems are one core element of bringing hunger to an end. In his message for World Food Day 2013, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva says we'll also need to ensure access to food all year round, to eliminate food wastage and child stunting and while doubling smallholder production and profits.

World Food Day, from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), hits Oct. 16, 2013, once again bringing awareness to the political need to end hunger. This year, the day is focused on sustainable food systems, asking, "What would a sustainable food system look like?... What would need to change to move us in that direction?"

About the World Food Week 2013
Calendar of Events

On a large scale, the need for sustainable food systems is evident: Most recently, a United Nations reports found that 1.3 billion tons of food is wasted a year, wasting water, land, and money. Italy alone loses almost $12 billion in wasted food every year, another report found.
Meanwhile, the UN reports that almost 870 million people are "chronically undernourished" and 165 million children under the age of 5 are stunted thanks to malnourishment, while 1.4 billion people are overweight, sometimes because of vitamin deficiencies themselves.
Plenty of food waste occurs even before food gets to the consumer, the FAO reports. In developing countries, food waste often occurs because of financial and technical constraints in harvesting and storage. In developed countries, food is wasted because producers, retailers, and consumers toss out food that is still edible and usable.

Here, five ways to change your habits to fight food waste in your own kitchen:

1. Stop Trying to Get the Perfect Tomato
FAO reports that in a developed country, almost 300 million tons of food is thrown out because it's deemed "unworthy" for consumption, whether it's because the fruit is shaped funny or the tomato isn't as red as commercial tomatoes are expected to be. "This is more than the total net food production of sub-Saharan Africa, and would be sufficient to feed the estimated 870 million people hungry in the world," José Graziano da Silva, FAO director-general, said in a press release. Similarly, understand the difference between "sell-by" and "best before." Normally, "use-by" is the important one to follow.

2. Eat Your Leftovers
Sometimes, casseroles will taste better the next day as the flavors meld all together. Sometimes, a leftover roast chicken will go perfectly with some peppers on tacos (better yet, use the bones to make soup). Clean out your fridge, freeze fresh produce you won't get around to eating, and save yourself some cooking hassle (and some money) in the days to come.

3. Start Thinking About Alternative Proteins
Don't just stick with chicken breast; consider buying a whole chicken and breaking it down yourself for several different meals. Buying whole means using the whole chicken, which means nothing will go to waste. The chicken feet? Perfect for making stock. The UN has, after all, pinpointed bugs as the next big protein.

4. Compost
Composting reduces the environmental impact of food waste, while potentially recycling nutrients to help more food grow. Food waste thrown into landfills doesn't end up composting; composting requires light and air, neither of which is provided at landfills. According to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the city alone sends 1.2 million tons of food waste to landfills, costing taxpayers $80 per ton (that's $96 million a year).

5. Empower the Small Farmer
According to Heifer International, there are 650 milion small farmers worldwide, who produce 80 percent of the developing world's food. The problem? Many live below the poverty line. Look to support organizations that work with small farmers worldwide, and focus on shopping from artisanal producers who are committed to creating better products. Read more about the "New Local" movement here.

Join the forum : World Food Day - October 16

Watch the videos : Activties for Word Food Day 2013 

Links :

• World Food Day
• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
• World Summit on Food Security 2009
• World Food Programme
• Child In Need Institute agency working in India to combat malnutrition
• International Fund for Agricultural Development
• International Alliance Against Hunger
• Friends of the World Food Program United States agency helping raise funds and awareness about global hunger
• World Food Day Theme

UN Secretary-General's message on World Food Day 2011, theme: Food prices - From crisis to stability

UN Secretary-General's message

IN WORLD FOOD DAY MESSAGE, SECRETARY-GENERAL CALLS ON RICH, POOR COUNTRIES ALIKE TO INVEST ENERGY, RESOURCES NECESSARY TO WIN BATTLE AGAINST HUNGER


Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message for World Food Day, commemorated on 16 October:

Today, in the Horn of Africa, more than 13 million people are affected by one of the region’s worst droughts in 60 years. Famine grips swathes of southern Somalia. Yet, drought does not need to become famine — nor should it ever be allowed to, either through system failure or through the kind of deliberate deprivation we are seeing in areas controlled by Al-Shabaab.

The hunger in the Horn of Africa is but a fraction of a needless global menace. There is more than enough food on the planet to feed everyone, yet today nearly 1 billion people will go hungry. I urge world leaders in rich and poor countries alike to invest the energy and resources necessary to win the battle against hunger — a key pillar of our efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Lasting solutions must cover the full spectrum of food security – from improving the resilience of smallholder farmers to deploying safety net programmes that help protect the most vulnerable.

This year’s World Food Day highlights the issue of price volatility. For the world’s poorest people, many of whom spend up to 80 per cent of their income on food, this can be devastating. In 2007-2008, food price inflation pushed some 80 million people into hunger. Recent food price hikes have propelled another 70 million people into extreme poverty.

We need to break the links between poverty, food insecurity and malnutrition. Families impoverished by price volatility risk seeing their babies’ minds and bodies permanently damaged by malnutrition; their children being taken out of school and put to work, and their income-producing livestock slaughtered for food. The answer is to put in place policies, like those advocated by the Scale Up Nutrition movement, to ensure all people have access to sufficient nutrition.

This month the world’s population will top 7 billion people. The world has the knowledge and the resources to end hunger; we have the tools to ensure that the poorest are buffered from the impact of rising prices. Let us use them — now — to conquer hunger.

Ban Ki-moon
Secretary-General
United Nations

World Food Day 2011 - Worldwide Events
World Food Day 2011 - Poster
World Food Day 2011 - Issues Paper