By: Sosie Casteel | Writer
October 18, 2019
On Wednesday, October 16, communities worldwide celebrate an international holiday called World Food Day to commemorate the establishment of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Members of the FAO founded World Food Day in order to emphasize and spread awareness of hunger around the world. Today, over 150 countries participate in the holiday.
Each year the focus of World Food Day is to create awareness for the most relevant issues concerning food and agriculture. A theme such as “Climate is changing, food and agriculture must too” (2016) allows participants to adopt a focus for their action on the holiday. Nonprofits organize dinners on the holiday, and in many countries the council members of the government gather to discuss strategy for resolving their issues regarding hunger and agriculture. The theme of 2019, “Our Actions Are Our Future, Healthy Diets for A #ZeroHunger World” emphasizes the importance of clean eating in addition to the importance of food availability. The FAO requests assistance from small businesses, farmers, and governmental institutions to ensure positive change and helpful contributions.
Although assistance from organizations and businesses allows for definite progression in solving the issue of world hunger, more recognition is needed from people who have the privilege of being able to eat when they’re hungry. For most Americans, food is plentiful, compared to many third world countries, where others do not have easy access to food. Thousands of Americans never have to worry about their next meal, and food can easily be taken for granted.
“Most people I know go home and expect a meal to be provided or a fridge full of food,” junior Luke Jones said. “I never worry about not eating.”
Expecting food doesn’t make students bad people; however, many do not understand that millions of people around the world go hungry throughout the day with little food to fill their bellies. Many children have never experienced being full. To eradicate world hunger, we will need recognition from those who only know what it’s like to be hungry for a couple of hours.
In places such as San Clemente, many do not understand the importance of their food, so a lot of valuable food gets thrown away. Even realizing how lucky we are to have access to so much food will help make progress in solving the issue.
“We’ve grown up not knowing what it’s like to not have access to food,” sophomore Jenna Garvey said.
This is certainly true for many in San Clemente, and we should make an effort to recognize how favorable our situation is by commemorating World Food Day more than just once a year.
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