World Food Day 2021: Date, Theme, History and Significance

World Food Day is celebrated to highlight worldwide hunger issues and raise awareness of food quality and nourishment.

World Food Day 2021

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. 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.

History of World Food Day

The United Nations set up the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) in the year 1945. The main objective behind this organisation’s establishment was to attack hunger and eradicate the bane of hunger from the global population. 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 1979, member nations passed a new resolution to celebrate World Food Day in November of 1979.

The celebrations did not begin immediately after that. In the year 1980, 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 making the program a grand success.

World Food Day 2021 Theme

Let us now scroll across various themes in practice over the past few years and look at the variety in ideas and their presentation:

• The World Food Day 2021 theme is not decided yet. The year 2020 theme was majorly focused on food security issues, “Food Safety, Everyone’s Business”.
• 2019 stressed nutrition and balanced diets with the theme: “Healthy diets for a zero hunger world”.
• 2018 stressed 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”.
• 2017 focussed on poverty and hunger of a segment of people ravaged by wars; it said: “Change the future of migration”.
• In 2016, World Food Day’s theme talked about the need to cope with new changes in and around our living systems. It said, “Climate is changing, so should food and agriculture too”.

Why is World Food Day Celebrated?

International Food Day is celebrated worldwide to draw people’s attention to the problem of global hunger. The main reason why the world faces a shortage of food is mainly due to the food production and distribution system gaps. 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 their population’s low-income groups, mainly because of internal problems in the food chain.  Food may be produced in surplus quantities, but they often get rotten, spoilt, and unfit for consumption due to internal mismanagement. Hence, World Food Day is organized every year to discuss these problems at various social infrastructures levels.

Participants are mainly politicians, non-governmental authorities, food distribution agencies, 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.

World Food Day 2021 Celebrations

This year World Food Day is going to be celebrated on Saturday, October 16th, 2021. It will 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, 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.
• Marathons highlighting 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 various 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.