World Food Day 2020: Theme, Date, History and Celebration

World Food Day 2020

World Food Day is observed every year on October 16. The day is of immense importance as it caters to one of the basic human needs. World Food Day is observed to promote and raise awareness of food quality, nourishment, and the issues of worldwide hunger.

The primary focus is to tackle global hunger and strive to eradicate hunger across the world. In 2020, the World Food Day will fall on a Friday. The day is celebrated by all UN member states, which includes India.

History of World Food Day

World Food Day was first observed in 1945. World Food Day was created to celebrate the launch of the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation.

The primary focus of the day is to celebrate the furtherance of food security all over the world, especially in times of crisis. The launch of the Food and Agriculture Organisation by the UN has played a huge role in taking this worthy goal forward. Its annual celebration serves as a marker of the importance of this organization and helps to raise awareness of the crucial need for successful agriculture policies to be implemented by governments across the world to ensure there is ample food available for everyone.

Food and Agriculture Organisation conducts annual general conferences where all the member nations signed up under the Food and Agriculture Organisation participate and pass resolutions. At the 20th annual conference held by the Food and Agriculture Organisation in the year 1979, member nations passed a new resolution to celebrate World Food Day in November of 1979. The celebrations did not begin immediately after that. It was in the year 1980 that a big decision was taken to implement the World Food Day action plan.

Finally, on October 16th, 1981, the first World Food Day was celebrated, and since then, the day is celebrated across the world. International agencies, national establishments, local organizations, and governments were called forth to actively participate and contribute to the efforts of making the program a grand success.

World Food Day Facts

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  • More than 800 million people around the world suffer from hunger.
  
  
  • In parts of the world where hunger is a big issue, life expectancy is shorter, infant mortality is higher, and productivity is lower.
  
  
  • Around the same number of people around the world suffer from obesity due to unhealthy diets.
  
  
  • Obesity kills more people than hunger.
  
  
  • Inefficient, unsustainable food systems harm ecosystems and contribute to global warming. Changing the way we produce food is key to tackling climate change.
  
  
  • As the climate changes, we will have to change the way we produce food: yields will decrease, and new food sources will have to be found.
  
  
  • In developed countries, tackling obesity would save hundreds of billions of pounds in healthcare costs.
  
  
  • In countries where hunger is an issue, eliminating hunger would dramatically increase productivity and national wealth.
  
  
  • The first World Food Day was celebrated in 1979. Today, it is officially recognized and honored with official events in more than 150 countries.
  
  
  • Every year, World Food Day has a new theme. This year (2020), the theme is Grow, Nourish, Sustain. Together.
  
  
  
  

World Food Day 2020 Themes

World Food Day 2020 Themes is "Grow, Nourish, Sustain. Together".

World Food Day 2019 Themes was "Healthy diets for a zero hunger world".

Frequently Asked Questions

1. When is World Food Day celebrated?
World Food Day is celebrated on October 16 every year.

2. Why is World Food Day celebrated?
World Food Day is celebrated to promote and raise awareness of food quality, nourishment and the issues of worldwide hunger.

3. What is the theme for World food Day 2020?
World Food Day 2020 theme is “Food safety is everyone’s business”.

4. How is World Food Day observed?
World Food Day is observed through food drives, voluntary food donations, hunger strikes, walkathon, exhibitions, discussions, etc.

5. When was World Food Day celebrated for the first time?
World Food Day (WFD) was established by FAO's Member Countries at the Organization's 20th General Conference in November 1979.

Reference: Planbee