No, this is not the day when we all eat anything we want! World Food Day is United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s birthday. It was founded on October 16, 1945, right after WWII ended and it includes the World Food Programme, the International Fund for Agriculture Development, and the World Health Organization.

World Food Day was recognized in 2020 as the winner of the Nobel Prize in Peace for battling world hunger, directly contributing to bringing peace to conflict areas, and being the leading activist in stopping hunger from being used as a weapon in conflicts and wars.

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Themes

From the beginning of the 80s and on, each WFD has its theme. This serves to highlight specific calls to action and to focus the message better. Of course, the majority of the themes are about supporting health, education, and agriculture.

Here are some of the themes in the past decade:

2010 – United against hunger

2011 – Food prices – From crisis to stability

2012 – Agricultural cooperatives – key to feeding the world

2013 – Sustainable Food Systems for Food Security and Nutrition

2014 – Family Farming “Feeding the World, caring for the earth”

2015 – “Social Protection and Agriculture: Breaking the Cycle of Rural Poverty”

2016 – Climate change: “Climate is changing. Food and agriculture must too”

2017 – Change the future of migration. Invest in food security and rural development

2018 – “Our Actions Are Our Future, Ending World Hunger by 2030 is Possible”

2019 – “Our Actions Are Our Future, Healthy Diets for A #ZeroHunger World”

2020 – “Grow, Nourish, Sustain. Together”

2021 –“Safe food now for a healthy tomorrow”

2022 –“Leave NO ONE behind”

World Food Day in the USA

Events are held in over 150 countries that mark the WFD. In the US, World Food Day is a tradition for over forty years now. Around 450 organizations, both national and voluntary, support the events each year.

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2022

This year, the obvious theme is the conflict in Ukraine. The food crisis everyone is announcing has already started in some countries. An energy crisis also seems imminent, and the catastrophic effect of the war on the people of Ukraine and the world is already obvious.

The UN has already attempted to help the people who have lost their homes and land but come October 16, it will be a chance for everyone to help. You can already take action and see the program for this year at www.fao.org/world-food-day/en!