The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) marked October 16 of every year as World Food Day in the year 1979. World Food Day 2020 also marks the 75th anniversary of FAO.
Initially, World Food Day was launched to commemorate the establishment of FAO. Gradually, the day turned into a global event, creating awareness about food shortage and reviving food systems across the globe
World Food Day is calling for global solidarity to help all populations, and especially the most vulnerable, to recover from the crisis, and to make food systems more resilient and robust so they can withstand increasing volatility and climate shocks, deliver affordable and sustainable healthy diets for all, and decent livelihoods for food system workers. This will require improved social protection schemes and new opportunities offered through digitalization and e-commerce, but also more sustainable agricultural practices that preserve the Earth’s natural resources, our health, and the climate.
FAO urges people to celebrate the people who produce, plant, harvest, fish or transport our food and call on the public to thank these #FoodHeroes who, no matter the circumstances, continue to provide food to their communities and beyond – helping to grow, nourish and sustain our world.