World Food Day – 16th October 2020
World Food Day is observed every year on October 16th. The day is of immense importance as it caters to one of the basic human needs. Every person in this globe should take a conviction to eradicate hunger by showing a helping hand.
World Food Day is not about preparing different cuisines and enjoying variety in flavours under the sun. It’s a common hand-joining cause to come together, contribute to removing hunger from every corner of this world. We can do our bit by helping food grains, essential food items, donating packaged and processed food, preparing food etc.
This article entirely talks about World Food Day 2020 concerning its history, significance, themes, celebrations and relevant FAQs.
World Food Day 2020 – History
The United Nations set up the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) in the year 1945. The main objective behind the establishment of this organization was to attack hunger and eradicate the bane of hunger from the global population. The FAO also aims at providing food that is nutritionally high in quality as also increasing production of agricultural crops.
FAO conducts annual general conferences where all the member nations signed up under FAO participate and pass resolutions. At the 20th annual conference held by FAO in the year 1979, member nations passed a new resolution to celebrate World Food Day in November of 1979. The celebrations did not begin immediately after that. It was in the year 1980 that a big decision was taken to implement the World Food Day action plan.
Finally, on October 16th, 1981, the first World Food Day was celebrated, and from then on, the day is being celebrated across the world annually. International agencies, national establishments, local organizations and governments were called forth to actively participate and contribute to the efforts of making the program a grand success.
Every year the FAO organizes large scale programs so that their message is sent out to the more significant part of the world and they achieve maximum participation from their member countries. FAO is headquartered at Rome, Italy.
Importance of World Food Day 2020
World Food Day is organized every year with a unique and different theme. It is celebrated across the world to draw people’s attention towards the problem of global hunger. The main reason why the world faces a shortage of food is mainly due to the gaps found in the food production and distribution system.
The food supply chain is not sequentially the same across all nations. Many nations face a shortage of food supplies and do not cater to the low-income groups of their population, mainly because of internal problems in the food chain.
Food may be produced in surplus quantities, but often due to internal mismanagement’s, they get rotten, spoilt and unfit for consumption. Also trading outside at higher rates and neglecting their own internal feeds causes’ imbalance.
Hence, World Food Day is organized every year to discuss these problems at various levels of social infrastructures. Participants are mainly politicians, non-governmental authorities, and food distribution agencies along with cultivators, distributors and marketers.
Multiple issues are brought to the central discussions committee, and food supply and distribution problems are addressed, and resolutions passed. Special initiatives are launched to make food available to anyone and everyone.
Besides, special schemes are listed out for implementation by member countries to sort out the problem of hunger in their respective nations. Another primary concern discussed as part of World Food Day celebrations includes talks on ‘food security’. The terms food supply, production, distribution and security are all interrelated, and the world would be a better place if these parameters are balanced and equated alongside.
World Food Day Themes
Let us now scroll across various themes in practice over the past few years and look at the variety in ideas and their presentation:
- In 2016, the theme for World Food Day was clearly talking about the need to cope up with new changes in and around our living systems. It said, “Climate is changing, so should food and agriculture too”.
- 2017 focussed on poverty and hunger of a segment of people ravaged by wars; it said: “Change the future of migration”.
- 2018 stressed on implementing action plans to eradicate hunger from the world. The message was clear: “Our actions are our future; ending world hunger by 2030 is still possible”.
- 2019 stressed on nutrition and balanced diets with the theme: “Healthy diets for a zero hunger world”.
- 2020 is going to focus majorly on food security issues; theme currently set for the year is” food safety, everyone’s business”.
World Food Day 2020 Celebrations
This year World Food Day is going to be celebrated on Friday, October 16th, 2020. It is going to be celebrated with much fanfare, a lot of discussions and meets and thoughtfully positioned activities. A glimpse of the kind of events planned for the day on most years till now:
- Though the central theme focuses on food and food alone, many volunteers choose to remain hungry for a day. This is in observation and respect to the millions of hungry stomachs that need food but don’t have the means to afford it. Hunger strikes are also famous to draw global attention to the hunger crisis that many countries are facing today.
- Marathons to highlight the importance of healthy living and healthy eating habits are another way to showcase good and nourished eating practices.
- Food exhibitions and stalls to draw customer’s attention and attract children to a variety of cuisines is another way of celebrating the day. Many shows exclusively organize food drives for hungry souls.
- Cultural events showcasing the variety and difference of cuisines across different cultures has been a practised norm for many years now.
- Food contests, recipe competitions are other innovative ways of celebrating world food day.
Conclusion
It is aptly said that instead of raising our compounds because of security, we should instead open our doors to hungry people. Hunger is one of the significant causes of death every year. There are so many lives who can’t afford even a single square meal every day.
Poverty and malnourishment are some of the worst issues that the world is facing from a long time. Governments should tie-up with citizen volunteers and strive to remove hunger without a trace.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. When is World Food Day celebrated?
World Food Day is celebrated on October 16th every year.
2. Why is World Food Day celebrated?
World Food Day is celebrated to highlight the issues of worldwide hunger and also raise awareness of food quality and nourishment.
3. Who started World Food Day?
The member countries of FAO celebrated world Food Day at their 20th annual conference in 1979. Dr Pal Romany, who was the Minister of Agriculture [Hungary], first started the event.
4. How is World Food Day observed?
World Food Day is observed through food drives, voluntary food donations, hunger strikes, walkathon, exhibitions, discussions etc.
5. How can we celebrate World Food Day in school?
School children can voluntarily prepare food from their homes and conduct a food drive at school to feed the poor and needy communities. Schools should take permission from officials to donate essential food items to low-income groups and backward communities.
6. What is the theme for World food Day 2020?
“Food safety is everyone’s business” is the theme for World Food Day 2020.
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