world food day essay writing

World Food Day: What it is and why it's more important than ever 

World Food Day brings awareness to stark projections - including ones from the FAO suggesting that 670 million people will still be facing hunger in 2030. Image:  Unsplash/ Dan Gold

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• World Food Day is an annual call to action by the United Nations on 16 October each year.
• Almost one in ten people globally are undernourished, and more than 3 billion can’t afford a healthy diet, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
• Conflict, climate change and rising prices are all contributing to growing food insecurity around the world.
• The FAO says governments should re-evaluate their support to agriculture to help improve sustainable production of more nutritious foods.

World Food Day, held this year on 16 October, is an annual reminder that food insecurity and malnourishment remain widespread and are poised to worsen thanks to a range of ongoing threats, including climate change, inflation, geopolitical conflict, and more. Here's what to know about World Food Day and why it's more important than ever.

Two billion people in the world currently suffer from malnutrition and according to some estimates, we need 60% more food to feed the global population by 2050. Yet the agricultural sector is ill-equipped to meet this demand: 700 million of its workers currently live in poverty, and it is already responsible for 70% of the world’s water consumption and 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

New technologies could help our food systems become more sustainable and efficient, but unfortunately the agricultural sector has fallen behind other sectors in terms of technology adoption.

Launched in 2018, the Forum’s Innovation with a Purpose Platform is a large-scale partnership that facilitates the adoption of new technologies and other innovations to transform the way we produce, distribute and consume our food.

With research, increasing investments in new agriculture technologies and the integration of local and regional initiatives aimed at enhancing food security, the platform is working with over 50 partner institutions and 1,000 leaders around the world to leverage emerging technologies to make our food systems more sustainable, inclusive and efficient.

Learn more about Innovation with a Purpose's impact and contact us to see how you can get involved.

What is World Food Day and how did it get started?

World Food Day is marked on 16 October each year. It commemorates the founding of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization in 1945. Hundreds of events and outreach activities around the world bring together governments, businesses, the public and the media to promote awareness and action for those suffering from hunger.

What is this year's World Food Day theme?

This year’s theme is ‘Leave NO ONE behind’ . The FAO says access to, and availability of, nutritious food is being increasingly impeded by the current global challenges. The problem is particularly acute for the 80% of people classified as ‘extreme poor’ who live in rural areas. They are the hardest hit by human-made and natural disasters. Some are also marginalized due to gender and ethnic origin.

Looking ahead to World Food Day the FAO says: “In the face of global crises, global solutions are needed more than ever. By aiming for better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life, we can transform agrifood systems and build forward better by implementing sustainable and holistic solutions that consider development in the long term, inclusive economic growth, and greater resilience.”

Why is World Food Day Important?

The human statistics are stark. Almost one in 10 people in the world are undernourished, according to the United Nations. Globally, around one in five children under the age of five were stunted in 2020, many as a result of inadequate nutrition. While a fifth of people in Africa faced hunger last year.

Projections suggest that 670 million people - 8% of the world’s population - will still be facing hunger in 2030.

The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2022 report , says world hunger rose last year. It estimates that as many as 828 million people globally were affected by hunger in 2021. It says this reflects “exacerbated inequalities across and within countries due to an unequal pattern of economic recovery among countries and unrecovered income losses among those most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The FAO also says projections suggest that 670 million people will still be facing hunger in 2030. That’s 8% of the world’s population - and the same number as when its 2030 Agenda was launched in 2015 - and despite the UN’s own Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of ‘zero hunger’ by the end of this decade.

What is food insecurity and why is it growing?

The UN defines food security as when a person has “the physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life”. The FAO report says 2.3 billion people globally were moderately or severely food insecure in 2021 - while 11.7% of the world’s population faced food insecurity at severe levels, a growing proportion reflecting a deteriorating situation. More than three billion people worldwide were unable to afford a healthy diet in 2020.

The UN says rising inflation, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and conflicts such as the one in Ukraine, have also caused dangerous food shortages for the world’s poorest people. It says Ukraine and the Russian Federation supply 30% and 20% of global wheat and maize exports respectively , as well as being leading exporters of fertilizers. At least 50 countries import around a third of their wheat from them, with many African and Least Developed Countries (LDCs) importing as much as 50%. The UN says the conflict has caused a sudden and sharp reduction in exports from Ukraine.

What is being done to tackle food insecurity and poor nutrition?

The FAO says now is the time for governments to re-evaluate their support to food and agriculture. It says globally this totalled an average of almost $630 billion per year from 2013-2018. However, the FAO says “the lion’s share of it is targeted to farmers individually, through trade and market policies and fiscal subsidies largely tied to production. Not only is much of this support market distorting, but it is not reaching many farmers, hurts the environment and does not promote the production of nutritious foods.”

The organization also points out that trade and market interventions can undermine the affordability and availability of nutritious, healthy foods. In many countries, subsidies focus on staple foods thereby discouraging less subsidized commodities such as fruit, vegetables and pulses. The FAO is therefore calling on public support to be repurposed to help people access more affordable nutritious foods.

The World Economic Forum estimates that 60% more food will be needed to feed the world by 2050 . However, the global agricultural sector is ill-equipped to meet this demand. That’s why the Forum launched its Innovation with a Purpose platform in 2018. It’s a large-scale partnership that facilitates the adoption of new technologies and other innovations to transform the way we produce, distribute and consume our food. The platform is working with more than 50 partner institutions and 1,000 leaders around the world to leverage emerging technologies to make our food systems more sustainable, inclusive and efficient.

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Everything you need to know about World Food Day

Oct 16, 2023

First celebrated in 1979, World Food Day takes place annually on October 16 and promotes awareness of hunger and action for the future of food, people, and the planet. Here’s what you need to know about the holiday’s significance and history, how Concern is marking World Food Day 2023, and how you can get involved.

Find out how you can help the fight to end hunger

What is the theme for world food day 2023.

This year’s World Food Day theme is water, under the slogan: “Water is life, water is food.” 

Many of the countries hit hardest by climate change are those whose citizens rely on agriculture and pastoralism, both for their livelihoods and for their own meals. The global water crisis — an offset of the climate crisis — is one of the biggest contributors to world hunger as it stands today. August 2023 was the warmest August on record for more than a century of data collected by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and National Centers for Environmental Information, exacerbating conditions in drought-plagued areas around the world. 

Here are a few ways that this year’s World Food Day theme resonates in some of the countries where Concern works. 

Water is life in Afghanistan

UNOCHA reports that drought is one of the most common effects of climate change in Afghanistan , and rising. In 2021, it affected 39% of families. One year later, it was affecting 64%, with 25 of the country’s 34 provinces experiencing either severe or catastrophic drought conditions. This has left fully half of the country’s population without enough food, and some 6 million on the brink of famine . 

Water is life in the Horn of Africa

After five consecutive failed rainy seasons in the region, the Horn of Africa (including Ethiopia , Kenya , and Somalia ) has faced the worst drought since 1981. Last autumn’s failed “short” rainy season led to a truly unprecedented situation not seen in recent history. While this spring’s “long” rains were more successful, they also led to flooding in parts of Ethiopia and Somalia, which were just as detrimental to the farmers and pastoralists in the area. 

This contributed to a hunger crisis affecting 20.1 million Ethiopians, 4.4 million Kenyans, and 7.1 million Somalis. “Where drought leads, hunger is never far behind,” said Concern Somalia Country Director Abdi Rashid Haji-Nur last year. Food needs remain high as families recover from years of lost crops and livestock.

The Horn of Africa crisis, explained

Last year, after another season of failed rains, that emergency was brought to a breaking point. And while rains have arrived in the Horn of Africa, it still faces a humanitarian crisis that’s far from over. Here’s what you need to know.

Water is life in Malawi

According to the country’s Department of Disaster Management Affairs, Malawi has experienced ten droughts since 1975, eight of which were major. The most severe have occurred over the last 30 years, with a 1992 drought affecting 7 million and a 2015 drought impacting 6.7 million. 

It’s an ongoing problem in the country, while other parts suffer from extreme rains and cyclones of increasing frequency and destruction (such as 2019’s Cyclone Idai). Both situations have created food shortages for 5.4 million people. The 2015 drought led to the country facing what the UN called the worst food crisis in a decade. 

Water is life in Pakistan

Pakistan is another country on the frontlines of the climate crisis, particularly when it comes to water shortages and scarcity. While agriculture accounts for just under 19% of the country’s GDP, it employs more than 42% of its labor force (67% of Pakistanis live in rural areas). The country has recently come out of another major drought, which lasted from 2021 to 2022, and was hit by cataclysmic flooding at the end of last summer . This, combined with economic turmoil, led the UN to announce earlier this year that nearly 5 million people were on the brink of famine. 

Why is World Food Day important?

The proverbial “now-more-than-ever” applies to World Food Day’s importance. Initially established to mark the anniversary of the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organisation, World Food Day goes hand-in-hand with the FAO’s mission to end world hunger and improve the standard of living for people living in rural areas. 

It also goes hand-in-hand with the missions of organizations that work with the FAO, like Concern. October 16 is a touchpoint for NGOs — and for the world; a reminder that hunger, food insecurity, and malnutrition are among the most pressing issues of our time, and getting worse the closer we get to the 2030 goal of Zero Hunger . 

World Food Day at Concern

Concern’s annual Global Hunger Index , co-published with Welthungerhilfe, is usually launched on World Food Day ( it launched a few days earlier this year ). An award-winning “report card” for world hunger, the GHI measures hunger based on four key indicators: Undernourishment, child wasting, child stunting, and child mortality rates.

With the GHI also comes our annual ranking of the hungriest countries in the world — countries with the highest GHI scores indicating strong levels of hunger and malnourishment. We also offer takeaways and policy recommendations, based on each year’s data, to help global progress towards Zero Hunger. 

How to celebrate World Food Day

World Food Day is a great reason to learn more about the state of world hunger in 2023. In addition to reviewing the GHI and our top 10 hungriest countries, linked above, see below for a few other resources that you can read and share today (and every other day!).

World Food Day 2023: What to read next

World hunger facts: What you need to know in 2023

How a simple irrigation system can help the fight against hunger

Can world hunger be solved? Six experts weigh in.

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Six brilliant student essays on the power of food to spark social change.

Read winning essays from our fall 2018 “Feeding Ourselves, Feeding Our Revolutions,” student writing contest.

For the Fall 2018 student writing competition, “Feeding Ourselves, Feeding Our Revolutions,” we invited students to read the YES! Magazine article, “Cooking Stirs the Pot for Social Change,”   by Korsha Wilson and respond to this writing prompt: If you were to host a potluck or dinner to discuss a challenge facing your community or country, what food would you cook? Whom would you invite? On what issue would you deliberate? 

The Winners

From the hundreds of essays written, these six—on anti-Semitism, cultural identity, death row prisoners, coming out as transgender, climate change, and addiction—were chosen as essay winners.  Be sure to read the literary gems and catchy titles that caught our eye.

Middle School Winner: India Brown High School Winner: Grace Williams University Winner: Lillia Borodkin Powerful Voice Winner: Paisley Regester Powerful Voice Winner: Emma Lingo Powerful Voice Winner: Hayden Wilson

Literary Gems Clever Titles

Middle School Winner: India Brown  

A Feast for the Future

Close your eyes and imagine the not too distant future: The Statue of Liberty is up to her knees in water, the streets of lower Manhattan resemble the canals of Venice, and hurricanes arrive in the fall and stay until summer. Now, open your eyes and see the beautiful planet that we will destroy if we do not do something. Now is the time for change. Our future is in our control if we take actions, ranging from small steps, such as not using plastic straws, to large ones, such as reducing fossil fuel consumption and electing leaders who take the problem seriously.

 Hosting a dinner party is an extraordinary way to publicize what is at stake. At my potluck, I would serve linguini with clams. The clams would be sautéed in white wine sauce. The pasta tossed with a light coat of butter and topped with freshly shredded parmesan. I choose this meal because it cannot be made if global warming’s patterns persist. Soon enough, the ocean will be too warm to cultivate clams, vineyards will be too sweltering to grow grapes, and wheat fields will dry out, leaving us without pasta.

I think that giving my guests a delicious meal and then breaking the news to them that its ingredients would be unattainable if Earth continues to get hotter is a creative strategy to initiate action. Plus, on the off chance the conversation gets drastically tense, pasta is a relatively difficult food to throw.

In YES! Magazine’s article, “Cooking Stirs the Pot for Social Change,” Korsha Wilson says “…beyond the narrow definition of what cooking is, you can see that cooking is and has always been an act of resistance.” I hope that my dish inspires people to be aware of what’s at stake with increasing greenhouse gas emissions and work toward creating a clean energy future.

 My guest list for the potluck would include two groups of people: local farmers, who are directly and personally affected by rising temperatures, increased carbon dioxide, drought, and flooding, and people who either do not believe in human-caused climate change or don’t think it affects anyone. I would invite the farmers or farm owners because their jobs and crops are dependent on the weather. I hope that after hearing a farmer’s perspective, climate-deniers would be awakened by the truth and more receptive to the effort to reverse these catastrophic trends.

Earth is a beautiful planet that provides everything we’ll ever need, but because of our pattern of living—wasteful consumption, fossil fuel burning, and greenhouse gas emissions— our habitat is rapidly deteriorating. Whether you are a farmer, a long-shower-taking teenager, a worker in a pollution-producing factory, or a climate-denier, the future of humankind is in our hands. The choices we make and the actions we take will forever affect planet Earth.

 India Brown is an eighth grader who lives in New York City with her parents and older brother. She enjoys spending time with her friends, walking her dog, Morty, playing volleyball and lacrosse, and swimming.

High School Winner: Grace Williams

Apple Pie Embrace

It’s 1:47 a.m. Thanksgiving smells fill the kitchen. The sweet aroma of sugar-covered apples and buttery dough swirls into my nostrils. Fragrant orange and rosemary permeate the room and every corner smells like a stroll past the open door of a French bakery. My eleven-year-old eyes water, red with drowsiness, and refocus on the oven timer counting down. Behind me, my mom and aunt chat to no end, fueled by the seemingly self-replenishable coffee pot stashed in the corner. Their hands work fast, mashing potatoes, crumbling cornbread, and covering finished dishes in a thin layer of plastic wrap. The most my tired body can do is sit slouched on the backless wooden footstool. I bask in the heat escaping under the oven door.

 As a child, I enjoyed Thanksgiving and the preparations that came with it, but it seemed like more of a bridge between my birthday and Christmas than an actual holiday. Now, it’s a time of year I look forward to, dedicated to family, memories, and, most importantly, food. What I realized as I grew older was that my homemade Thanksgiving apple pie was more than its flaky crust and soft-fruit center. This American food symbolized a rite of passage, my Iraqi family’s ticket to assimilation. 

 Some argue that by adopting American customs like the apple pie, we lose our culture. I would argue that while American culture influences what my family eats and celebrates, it doesn’t define our character. In my family, we eat Iraqi dishes like mesta and tahini, but we also eat Cinnamon Toast Crunch for breakfast. This doesn’t mean we favor one culture over the other; instead, we create a beautiful blend of the two, adapting traditions to make them our own.

 That said, my family has always been more than the “mashed potatoes and turkey” type.

My mom’s family immigrated to the United States in 1976. Upon their arrival, they encountered a deeply divided America. Racism thrived, even after the significant freedoms gained from the Civil Rights Movement a few years before. Here, my family was thrust into a completely unknown world: they didn’t speak the language, they didn’t dress normally, and dinners like riza maraka seemed strange in comparison to the Pop Tarts and Oreos lining grocery store shelves.

 If I were to host a dinner party, it would be like Thanksgiving with my Chaldean family. The guests, my extended family, are a diverse people, distinct ingredients in a sweet potato casserole, coming together to create a delicious dish.

In her article “Cooking Stirs the Pot for Social Change,” Korsha Wilson writes, “each ingredient that we use, every technique, every spice tells a story about our access, our privilege, our heritage, and our culture.” Voices around the room will echo off the walls into the late hours of the night while the hot apple pie steams at the table’s center.

We will play concan on the blanketed floor and I’ll try to understand my Toto, who, after forty years, still speaks broken English. I’ll listen to my elders as they tell stories about growing up in Unionville, Michigan, a predominately white town where they always felt like outsiders, stories of racism that I have the privilege not to experience. While snacking on sunflower seeds and salted pistachios, we’ll talk about the news- how thousands of people across the country are protesting for justice among immigrants. No one protested to give my family a voice.

Our Thanksgiving food is more than just sustenance, it is a physical representation of my family ’s blended and ever-changing culture, even after 40 years in the United States. No matter how the food on our plates changes, it will always symbolize our sense of family—immediate and extended—and our unbreakable bond.

Grace Williams, a student at Kirkwood High School in Kirkwood, Missouri, enjoys playing tennis, baking, and spending time with her family. Grace also enjoys her time as a writing editor for her school’s yearbook, the Pioneer. In the future, Grace hopes to continue her travels abroad, as well as live near extended family along the sunny beaches of La Jolla, California.

University Winner: Lillia Borodkin

Nourishing Change After Tragedy Strikes

In the Jewish community, food is paramount. We often spend our holidays gathered around a table, sharing a meal and reveling in our people’s story. On other sacred days, we fast, focusing instead on reflection, atonement, and forgiveness.

As a child, I delighted in the comfort of matzo ball soup, the sweetness of hamantaschen, and the beauty of braided challah. But as I grew older and more knowledgeable about my faith, I learned that the origins of these foods are not rooted in joy, but in sacrifice.

The matzo of matzo balls was a necessity as the Jewish people did not have time for their bread to rise as they fled slavery in Egypt. The hamantaschen was an homage to the hat of Haman, the villain of the Purim story who plotted the Jewish people’s destruction. The unbaked portion of braided challah was tithed by commandment to the kohen  or priests. Our food is an expression of our history, commemorating both our struggles and our triumphs.

As I write this, only days have passed since eleven Jews were killed at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. These people, intending only to pray and celebrate the Sabbath with their community, were murdered simply for being Jewish. This brutal event, in a temple and city much like my own, is a reminder that anti-Semitism still exists in this country. A reminder that hatred of Jews, of me, my family, and my community, is alive and flourishing in America today. The thought that a difference in religion would make some believe that others do not have the right to exist is frightening and sickening.  

 This is why, if given the chance, I would sit down the entire Jewish American community at one giant Shabbat table. I’d serve matzo ball soup, pass around loaves of challah, and do my best to offer comfort. We would take time to remember the beautiful souls lost to anti-Semitism this October and the countless others who have been victims of such hatred in the past. I would then ask that we channel all we are feeling—all the fear, confusion, and anger —into the fight.

As suggested in Korsha Wilson’s “Cooking Stirs the Pot for Social Change,” I would urge my guests to direct our passion for justice and the comfort and care provided by the food we are eating into resisting anti-Semitism and hatred of all kinds.

We must use the courage this sustenance provides to create change and honor our people’s suffering and strength. We must remind our neighbors, both Jewish and non-Jewish, that anti-Semitism is alive and well today. We must shout and scream and vote until our elected leaders take this threat to our community seriously. And, we must stand with, support, and listen to other communities that are subjected to vengeful hate today in the same way that many of these groups have supported us in the wake of this tragedy.

This terrible shooting is not the first of its kind, and if conflict and loathing are permitted to grow, I fear it will not be the last. While political change may help, the best way to target this hate is through smaller-scale actions in our own communities.

It is critical that we as a Jewish people take time to congregate and heal together, but it is equally necessary to include those outside the Jewish community to build a powerful crusade against hatred and bigotry. While convening with these individuals, we will work to end the dangerous “otherizing” that plagues our society and seek to understand that we share far more in common than we thought. As disagreements arise during our discussions, we will learn to respect and treat each other with the fairness we each desire. Together, we shall share the comfort, strength, and courage that traditional Jewish foods provide and use them to fuel our revolution. 

We are not alone in the fight despite what extremists and anti-semites might like us to believe.  So, like any Jew would do, I invite you to join me at the Shabbat table. First, we will eat. Then, we will get to work.  

Lillia Borodkin is a senior at Kent State University majoring in Psychology with a concentration in Child Psychology. She plans to attend graduate school and become a school psychologist while continuing to pursue her passion for reading and writing. Outside of class, Lillia is involved in research in the psychology department and volunteers at the Women’s Center on campus.   

Powerful Voice Winner: Paisley Regester

As a kid, I remember asking my friends jokingly, ”If you were stuck on a deserted island, what single item of food would you bring?” Some of my friends answered practically and said they’d bring water. Others answered comically and said they’d bring snacks like Flamin’ Hot Cheetos or a banana. However, most of my friends answered sentimentally and listed the foods that made them happy. This seems like fun and games, but what happens if the hypothetical changes? Imagine being asked, on the eve of your death, to choose the final meal you will ever eat. What food would you pick? Something practical? Comical? Sentimental?  

This situation is the reality for the 2,747 American prisoners who are currently awaiting execution on death row. The grim ritual of “last meals,” when prisoners choose their final meal before execution, can reveal a lot about these individuals and what they valued throughout their lives.

It is difficult for us to imagine someone eating steak, lobster tail, apple pie, and vanilla ice cream one moment and being killed by state-approved lethal injection the next. The prisoner can only hope that the apple pie he requested tastes as good as his mom’s. Surprisingly, many people in prison decline the option to request a special last meal. We often think of food as something that keeps us alive, so is there really any point to eating if someone knows they are going to die?

“Controlling food is a means of controlling power,” said chef Sean Sherman in the YES! Magazine article “Cooking Stirs the Pot for Social Change,” by Korsha Wilson. There are deeper stories that lie behind the final meals of individuals on death row.

I want to bring awareness to the complex and often controversial conditions of this country’s criminal justice system and change the common perception of prisoners as inhuman. To accomplish this, I would host a potluck where I would recreate the last meals of prisoners sentenced to death.

In front of each plate, there would be a place card with the prisoner’s full name, the date of execution, and the method of execution. These meals could range from a plate of fried chicken, peas with butter, apple pie, and a Dr. Pepper, reminiscent of a Sunday dinner at Grandma’s, to a single olive.

Seeing these meals up close, meals that many may eat at their own table or feed to their own kids, would force attendees to face the reality of the death penalty. It will urge my guests to look at these individuals not just as prisoners, assigned a number and a death date, but as people, capable of love and rehabilitation.  

This potluck is not only about realizing a prisoner’s humanity, but it is also about recognizing a flawed criminal justice system. Over the years, I have become skeptical of the American judicial system, especially when only seven states have judges who ethnically represent the people they serve. I was shocked when I found out that the officers who killed Michael Brown and Anthony Lamar Smith were exonerated for their actions. How could that be possible when so many teens and adults of color have spent years in prison, some even executed, for crimes they never committed?  

Lawmakers, police officers, city officials, and young constituents, along with former prisoners and their families, would be invited to my potluck to start an honest conversation about the role and application of inequality, dehumanization, and racism in the death penalty. Food served at the potluck would represent the humanity of prisoners and push people to acknowledge that many inmates are victims of a racist and corrupt judicial system.

Recognizing these injustices is only the first step towards a more equitable society. The second step would be acting on these injustices to ensure that every voice is heard, even ones separated from us by prison walls. Let’s leave that for the next potluck, where I plan to serve humble pie.

Paisley Regester is a high school senior and devotes her life to activism, the arts, and adventure. Inspired by her experiences traveling abroad to Nicaragua, Mexico, and Scotland, Paisley hopes to someday write about the diverse people and places she has encountered and share her stories with the rest of the world.

Powerful Voice Winner: Emma Lingo

The Empty Seat

“If you aren’t sober, then I don’t want to see you on Christmas.”

Harsh words for my father to hear from his daughter but words he needed to hear. Words I needed him to understand and words he seemed to consider as he fiddled with his wine glass at the head of the table. Our guests, my grandma, and her neighbors remained resolutely silent. They were not about to defend my drunken father–or Charles as I call him–from my anger or my ultimatum.

This was the first dinner we had had together in a year. The last meal we shared ended with Charles slopping his drink all over my birthday presents and my mother explaining heroin addiction to me. So, I wasn’t surprised when Charles threw down some liquid valor before dinner in anticipation of my anger. If he wanted to be welcomed on Christmas, he needed to be sober—or he needed to be gone.

Countless dinners, holidays, and birthdays taught me that my demands for sobriety would fall on deaf ears. But not this time. Charles gave me a gift—a one of a kind, limited edition, absolutely awkward treat. One that I didn’t know how to deal with at all. Charles went home that night, smacked a bright red bow on my father, and hand-delivered him to me on Christmas morning.

He arrived for breakfast freshly showered and looking flustered. He would remember this day for once only because his daughter had scolded him into sobriety. Dad teetered between happiness and shame. Grandma distracted us from Dad’s presence by bringing the piping hot bacon and biscuits from the kitchen to the table, theatrically announcing their arrival. Although these foods were the alleged focus of the meal, the real spotlight shined on the unopened liquor cabinet in my grandma’s kitchen—the cabinet I know Charles was begging Dad to open.

I’ve isolated myself from Charles. My family has too. It means we don’t see Dad, but it’s the best way to avoid confrontation and heartache. Sometimes I find myself wondering what it would be like if we talked with him more or if he still lived nearby. Would he be less inclined to use? If all families with an addict tried to hang on to a relationship with the user, would there be fewer addicts in the world? Christmas breakfast with Dad was followed by Charles whisking him away to Colorado where pot had just been legalized. I haven’t talked to Dad since that Christmas.

As Korsha Wilson stated in her YES! Magazine article, “Cooking Stirs the Pot for Social Change,” “Sometimes what we don’t cook says more than what we do cook.” When it comes to addiction, what isn’t served is more important than what is. In quiet moments, I like to imagine a meal with my family–including Dad. He’d have a spot at the table in my little fantasy. No alcohol would push him out of his chair, the cigarettes would remain seated in his back pocket, and the stench of weed wouldn’t invade the dining room. Fruit salad and gumbo would fill the table—foods that Dad likes. We’d talk about trivial matters in life, like how school is going and what we watched last night on TV.

Dad would feel loved. We would connect. He would feel less alone. At the end of the night, he’d walk me to the door and promise to see me again soon. And I would believe him.

Emma Lingo spends her time working as an editor for her school paper, reading, and being vocal about social justice issues. Emma is active with many clubs such as Youth and Government, KHS Cares, and Peer Helpers. She hopes to be a journalist one day and to be able to continue helping out people by volunteering at local nonprofits.

Powerful Voice Winner: Hayden Wilson

Bittersweet Reunion

I close my eyes and envision a dinner of my wildest dreams. I would invite all of my relatives. Not just my sister who doesn’t ask how I am anymore. Not just my nephews who I’m told are too young to understand me. No, I would gather all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins to introduce them to the me they haven’t met.

For almost two years, I’ve gone by a different name that most of my family refuses to acknowledge. My aunt, a nun of 40 years, told me at a recent birthday dinner that she’d heard of my “nickname.” I didn’t want to start a fight, so I decided not to correct her. Even the ones who’ve adjusted to my name have yet to recognize the bigger issue.

Last year on Facebook, I announced to my friends and family that I am transgender. No one in my family has talked to me about it, but they have plenty to say to my parents. I feel as if this is about my parents more than me—that they’ve made some big parenting mistake. Maybe if I invited everyone to dinner and opened up a discussion, they would voice their concerns to me instead of my parents.

I would serve two different meals of comfort food to remind my family of our good times. For my dad’s family, I would cook heavily salted breakfast food, the kind my grandpa used to enjoy. He took all of his kids to IHOP every Sunday and ordered the least healthy option he could find, usually some combination of an overcooked omelet and a loaded Classic Burger. For my mom’s family, I would buy shakes and burgers from Hardee’s. In my grandma’s final weeks, she let aluminum tins of sympathy meals pile up on her dining table while she made my uncle take her to Hardee’s every day.

In her article on cooking and activism, food writer Korsha Wilson writes, “Everyone puts down their guard over a good meal, and in that space, change is possible.” Hopefully the same will apply to my guests.

When I first thought of this idea, my mind rushed to the endless negative possibilities. My nun-aunt and my two non-nun aunts who live like nuns would whip out their Bibles before I even finished my first sentence. My very liberal, state representative cousin would say how proud she is of the guy I’m becoming, but this would trigger my aunts to accuse her of corrupting my mind. My sister, who has never spoken to me about my genderidentity, would cover her children’s ears and rush them out of the house. My Great-Depression-raised grandparents would roll over in their graves, mumbling about how kids have it easy nowadays.

After mentally mapping out every imaginable terrible outcome this dinner could have, I realized a conversation is unavoidable if I want my family to accept who I am. I long to restore the deep connection I used to have with them. Though I often think these former relationships are out of reach, I won’t know until I try to repair them. For a year and a half, I’ve relied on Facebook and my parents to relay messages about my identity, but I need to tell my own story.

At first, I thought Korsha Wilson’s idea of a cooked meal leading the way to social change was too optimistic, but now I understand that I need to think more like her. Maybe, just maybe, my family could all gather around a table, enjoy some overpriced shakes, and be as close as we were when I was a little girl.

 Hayden Wilson is a 17-year-old high school junior from Missouri. He loves writing, making music, and painting. He’s a part of his school’s writing club, as well as the GSA and a few service clubs.

 Literary Gems

We received many outstanding essays for the Fall 2018 Writing Competition. Though not every participant can win the contest, we’d like to share some excerpts that caught our eye.

Thinking of the main staple of the dish—potatoes, the starchy vegetable that provides sustenance for people around the globe. The onion, the layers of sorrow and joy—a base for this dish served during the holidays.  The oil, symbolic of hope and perseverance. All of these elements come together to form this delicious oval pancake permeating with possibilities. I wonder about future possibilities as I flip the latkes.

—Nikki Markman, University of San Francisco, San Francisco, California

The egg is a treasure. It is a fragile heart of gold that once broken, flows over the blemishless surface of the egg white in dandelion colored streams, like ribbon unraveling from its spool.

—Kaylin Ku, West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South, Princeton Junction, New Jersey

If I were to bring one food to a potluck to create social change by addressing anti-Semitism, I would bring gefilte fish because it is different from other fish, just like the Jews are different from other people.  It looks more like a matzo ball than fish, smells extraordinarily fishy, and tastes like sweet brine with the consistency of a crab cake.

—Noah Glassman, Ethical Culture Fieldston School,  Bronx, New York

I would not only be serving them something to digest, I would serve them a one-of-a-kind taste of the past, a taste of fear that is felt in the souls of those whose home and land were taken away, a taste of ancestral power that still lives upon us, and a taste of the voices that want to be heard and that want the suffering of the Natives to end.

—Citlalic Anima Guevara, Wichita North High School, Wichita, Kansas

It’s the one thing that your parents make sure you have because they didn’t.  Food is what your mother gives you as she lies, telling you she already ate. It’s something not everybody is fortunate to have and it’s also what we throw away without hesitation.  Food is a blessing to me, but what is it to you?

—Mohamed Omar, Kirkwood High School, Kirkwood, Missouri

Filleted and fried humphead wrasse, mangrove crab with coconut milk, pounded taro, a whole roast pig, and caramelized nuts—cuisines that will not be simplified to just “food.” Because what we eat is the diligence and pride of our people—a culture that has survived and continues to thrive.

—Mayumi Remengesau, University of San Francisco, San Francisco, California

Some people automatically think I’m kosher or ask me to say prayers in Hebrew.  However, guess what? I don’t know many prayers and I eat bacon.

—Hannah Reing, Ethical Culture Fieldston School, The Bronx, New York

Everything was placed before me. Rolling up my sleeves I started cracking eggs, mixing flour, and sampling some chocolate chips, because you can never be too sure. Three separate bowls. All different sizes. Carefully, I tipped the smallest, and the medium-sized bowls into the biggest. Next, I plugged in my hand-held mixer and flicked on the switch. The beaters whirl to life. I lowered it into the bowl and witnessed the creation of something magnificent. Cookie dough.

—Cassandra Amaya, Owen Goodnight Middle School, San Marcos, Texas

Biscuits and bisexuality are both things that are in my life…My grandmother’s biscuits are the best: the good old classic Southern biscuits, crunchy on the outside, fluffy on the inside. Except it is mostly Southern people who don’t accept me.

—Jaden Huckaby, Arbor Montessori, Decatur, Georgia

We zest the bright yellow lemons and the peels of flavor fall lightly into the batter.  To make frosting, we keep adding more and more powdered sugar until it looks like fluffy clouds with raspberry seed rain.

—Jane Minus, Ethical Culture Fieldston School, Bronx, New York

Tamales for my grandma, I can still remember her skillfully spreading the perfect layer of masa on every corn husk, looking at me pitifully as my young hands fumbled with the corn wrapper, always too thick or too thin.

—Brenna Eliaz, San Marcos High School, San Marcos, Texas

Just like fry bread, MRE’s (Meals Ready to Eat) remind New Orleanians and others affected by disasters of the devastation throughout our city and the little amount of help we got afterward.

—Madeline Johnson, Spring Hill College, Mobile, Alabama

I would bring cream corn and buckeyes and have a big debate on whether marijuana should be illegal or not.

—Lillian Martinez, Miller Middle School, San Marcos, Texas

We would finish the meal off with a delicious apple strudel, topped with schlag, schlag, schlag, more schlag, and a cherry, and finally…more schlag (in case you were wondering, schlag is like whipped cream, but 10 times better because it is heavier and sweeter).

—Morgan Sheehan, Ethical Culture Fieldston School, Bronx, New York

Clever Titles

This year we decided to do something different. We were so impressed by the number of catchy titles that we decided to feature some of our favorites. 

“Eat Like a Baby: Why Shame Has No Place at a Baby’s Dinner Plate”

—Tate Miller, Wichita North High School, Wichita, Kansas 

“The Cheese in Between”

—Jedd Horowitz, Ethical Culture Fieldston School, Bronx, New York

“Harvey, Michael, Florence or Katrina? Invite Them All Because Now We Are Prepared”

—Molly Mendoza, Spring Hill College, Mobile, Alabama

“Neglecting Our Children: From Broccoli to Bullets”

—Kylie Rollings, Kirkwood High School, Kirkwood, Missouri  

“The Lasagna of Life”

—Max Williams, Wichita North High School, Wichita, Kansas

“Yum, Yum, Carbon Dioxide In Our Lungs”

—Melanie Eickmeyer, Kirkwood High School, Kirkwood, Missouri

“My Potluck, My Choice”

—Francesca Grossberg, Ethical Culture Fieldston School, Bronx, New York

“Trumping with Tacos”

—Maya Goncalves, Lincoln Middle School, Ypsilanti, Michigan

“Quiche and Climate Change”

—Bernie Waldman, Ethical Culture Fieldston School, Bronx, New York

“Biscuits and Bisexuality”

“W(health)”

—Miles Oshan, San Marcos High School, San Marcos, Texas

“Bubula, Come Eat!”

—Jordan Fienberg, Ethical Culture Fieldston School,  Bronx, New York

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Essay On World’s Food Day

• Post category: Essay
• Reading time: 7 mins read

Set 1: Essay On World’s Food Day

Every year World’s Food Day is observed around the world on 16th October. This day is also considered as ‘Food Engineers’ Day’.

World’s Food Day or Food Engineers’ Day is observed in honor of the date of the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations. This day shows more importance towards the sufferings of the hungry and the malnourished or undernourished people in different parts of the world. The day is celebrated by many food safety organizations like World Food Program and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.

In November 1945, World’s Food Day was established by member countries of Food and Agriculture Organization. It was established at 20th General Conference. Dr. Pal Romany played an active role at this conference. He suggested the idea of celebrating the World’s Food Day. Since then it has been observed every year in more than 150 countries. The main aim to observe this day is to raise awareness towards the problems behind the availability of food, poverty and starvation.

It also aims to improve the condition of poor foodless masses around the world.Since 1981, World Food Day has adopted different themes each year. This has helped in focusing the areas that requires improvement and development. The World’s Food Day theme for 2014 was Family Farming. Its slogan was, “Feeding the world, caring for the Earth”. Different events take place in different countries to mark the occassion of World’s Food Day.

People across the world die due to starvation. The production of food has increased due to various scientific methods and the knowledge used in making machines, technologies, etc. Storage and transportation becomes major problems due to excessive production of food in certain countries. Food grains are not carried to places where people are in serious need of food. Sometimes millions of family do not get two full meals a day. Many times farmers who work hard to produce the food grains remain hungry.

Shocking effects on mothers and their newly born babies are seen due to starvation and lack of nutritious food. Underdeveloped growth, lack of brain development, low birth weight, etc. are some of the major problems faced by millions of babies across the world.

These are the main reasons that have led the United Nations Organization to call for a day that is observed as the World’s Food Day.

Set 2: Essay On World’s Food Day

October 16, is the day to highlight the plight of the Hungry, the undernourished and the malnourished of the World particularly it highlights the plight of such children and mothers.

Inspite of all scientific growth and so much of food production, so much of surplus food grains, still people are reported to be dying of starvation.

The problem that faces the food front is that of storage and transportation. The surplus food grains in certain parts of the world are in such a quantity that there is no space and no provision of storing them. Then arises the problem of carrying them to such regions where people are needing them. The net result of this confusion is that nearly 300 million of people go to bed hungry. Even those who work hard to produce the food grains remain hungry. 600 million live in the villages out of which 400 million depend upon agriculture.

The U.N.O. has made a survey of the food supply world over and their report says.

“Women do not have the same access to food as men. This Ill-arrangement does not only affect their health but also the future of the health of children …”.

Hunger weakens people not only physically but even physiologically and psychologically and it is a vicious cycle in which they get caught.

Seven out of ten of the world’s poor, are women and girls. There is so much of talk of empowering women. If it is seriously thought about, the first thing to do about this empowering would be to serve them proper food and nutrition, reduce poverty and make distribution of food equitably to all men and women.

What malnutrition to mothers can do is alarming. It can be so harmful for the child that they bear and give birth to. Low birth weight, stunted growth, weakness since birth easy to catch diseases. It even causes the brain to lack development, which makes life hellish.

These are the causes and considerations that have led the U.N.O. to call for a day, to be observed as the World’s Food Day and that day is October 16.

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World Food Program Essay

Description of the un world food program, addressing food-borne diseases, water sanitation and hygiene, emerging issues.

The World Food Program (WFP) is a humanitarian agency, which was established in the early 1960s by the United Nations (UN) to help in the fight against hunger in different countries across the world. The WFP works with other agencies such as FAO and IFAD to pursue the vision of ensuring a hunger-free world.

With reference to its vision, the WFP responds to emergencies by supplying food and other basic materials to victims in times of war, conflicts, and natural disasters such as hunger. As a humanitarian organization, the agency addresses the issue of food coupled with playing a crucial role in saving victims and providing them with shelter ( WFP , 2014a).

Currently, the agency is operational in approximately 70 countries in which over 90 million people benefit from its programs. However, apart from providing food assistance, the agency encourages the affected countries to implement capacities to address the challenges of victims as part of rebuilding life after a crisis. Nevertheless, the WFP largely relies on donations and funding from the UN to facilitate its humanitarian activities ( WFP , 2014b).

Status of hunger across the world and prevention measures

Researchers affiliated to the WFP approximate the rate of malnutrition to be one person out of eight people across different countries. From the research, it is evident that malnutrition has a higher rate of prevalence than other diseases such as tuberculosis, AIDS, and malaria (Unnevehr, 2003).

However, cooperation of countries and application of appropriate policies can help in the eradication of the problem of hunger across the world. For the prevention and eradication of hunger, the WFP has implemented various policies through diverse programs to ensure that the poor and undernourished people have appropriate meals and diet for their survival (Gregory, Ingram & Brklacich, 2005).

Although the WFP works through various initiatives such as food for assets and purchases for progress focusing on women, the school meal plans entail a widespread initiative that is implemented in both developed countries and those with developing economies.

Currently, the WFP works either independently or with governments to establish programs for providing nutritional meals to children in schools. In some countries outside the United States, the WFP has a take-home program in which pupils are provided with foods to take home. The motive of the take-home initiative is to encourage parents to retain their children in school ( WFP , 2014b).

Addressing risks to food and safety

Food safety and public health entail core issues to the policies of the WFP in addressing food security across the globe. The WFP works with the International Food Safety Authority Network (INFOSAN) to provide information in relation to managing food to prevent contamination.

The significance of maintaining safety of food is that the distribution of contaminated food contributes to widespread cases of fatalities among the recipients ( WHO , 2014a). The interdependence between vertebrate animals and humans accounts for the transmission of diseases from animals to people.

In addition, the exposure to infected animals and products from infected animals is the core risky factor to the passage of diseases from animals to humans (Dufour, Bartram, Bos, & Gannon, 2012). However, the majority of these diseases emerge from the infected wildlife, whereas factors such as agricultural practices and evolution of ecology account for the spread of zoonotic diseases and infections ( WHO , 2014b).

For the analysis of microbial risks in food, the WFP works together with the WHO and FAO to assess the levels and rate of microbial risks. After the assessment, the committee of experts established by WHO and FAO provides both qualitative and quantitative description of physical, biological, and chemical hazards present in food ( WHO , 2014a).

A variety of food-related illnesses and diseases pose significant risks to people’s health across the world. The majority of the diseases connected to food are caused by ingesting products contaminated by microorganisms from chemicals (Unnevehr, 2003).

Although governments are fighting to prevent contamination of edible products, increased industrial practices and food trade in addition to the rise of antibiotic-resistant microorganisms impede the objective of maintaining health security to the members of the public ( WHO , 2014b).

Safety of water and hygiene contribute to maintaining health security of the members of the public. However, different countries have disparate policies through which safety of water and hygiene is maintained. Apart from the domestic uses, water forms a significant parameter within which scientists develop measures to prevent and control water-borne illnesses (Kinzelman & Mcphail, 2012).

For countries with developing economies, the WHO with the help of health experts implements guides through which quality of water is determined. In maintaining safety of drinking water, sources of water and means of supplying are protected with sufficient barriers to prevent microbial contamination.

Furthermore, the use of appropriate processes of treatment and distribution further compounds safety of water for drinking ( WHO , 2014b). Proper disinfection of water using approved chemicals such as chlorine eliminates pathogens from surface and underground water.

However, prior to disinfection with chemicals, residual disinfection through filtration helps to eliminate residues from water prior to joining the system of distribution (Kinzelman & Mcphail, 2012). However, both methods do not guarantee the safety of water for use by people.

Some water-related diseases include malaria, schistosomiasis, legionellosis, and dysentery among others. Part of these diseases arises from the consumption of contaminated water, whereas others are caused by vectors related to water (Dufour et al., 2012).

Currently, scientists test for traditional fecal contaminants such as waste from both humans and animals in the evaluation of risks to food. Traditional fecal contaminants undermine safety of water and food, thus posing significant dangers to public health.

Furthermore, the issue of climate change has become a crucial concern in addressing the problems of food and water crisis (Gregory, Ingram & Brklacich, 2005). Furthermore, scientists hold that climate change facilitates indirect and direct transmission of water-borne illnesses. With the increment of rate of exchanging foodstuffs amongst countries, chances of spreading diseases across borders have increased ( WHO , 2014a).

Food and water entail significant components of people’s basic needs. In most countries with developing economies, food and water are scarce resources, thus contributing to high levels of hunger. For this reason, the UN incorporated a food program to help in the fight against hunger in various countries across the world.

The WFP, which was created by the UN, implements various policies to address issue of food security across the world. This paper has addressed policies and issues of the WFP in relation to food security and water safety systems across the world in both developed and developing countries.

Dufour, A., Bartram, J., Bos, R., & Gannon, V. (2012). Animal Waste, Water Quality and Human Health. London, UK: IWA Publishing.

Gregory, P., Ingram, J., & Brklacich, M. (2005). Climate change and food security. Philosophical Transaction of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 360 (1463), 2139-48.

Kinzelman, J., & Mcphail, C. (2012). Exposure Interventions: Animal Waste, Water Quality and Human Health. London, UK: IWA Publishing.

Unnevehr, L. (2003). Food safety in Food Security and Food Trade . Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute.

WFP. (2014a). About-Fighting Hunger Worldwide. Web.

WFP . (2014b). Ending Hunger . Web.

WHO . (2014a). Food Safety . Web.

WHO. (2014b). Water Sanitation Health. Web.

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IvyPanda. (2023, December 27). World Food Program. https://ivypanda.com/essays/world-food-program/

"World Food Program." IvyPanda , 27 Dec. 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/world-food-program/.

IvyPanda . (2023) 'World Food Program'. 27 December.

IvyPanda . 2023. "World Food Program." December 27, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/world-food-program/.

1. IvyPanda . "World Food Program." December 27, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/world-food-program/.

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IvyPanda . "World Food Program." December 27, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/world-food-program/.

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Speech on World Food Day

World Food Day is a special day you celebrate every October 16th. The United Nations created this day to remind people about hunger and the importance of food.

On this day, you can learn about food problems around the world. It’s also a time to think about how you can help solve these problems.

1-minute Speech on World Food Day

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Let’s talk about World Food Day. It’s a special day that comes every October 16. Why is it special? Because it reminds us of the need to fight hunger. We might not think about hunger a lot. But, did you know? There are many people around the world who don’t get enough to eat.

The goal of World Food Day is to make sure that everyone, everywhere, has enough good food to eat. We call this “Food Security”. It’s like making sure your toy box is never empty. Just like you need toys to play, people need food to live.

Now, you might wonder, what can I do? You can do a lot! You can share your lunch with a friend who forgot theirs. You can help your parents not to waste food at home. You can tell others about World Food Day. Every small action counts.

Remember, food is not just something to fill our bellies. It’s a gift, a right, a joy. It brings people together. It keeps us healthy and strong.

So, on this World Food Day, let’s promise to value our food, to waste less, and to share more. Let’s dream of a world where everyone has enough to eat. Because together, we can make this dream come true.

Also check:

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2-minute Speech on World Food Day

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, it’s a pleasure to be here today to talk about something that touches all of our lives, every day – food. The 16th of October is a special day. It’s World Food Day. On this day, we remember how important food is and we think about how we all can make sure everyone, everywhere, has enough to eat.

World Food Day is about more than just enjoying our favorite meals. It’s a day to stop and think about where our food comes from. Many people work very hard to grow, transport and prepare the food we enjoy. These people are our farmers, our truck drivers, our supermarket workers, and our cooks. Let’s take a moment to say thank you to them for their hard work.

But sadly, not everyone in our world has enough food. There are lots of people, even children, who go to bed hungry. And this is not because there is not enough food in the world. No, there is plenty of food. But, it doesn’t always get to the people who need it the most. World Food Day is a day to think about how we can change this.

One way we can help is by not wasting food. When we throw away good food, it’s like throwing away a precious gift. So, next time, before you toss out that half-eaten sandwich, think about how you might save it for later. Small actions like these can make a big difference.

Another way to help is by learning more about where our food comes from. Did you know that a lot of our food travels thousands of miles before it reaches our plates? That’s a long journey! And it uses a lot of fuel and causes pollution. So, try to eat more local foods. They’re fresh, tasty, and better for our planet.

Lastly, we can also help by sharing what we have with others. Maybe you could donate some canned goods to a local food bank, or help serve meals at a soup kitchen. There are lots of ways to help, and every little bit counts.

World Food Day is a day to celebrate the amazing gift of food. But it’s also a day to remember that not everyone is as lucky as we are. There are people who are hungry, and we can do something to help. So, let’s make every day a World Food Day. Let’s be thankful for our food, let’s not waste it, let’s learn more about it, and let’s share it with others. Together, we can make a world where no one goes to bed hungry. Thank you.

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Essay on Food for School Students: 100, 200, 300 Words

• Updated on  
• Nov 15, 2023

Did you know the potato was the first fruit planted in zero gravity? Food is both a basic human requirement and the fuel for sustenance. It’s critical that kids and the younger generation recognize the significance of food in our lives. Acknowledging its significance will not only aid in appreciating its worth but also help in decreasing food waste.  In order to help schoolchildren comprehend the value of food and develop healthy eating habits for a quality life, in this blog we will be providing an essay on food in 100, 200, and 300 words. Continue reading to know more.

Also Read: Essay on Junk Food

Essay on Food in 100 Words 

Food is a necessary nourishment for every living being to survive. Every living creature needs food in addition to clothing and shelter in order to exist. It provides us with energy and makes our bodies capable of functioning properly. To ensure that our body gets all the vital nutrients it needs to function properly, we must eat a variety of foods.

Living cells require a balance of all nutrients, including minerals, fiber, vitamins, proteins, and fats, in order to be healthy and fit. This implies that in order to sustain health and vitality, a variety of foods in the proper proportions must be consumed. Consuming a variety of foods boosts our immune system and helps us fight against a range of diseases because each type of food has a special nutritional value. 

Also Read: 10 Unique World Food Day Activities

Essay on Food in 200 Words

When we observe those who lack access to wholesome food, the significance of food becomes easy to understand. A distinct demographic of impoverished individuals does not have access to two meals a day and doesn’t think about the option of enhancing their meals with additional nutrients. Some people are fortunate enough to have the ability to choose what they eat and can prepare or order anything they choose, but others are not as fortunate and have to settle for whatever is provided to them or whatever they get. 

It’s important to recognize that food is necessary for survival. In light of this, we ought to raise awareness and urge people to avoid wasting food. 

Food not only provides us with energy, but a varied diet also maintains us healthy and allows our bodies to operate as intended. All of the necessary elements found in food, such as vitamins, minerals, fats, proteins, and carbs, must be present.

With time, choosing reasonable, healthful foods not only reduces our chance of contracting multiple illnesses but also improves our overall well-being and mood. Thus, in order to live an ideal life, we must stay away from junk food and cultivate good eating habits. 

Also Read: Career in Food Biotechnology

Essay on Food in 300 Words

Food is vital to our survival and keeps our bodies in a functioning state. Food becomes a necessary component of our body’s functioning the moment we are born. A balanced diet improves our ability to fend off sickness, boosts our immunity, gives us energy throughout the day, and controls our mood. It further aids in meeting our body’s developmental benchmarks at various growth stages. 

Furthermore, food plays a significant role in fostering global cultural experiences and connections with a diverse range of individuals. It’s interesting to note that food has the ability to strengthen bonds between people and reach the heart. A common way that we can show one another how much we care and how connected we are is by sharing our meals together with family and friends. It’s also the easiest method for making wonderful memories. 

People who share common food preferences, love to cook, or are curious to try new cuisines often feel connected quickly. It is also frequently the focal point of celebrations of any kind.

It is a representation of the various cuisines around the world. A diverse array of food options is available to fulfill our eating preferences, ranging from basic meals like grains, cereals, fruits, and vegetables, to meat and dairy products. 

Unfortunately, food waste is becoming a more pressing worldwide issue. One of the main causes of the major negative effects on the environment and the economy is food waste. 

Cereals, fruits, vegetables, dairy, meat, and fish are some of the most common types of food sources. 

Italian, Chinese, and Indian cuisines are some of the most popular cuisines in the world.

Junk food does not have essential nutrients that are required for our body to function that is the reason why it is called junk. 

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For more information on such interesting topics, visit our essay writing page and follow Leverage Edu .

Nidhi Mishra

Nidhi Mishra is a seasoned senior content writer with more than eight years of diverse experience in the field of education. Her varied career encompasses work in teaching, training, counselling, developing curriculum, and content creation. Nidhi has a solid background in education and has developed her abilities to meet the diverse needs of students, especially students who want to study abroad. Throughout her career, Nidhi has been an invaluable resource to students with their test-taking efforts, offering thorough career assistance and insightful advice on how to navigate the complexity of the system of education. Her speciality is creating interesting and educational content that is specifically designed to fulfil the needs of students who want to pursue higher education abroad. Together with her wonderful writing skills, Nidhi's love of education has allowed her to produce content that has a lasting impression on readers, educators, and students alike. She is committed to providing high-quality, timely, and insightful content because she believes that education can empower people.

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World Food Day:

Topics Covered:  Food Security related issues.

World Food Day is being celebrated every year on October 16 to commemorate the date of the founding of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation in 1945 .

The theme for World Food Day this year is “Our actions are our future- Better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life.”

Background:

World Food Day was established in November 1979, as suggested by former Hungarian minister of agriculture and food Dr Pal Romany. It gradually became a way to raise awareness about hunger, malnutrition, sustainability and food production.

It is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger.

Headquarters: Rome, Italy.

Founded : 16 October 1945.

Goal of FAO: Their goal is to achieve food security for all and make sure that people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives.

Important reports and Programmes (Have a brief overview):

• Global Report on Food Crises.
• Every two years, FAO publishes the State of the World’s Forests.
• FAO and the World Health Organization created the Codex Alimentarius Commission in 1961 to develop food standards, guidelines and texts.
• In 1996, FAO organized the World Food Summit. The Summit concluded with the signing of the Rome Declaration, which established the goal of halving the number of people who suffer from hunger by the year 2015.
• In 1997, FAO launched TeleFood , a campaign of concerts, sporting events and other activities to harness the power of media, celebrities and concerned citizens to help fight hunger.
• The FAO Goodwill Ambassadors Programme was initiated in 1999. The main purpose of the programme is to attract public and media attention to the unacceptable situation that some 1 billion people continue to suffer from chronic hunger and malnutrition in a time of unprecedented plenty.
• In 2004 the Right to Food Guidelines were adopted, offering guidance to states on how to implement their obligations on the right to food.
• FAO created the International Plant Protection Convention or IPPC in 1952.
• FAO is depositary of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, also called Plant Treaty, Seed Treaty or ITPGRFA, entered into force on 29 June 2004.
• The Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) Partnership Initiative was conceptualized in 2002 during World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Insta Curious:

• Did you know that India released a commemorative coin of Rs. 75 denomination to mark the 75th Anniversary of the FAO (16th October 2020)? Read Here
• Do you recall the KISAN RAIL SERVICE of India? Read Here

InstaLinks :

Prelims Link:

• About FAO, establishment and objectives.
• Important reports and Programmes.

Mains Link:

Write a note on the World Food Programme.

Sources: Indian Express.

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English Essay, Paragraph, Speech on “World Food Day – 16th Oct.” Complete Essay for Class 8, 9, 10 and 12 Students for Exam.

World Food Day – 16th Oct.

World Food Day on the 16th of October is an awareness day for food, celebrated every year. Actually, Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) is a United Nations associated Agency and was formed on this day. It is a group of Non-governmental organisations. It works and supervises to secure improvements in the production and distribution of food and agricultural products. It is a fundamental right of a person to have proper food for living. Hence in keeping this very notion in mind, this very day is celebrated to highlight the food problems of underdeveloped and developing countries. Many plans and programmes are devised on this very day, for the promotion of food and food products. For long term planning of food production seeds, fertilizers, agricultural implements and technical know-how are provided to help them. Not only this the food deficient countries are taught to grow food for themselves. Thus on the special day of world food day, there is hectic meetings every year to look into the problems of food deficient places, malnutrition among human beings and chalk out plans for the fulfilment of these.

Keeping in mind, the different problems adhering to provide food to food-deprived persons places, and countries, a Hunger-Project has been formulated. Different branches of this project collect money for it at different places in different countries. It is the call of humanity to provide food for our starving brethren. If there would be bellyful humans around us, the human race will flourish.

“Food and food for all, Humanity demands this call.”

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World Food Day 2023: History, Theme, Importance, Celebration, Quotes

The world food day is celebrated every year on october 16 to promote food security everywhere and make sure people are getting enough of it. this day is celebrated in nearly 150 countries.

Happy Food day. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

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First Published: Oct 16 2023 | 11:03 AM IST

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With 783 million people going hungry, a fifth of all food goes to waste

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While a third of humanity faces food insecurity, an equivalent of one billion meals go to waste every day, a new report by the UN environment agency (UNEP) revealed on Wednesday. One fifth of food is thrown away.

The UN Environment Programme’s  Food Waste Index Report 2024 highlights that latest data from 2022 shows 1.05 billion tonnes of food went to waste.

Some 19 per cent of food available to consumers was lost overall  at retail, food service, and household levels.

That is in addition to around 13 per cent of food lost in the supply chain , as estimated by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization ( FAO ), from post-harvest up to the point of sale. 

‘Global tragedy’

“Food waste is a global tragedy. Millions will go hungry today as food is wasted across the world,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP , explaining that this ongoing issue not only impacts the global economy but also exacerbates climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution.

Most of the world’s food waste comes from households, totalling 631 million tonnes – or up to 60 per cent - of the total food squandered. The food service and retail sectors were responsible for 290 and 131 million tonnes accordingly.

On average, each person wastes 79 kilogrammes of food annually . This is the equivalent of 1.3 meals every day for everyone in the world impacted by hunger, the report authors underscore.

Not just a ‘rich country’ problem

The problem is not confined to affluent nations. Following a near doubling of data coverage since the 2021 Food Waste Index Report was published, there has been increased convergence between rich and poor.

High-income, upper-middle income, and lower-middle income countries differ in average levels of household food waste by just seven kilogrammes per capita per year. 

The bigger divide comes in the variations between urban and rural populations .

In middle-income countries, for example, rural areas are generally wasting less. One possible explanation is in the recycling of food scraps for pets, animal feed, and home composting in the countryside. 

The report recommends focusing efforts on strengthening food waste reduction and composting in cities. 

Waste and climate change

There is a direct correlation between average temperatures and food waste levels, the report finds.

Hotter countries appear to have more food waste per capita in households, potentially due to increased consumption of fresh foods containing fewer edible parts and a lack of robust refrigeration and preservation solutions.

Higher seasonal temperatures, extreme heat events, and droughts make it more challenging to store, process, transport, and sell food safely, often leading to a significant volume of food being wasted or lost.

Since food loss and waste generates up to 10 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions – almost five times the total emissions compared to the aviation sector – reducing emissions from food waste is essential, UNEP expert believe. 

Food for hope

There is room for optimism, the report suggests: public-private partnerships to reduce food waste and impacts on climate and water stress are being embraced by a steadily growing number of governments of all levels.

Examples include Japan and the UK with reductions of 18 per cent and 31 per cent respectively , showing that change at scale is possible, if food is rationed properly. 

Published ahead of the  International Day of Zero Waste , the UNEP Food Waste Index Report, has been co-authored with WRAP, a UK climate action NGO.

It provides the most accurate global estimate on food waste at retail and consumer levels, offering countries guidance on improving data collection and best practices, in line with the Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 of halving food waste by 2030 .

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Guest Essay

José Andrés: Let People Eat

By José Andrés

Mr. Andrés is the founder of World Central Kitchen.

In the worst conditions you can imagine — after hurricanes, earthquakes, bombs and gunfire — the best of humanity shows up. Not once or twice but always.

The seven people killed on a World Central Kitchen mission in Gaza on Monday were the best of humanity. They are not faceless or nameless. They are not generic aid workers or collateral damage in war.

Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha, John Chapman, Jacob Flickinger, Zomi Frankcom, James Henderson, James Kirby and Damian Sobol risked everything for the most fundamentally human activity: to share our food with others.

These are people I served alongside in Ukraine, Turkey, Morocco, the Bahamas, Indonesia, Mexico, Gaza and Israel. They were far more than heroes.

Their work was based on the simple belief that food is a universal human right. It is not conditional on being good or bad, rich or poor, left or right. We do not ask what religion you belong to. We just ask how many meals you need.

From Day 1, we have fed Israelis as well as Palestinians. Across Israel, we have served more than 1.75 million hot meals. We have fed families displaced by Hezbollah rockets in the north. We have fed grieving families from the south. We delivered meals to the hospitals where hostages were reunited with their families. We have called consistently, repeatedly and passionately for the release of all the hostages.

All the while, we have communicated extensively with Israeli military and civilian officials. At the same time, we have worked closely with community leaders in Gaza, as well as Arab nations in the region. There is no way to bring a ship full of food to Gaza without doing so.

That’s how we served more than 43 million meals in Gaza, preparing hot food in 68 community kitchens where Palestinians are feeding Palestinians.

We know Israelis. Israelis, in their heart of hearts, know that food is not a weapon of war.

Israel is better than the way this war is being waged. It is better than blocking food and medicine to civilians. It is better than killing aid workers who had coordinated their movements with the Israel Defense Forces.

The Israeli government needs to open more land routes for food and medicine today. It needs to stop killing civilians and aid workers today. It needs to start the long journey to peace today.

In the worst conditions, after the worst terrorist attack in its history, it’s time for the best of Israel to show up. You cannot save the hostages by bombing every building in Gaza. You cannot win this war by starving an entire population.

We welcome the government’s promise of an investigation into how and why members of our World Central Kitchen family were killed. That investigation needs to start at the top, not just the bottom.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said of the Israeli killings of our team, “It happens in war.” It was a direct attack on clearly marked vehicles whose movements were known by the Israel Defense Forces.

It was also the direct result of a policy that squeezed humanitarian aid to desperate levels. Our team was en route from a delivery of almost 400 tons of aid by sea — our second shipment, funded by the United Arab Emirates, supported by Cyprus and with clearance from the Israel Defense Forces.

The team members put their lives at risk precisely because this food aid is so rare and desperately needed. According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification global initiative, half the population of Gaza — 1.1. million people — faces the imminent risk of famine. The team would not have made the journey if there were enough food, traveling by truck across land, to feed the people of Gaza.

The peoples of the Mediterranean and Middle East, regardless of ethnicity and religion, share a culture that values food as a powerful statement of humanity and hospitality — of our shared hope for a better tomorrow.

There’s a reason, at this special time of year, Christians make Easter eggs, Muslims eat an egg at iftar dinners and an egg sits on the Seder plate. This symbol of life and hope reborn in spring extends across religions and cultures.

I have been a stranger at Seder dinners. I have heard the ancient Passover stories about being a stranger in the land of Egypt, the commandment to remember — with a feast before you — that the children of Israel were once slaves.

It is not a sign of weakness to feed strangers; it is a sign of strength. The people of Israel need to remember, at this darkest hour, what strength truly looks like.

José Andrés is a chef and the founder of World Central Kitchen.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

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A Guide to the Total Solar Eclipse

By Rivka Galchen

On April 8th, the moon will partly and then entirely block out the sun. The total eclipse will be visible to those in a hundred-and-fifteen-mile-wide sash, called the path of totality, slung from the hip of Sinaloa to the shoulder of Newfoundland. At the path’s midline, the untimely starry sky will last nearly four and a half minutes, and at the edges it will last for a blink. On the ground, the lunacy around total eclipses often has a Lollapalooza feel. Little-known places in the path of totality—Radar Base, Texas; Perryville, Missouri—have been preparing, many of them for years, to accommodate the lawn chairs, soul bands, food trucks, sellers of commemorative pins, and porta-potties. Eclipse viewers seeking solitude may also cause problems: the local government of Mars Hill, Maine, is reminding people that trails on Mt. Katahdin are closed, because it is mud season and therefore dangerous. I have a friend whose feelings and opinions often mirror my own; when I told her a year ago that I had booked an Airbnb in Austin in order to see this eclipse, she looked at me as if I’d announced I was bringing my daughter to a pox party.

Altering plans because of this periodic celestial event has a long tradition, however. On May 28, 585 B.C., according to Herodotus, an eclipse led the Medes and Lydians, after more than five years of war, to become “alike anxious” to come to peace. More than a hundred years before that, the Assyrian royalty of Mesopotamia protected themselves from the ill omen of solar eclipses—and from other celestial signs perceived as threatening—by installing substitute kings and queens for the day. Afterward, the substitutes were usually killed, though in one instance, when the real king died, the stand-in, who had been a gardener, held the throne for decades. More recently, an eclipse on May 29, 1919, enabled measurements that recorded the sun bending the path of light in accordance with, and thus verifying, Einstein’s theory of general relativity .

Any given spot on the Earth witnesses a total solar eclipse about once every three hundred and seventy-five years, on average, but somewhere on the planet witnesses a total solar eclipse about once every eighteen months. In Annie Dillard’s essay “ Total Eclipse ,” she says of a partial solar eclipse that it has the relation to a total one that kissing a man has to marrying him, or that flying in a plane has to falling out of a plane. “Although the one experience precedes the other, it in no way prepares you for it,” she writes. During a partial eclipse, you put on the goofy paper eyeglasses and see the outline of the moon reducing its rival, the sun, to a solar cassava, or slimmer. It’s a cool thing to see, and it maybe hints at human vulnerability, the weirdness of light, the scale and reality of the world beyond our planet. But, even when the moon blocks ninety-nine per cent of the sun, it’s still daylight out. When the moon occludes the whole of the sun, everyday expectations collapse: the temperature quickly drops, the colors of shadows become tinny, day flips to darkness, stars precipitously appear, birds stop chirping, bees head back to their hives, hippos come out for their nightly grazing, and humans shout or hide or study or pray or take measurements until, seconds or minutes later, sunlight, and the familiar world, abruptly returns.

It is complete earthly luck that total eclipses follow such a dramatic procession. Our moon, which is about four hundred times less wide than our sun, is also about four hundred times closer to us. For this reason, when the Earth, moon, and sun align with one another, our moon conceals our sun precisely, like a cap over a lens. (I stress “our moon” because other moons around other planets, including planets that orbit other stars, have eclipses that almost certainly don’t line up so nicely.) If our moon were smaller or farther away, or our sun larger or nearer, our sun would never be totally eclipsed. Conversely, if our moon were larger or closer (or our sun smaller or farther away) then our sun would be wholly eclipsed—but we would miss an ecliptic revelation. During totality, a thin circle of brightness rings the moon. Johannes Kepler thought that the circle was the illumination of the atmosphere of the moon, but we now know that the moon has next to no atmosphere and that the bright circle (the corona) is the outermost part of the atmosphere of the sun . A million times less bright than the sun itself, the corona is visible (without a special telescope) only during an eclipse. If we’re judging by images and reports, the corona looks like a fiery halo. I have never seen the sun’s corona. The first total solar eclipse I’ll witness will be this one.

The physicist Frank Close saw a partial eclipse on a bright day in Peterborough, England, in June, 1954, at the age of eight. Close’s science teacher, using cricket and soccer balls to represent the moon and the sun, explained the shadows cast by the moon; Close attributes his life in science to this experience. The teacher also told the class that, forty-five years into the future, there would be a total eclipse visible from England, and Close resolved to see it. That day turned out to be overcast, so the moon-eclipsed sun wasn’t visible—but Close described seeing what felt to him like a vision of the Apocalypse, with a “tsunami of darkness rushing towards me . . . as if a black cloak had been cast over everything” and then the clouds over the sun dispersing briefly when totality was nearly over. Close has since seen six more eclipses and written two books about them, the first a memoir of “chasing” eclipses (“ Eclipse: Journeys to the Dark Side of the Moon ”) and the second a general explainer (“ Eclipses: What Everyone Needs to Know ”).

“I’ve tried to describe each of the eclipses I’ve seen, and I do describe them, but it’s not really describable. There’s no natural phenomenon to compare it to,” he told me recently. Describing an eclipse to someone who hasn’t seen one is like trying to describe the Beatles’ “Good Day Sunshine” to someone who has never heard music, he said. “You can describe notes, frequencies of vibration, but we all know that’s missing the whole thing.” Total eclipses are also close to impossible to film in any meaningful way. The light level plummets, which your eye can process in a way that, say, your mobile phone can’t.

In the half hour or so before totality, as the moon makes its progress across the circle of the sun, colors shift to hues of red and brown. (Dillard, a magus of describing the indescribable, writes that people looked to her as though they were in “a faded color print of a movie filmed in the Middle Ages”—the faces seemed to be those of people now dead, which made her miss her own century, and the people she knew, and the real light of day.) As more of the sun is covered, its light reaches us less directly. “Much of the light that you will be getting is light that has been scattered by the atmosphere from ten to twenty miles away,” Close said. Thus the color shift.

He showed me the equipment that he has used to watch six eclipses: a piece of cardboard about the size of an LP sleeve, with a square cut out of the middle, covered by dark glass. “I used gaffer tape to affix a piece of welder’s glass,” he said. There are small holes at the edge of the board, so he can see how shadows change as the moon eclipses more, and then less, of the sun. When sunlight comes from a crescent rather than from a circle, shadows become elongated along one axis and narrowed along another. “If you spread out your fingers, and look at the shadow of your hand, your fingers will look crablike, as if they have claws on them,” Close said.

Each eclipse Close has seen has been distinct. On a boat in the South Seas, the moon appeared more greenish black than black, “because of reflected light from the water,” he said. In the Sahara, the millions of square miles of sand acted as a mirror, so it was less dark, and Close could see earthshine making the formations on the moon’s surface visible. At another eclipse, he found himself focussed on the appearance of the light of the sun as it really is: white. “We think of it as yellow, but of course that’s just atmospheric scattering, the same mechanism that makes the sky appear blue,” he said. When he travelled to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, with his family, in 2017, his seven-year-old grandson said, half a minute before totality, that the asphalt road was “moving.” “It was these subtle bands of darker and lighter, moving along at walking pace. The effect it gave to your eye was that you thought the pavement was rippling,” Close said. He had never seen that before.

The moon doesn’t emit light; it only reflects it, like a mirror. In Oscar Wilde’s play “ Salomé ,” each character sees in the moon something of what he fears, or desires. The etymology of “eclipse” connects to the Greek word for failure, and for leaving, for abandonment. In Chinese, the word for eclipse comes from the term that also means “to eat,” likely a reference to the millennia-old description of solar eclipses happening when a dragon consumes the sun. If the moon is a mirror, then the moon during a solar eclipse is a dark and magic mirror.

A Hindu myth explains eclipses through the story of Svabhanu, who steals a sip of the nectar of the gods. The Sun and the Moon tell Vishnu, one of the most powerful of the gods. Vishnu decapitates Svabhanu, but not before he can swallow the sip of nectar. The nectar has made his head, now called Rahu, immortal. As revenge, Rahu periodically eats the Sun—creating eclipses. But, his throat being cut, he can’t swallow the Sun, so it reëmerges again and again. Rahu is in the wrong, obviously, but in ancient representations of him he is often grinning. To me, he looks mischievous rather than frightening.

The first story I can remember reading that featured an eclipse is Mark Twain’s “ A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court .” The wizard Merlin imprisons an engineer named Hank Morgan, who has accidentally travelled from nineteenth-century America to sixth-century Camelot. Morgan, a man who dresses and acts strangely for the sixth century, finds himself, as one would, sentenced to be burned at the stake. But he gets out of it—by convincing others that he is the cause of an eclipse that he knew would occur. As seems only natural for a beloved American story, it’s the (man from the) future that wins this particular standoff, over the ancient ways of Merlin.

To Close, the beginning of an eclipse feels like “a curtains-up statement from the heavens: Science works. Come back in an hour.” He finds it particularly moving that someone, using only measurements and reason, and the laws of celestial motion, could have predicted the April 8th eclipse down to the minute, maybe to the second. The eclipse that surprised the warring Medes and Lydians into peace may not have been a surprise to all; it is said to have been predicted by Thales of Miletus.

I asked Close if he’d ever met someone on his eclipse journeys who wasn’t much impressed. He said no. Still, it’s possible that I and my mirror friend both have the right intuition about this experience we’ve never had. In the last chapter of Roberto Bolaño’s novella “French Comedy of Horrors,” the young narrator witnesses an eclipse while at a soda fountain with his friends; he also witnesses the people around him witnessing the eclipse, including a couple doing a dance “that was somehow anachronistic but at the same time terrifying.” On his way home, he answers a ringing pay phone and finds himself in a lengthy conversation with a stranger who claims to be a member of the Clandestine Surrealist Group, writers living in Paris’s sewer system. The stranger invites the narrator (who wants desperately to be a poet) to join them, at an appointed time and place, months into the future—but says that they can’t pay for his ticket.

His whole eclipse day is banal (soda fountain, pay phone, the price of things) but also tempting, literally surreal, and like a dream. When our hero finally makes it home, at dawn, he sees Achille, the local drunk. Achille tells him that “the eclipse thing wasn’t such a big deal and that people were always getting excited about nothing. In his opinion, true and incredible things happened in the sky every day.” Nature’s everyday wonders might be the more clandestine ones. ♦

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