No one feast while anyone hungers

Re-reporting, editing by Carolyn Bennett

For many people World Food Day “is another No Food Day,” said UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Although the number of hungry people has fallen from last year’s historic high of more than 1 billion, there are still 925 million hungry people in the world.

“We are continually reminded,” he said, “that the world’s food systems are not working in ways that ensure food security for the most vulnerable members of our societies.” Millions in this year alone have been thrown into life-threatening hunger — by the earthquake in Haiti, drought in the Sahel, floods in Pakistan.

Twin food and financial crises continue to affect the world’s most vulnerable. “Food prices remain volatile and recently hit a two-year high.” The UN Secretary General was speaking in advance of the October 16, 2010, World Food Day.

When people are hungry, they cannot break the crippling chains of poverty, and are vulnerable to infectious diseases … Hungry children cannot grow, learn and develop.

“Let us unite against hunger and ensure food and nutrition security for all.”

World Food Day is commemorated every year on October 16, marking the 1945 founding date of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The agency’s 1billionhungry.org campaign encouraging governments to make eliminating hunger their top priority has surpassed 1 million signatures.

The UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food says there is little to rejoice about on World Food Day and calls for a shift to low-carbon agriculture to ensure there is enough food for all, especially in the face of climate change.… “Current farming methods focus on the provision of chemical fertilizers and a greater mechanization of production.

“Such efforts are far distant from the professed commitment to fight climate change and to support small-scale, family agriculture [and are] a ‘recipe for disaster.’”


Sources
“UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message to mark World Food Day, to be observed on October 16: ‘Calling for Comprehensive Approach to Ensuring Food Security,’ Secretary-General in World Food Day Message Urges Global Community to ‘Unite against Hunger,’” October 13, 2010, Department of Public Information News and Media Division New York, http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2010/sgsm13180.doc.htm


“On World Food Day, UN calls for united front against hunger,” October 15, 2010, http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=36456&Cr=hung&Cr1=

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