Tomorrow, people around the world come together to declare their commitment to eradicate hunger in our lifetime. Isn’t that an exhilarating idea!
World Food Day is grounded in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Every human being has a fundamental right to be free from hunger and the right to adequate food. The right to adequate food is realized when every man, woman and child has the physical and economic access at all times to adequate food or means for its procurement.
While we are working to end hunger here in Southern Colorado, it is important to remember that 805 million people, one in nine worldwide, live with chronic hunger. Here are some staggering statistics:
- 60% of the hungry in the world are women
- Almost 5 million children under the age of 5 die of malnutrition-related causes every year
- 4 in 10 children in poor countries are malnourished damaging their bodies and brains
These truths are even more shocking when we take into account the enormous amount of perfectly good food that is rotting in landfills. We are moving from an era of extreme food scarcity and conservation (specifically during World War I) to a food waste epidemic.
The posters below are from the early 20th century and are part of the campaign during that time to eliminate food waste.
Aren’t they cool…and why is this still not a thing? To see more of these posters, click here.
As we move into a season of holiday abundance (extreme overindulgence–mountains of turkey, ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, heaps of sweets, etc.), please remember that we need to do our part in managing food waste.
If you would like ideas about how you can eliminate food waste in your own home, click here.
Have a great day and thanks for reading!
