WORLD FOOD DAY16th October 2013

The theme of World Food Day 2013 is "SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEMS FOR FOOD

SECURITY AND NUTRITION"

It is celebrated every year around the world to commemorate the founding of Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 1945

It is a world-wide event designed to increase awareness, understanding and inform year-around action to alleviate hunger

"SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEMS FOR FOOD SECURITY AND NUTRITION"

Food security: To feed an estimated 870 million hungry people on the planet, we need to increase production of basic staple foods by 60 percent.

Nutrition: Two billion worldwide lack micronutrients vital for good health. Agriculture must become more nutrition-sensitive, with a stronger focus on fruits, vegetables, and other nutrient-dense foods.

Food Systems: Since every aspect of our food systems has an effect on the final availability and accessibility of diverse, nutritious foods, we must constantly strive towards a healthier global food system.

Sustainability: By using resources more efficiently at every stage along the food chain, we can increase the amount of healthy food available worldwide. Getting the most food from every drop of water, plot of land, and speck of fertilizer saves resources for the future.

Alarming Facts About Hunger

The WHO estimates that one-third of the world population is well-fed, one third is under-fed and one-third is starving.

925 million people in the world do not have enough to eat.

Every 3.6 second someone dies of hunger.

Every year 15 million children die of hunger.

65% of the world’s hungry populaces live in only seven countries: India, China, The Democratic, Republic of Congo, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Ethiopia.

Undernourishment kills more people every year than malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS combined.

Alarming Facts About Hunger

Causes For Lack Of Food In The World

Over-exploitation

of environment

Over -population

Exclusion of poor

countries from global

trade market

Natural calamities

Unequal developmentFood wastage

Hunger And The Human Body

BRAIN: A healthy brain needs 20 percent of your body’s energy

which comes from food consumption.

HEART:A healthy heart pumps a steady supply of blood throughout

the body. An undernourished heart shrinks.

VITAL ORGANS:The liver and kidneys filter out toxins and waste, while your immune system fends off. Dangerous toxins build up as the

liver and kidneys fail.

SKIN & BONES:Healthy skin shields the body from infection. Hungry skin

cracks, becoming a gateway for infection. Bones stop growing also known as stunting.

World Food Programme and India

India is home to about 25 percent of the world's hungry poor. Around 43 per cent of children under the age of five years are malnourished and more than half of all pregnancy women aged between 15 and 49 years suffer from anemia. Stark inter-state disparities exist with some states better off on all social indicators than the others. The states that suffer from hunger and malnutrition the most include Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

The objectives of WFP's Country Programme in India are to:

Combat malnutrition and invest in human resources; Help improve immediate food security for selected target groups; Maximize the active participation of women in projects; Advocate joint forest management; Help strengthen distribution channels for locally-produced food grains; Increase agricultural production and create employment. Specific beneficiaries include poor women (especially mothers), at-risk children,

and poor forest-dependent populations.

To know more, please visit: http://www.wfp.org/countries/india/home

India Food Banking Network

Food banking is a system that moves food from donors to the people who need it and engages all sectors of society in the effort.

It is a non-profit flexible distribution model that acquires donated/ purchased food and makes it available to the hungry through the network of institutional feeding programs.

These programs include school feeding programs, charitable hospitals, orphanages, the destitute, beggars, homeless etc.

To know more about Indian Food Banking Network, please visit: http://www.indiafoodbanking.org/