World Food Day takes place on 16th October and is a day for people around the world to come together to take action against hunger.
This year, the theme is Family Farming: Feeding the world, Caring for the earth. The UN estimates that there are 805 million hungry people in the world[i] with over 70 percent of these living in rural areas of Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Near East. Many of them are farmers, especially smallholders.
The organisers on the UN committee are asking people all over the world to toast a farmer to thank them for their hard work everyday to ensure our food is grown with care and is safe and healthy for us to eat. Just post a photo of yourself with a raised glass on Twitter or Facebook with the hashtags #ToastAFarmer and #WFD2014. Or share one of the photos of farmers from around the globe from the World Food Day website – http://www.worldfooddayusa.org/take-action
In addition, there are activities and commemoration ceremonies taking place around the world, including sponsored Hunger Walks, World Food Day Dinners, Hunger Banquets as well as food drives, rallies and more.
Here at Seed Pantry we strongly encourage growing your own as much as possible, reducing waste, and eating wholesome, fresh, organic foods. Now is a great time to start growing, sowing and planting your own vegetable, herbs and salads and our seed kits and plants let you grow your own in even the smallest of outdoor spaces – from balconies, window sills and yards.
As well as being cost-effective and environmentally friendly, growing your own veg, salads and herbs means you can eat completely organic produce, grown and picked by you.
World Food Day was set up by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations and 16th October is the day the organisation was founded in 1945.
Follow World Food Day on Twitter @WorldFoodDayUSA and use the hashtags #WFD2014 and #ToastAFarmer to raise awareness of the day, or visit the website: http://www.worldfooddayusa.org
[i] Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, 2014