What is World Food Day and why is it important?
- Published
Wednesday 16 October is World Food Day.
It's a day organised by the United Nations to raise awareness about hunger around the world.
This year's theme is 'foods for a better life and a better future'.
The UN says there's around 733 million people facing hunger in the world, because of a number of different factors.
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When was World Food Day started?
The day is run by the UN - United Nations - which is a big organisation that was set up to maintain peace around the world.
World Food Day started officially in 1979 by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation. Agriculture is a word that means farming and growing food.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation started earlier, in the 1960s, to provide food assistance all around the world. A few years later, they decided to have a recognition day to raise awareness about world hunger.
The UN believes no child should ever have to go hungry
The UN says that there are so many people going hungry around the world at the moment because of weather, conflict, problems with money, inequality, and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Many children are currently going hungry in places where war and conflict is happening, like in Afghanistan or Gaza.
Food is a human right - one of the many rights in the Declaration of Human Rights, which is a list of basic things that every human being deserves to have. Other things on this list include education, a home and health.
Children have an extra set of rights as well, which are outlined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation says "food is the third most basic human need after air and water – everyone should have the right to adequate food".
Food for all
Do you often get involved with making food?
One of the key points of this year's World Food Day is about access to food in different ways and being able to have a nutritional diet.
This includes being able to eat not just food, but a balanced diet to look after your body.
The UN says that over 2.8 billion people around the world can't afford a healthy diet.
It hopes to educate people around the world about accessing nutritious food, and to help poorer people get access to healthy food sources.