Sat., Oct. 22 – at Main South’s Crystal Park (aka University Park) – Join REC to celebrate …
WORLD FOOD DAY 2016!!!
… with a slate of events scheduled to highlight:
healthy food choices
food justice
food accessibillity for all!
Learn new ways to celebrate food and promote sensible, just food policies for Worcester and Central Mass!
There will be:
Food Tastings!
Yoga!
Face Painting!
Kids Games!
Events Sponsored by:
Main South Community Development Corporation
Worcester Food Policy Council
Regional Environmental Council (REC)
University of Massachusetts Medical School
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What is World Food Day?
A global campaign to draw attention to and celebrate healthy, affordable foods produced in a humane, sustainable way and to fix the food system by:
Promoting safer, healthier diets
Supporting sustainable and organic farms
Reforming factory farms to protect the environment
Supporting fair working conditions for food and farm workers
World Food Day is a day of action against hunger!!!
Tomorrow people around the world come together to declare their commitment to eradicate hunger in our lifetime.
Because when it comes to hunger, the only acceptable number in the world is zero.
World Food Day celebrates the creation of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on October 16, 1945 in Quebec, Canada. First established in 1979, World Food Day has since then been observed in almost every country by millions of people.
Why care about hunger?
Because the right to food is a basic human right.
In a world of plenty, 805 million people, one in nine world wide, live with chronic hunger. The costs of hunger and malnutrition fall heavily on the most vulnerable.
60% of the hungry in the world are women.
Almost 5 million children under the age of 5 die of malnutrition-related causes every year.
4 in 10 children in poor countries are malnourished damaging their bodies and brains
Every human being has a fundamental right to be free from hunger and the right to adequate food. The right to adequate food is realized when every man, woman and child has the physical and economic access at all times to adequate food or means for its procurement.
Because we can end hunger in our lifetime. It’s possible. The world produces enough food to feed every person on the planet. In September 2000, world leaders signed a commitment to achieve eight Millennium Development Goals …
Since then:
40 countries have already achieved the first target, to halve the proportion of people who suffer from hunger
In addition, over the past 20 years, the likelihood of a child dying before age five has been nearly cut in half, which means about 17,000 children are saved every day.
Extreme poverty rates have also been cut in half since 1990.
The challenge is significant, but these results show us that when we focus our attention, we can make big strides.
Because the cost of neglect is too high.
No one in the world should have to experience hunger. In addition to the cost of human suffering, the world as a whole loses when people do not have enough to eat. Hungry people have learning difficulties, are less productive at work, are sick more often and live shorter lives.
The cost to the global economy because of malnutrition is the equivalent of US $3.5 trillion a year.
Hunger leads to increased levels of global insecurity and environmental degradation. Ending hunger is not just a moral imperative, but also a good investment for society.
Because it can happen to anyone. Even in the U.S., one of the richest countries in the world, one in seven Americans – 14.3 percent – does not have enough to eat.
Nutritious food can be expensive, making a balanced diet a luxury for many.
Loss of a job, a family tragedy, poor health, or an accident can make anyone, anywhere, go hungry in a moment.
Globally, extreme climate events, war, or even financial crisis can dramatically affect a person’s ability to feed themselves and their families.
Without social safety nets, resiliency measures and good policy in place, these small and large events can set off a cycle of hunger and poverty.
REC YOUTH GROW URBAN FARM IN MAIN SOUTH – 63 Oread St.
From REC:
We need YOUR help getting the Main South YouthGROW Urban Farm ready for fall!
Join us on through the end of October on Mondays and Wednesdays from 2-5 pm and help us pull crops and harvest produce that will be sold on the REC Mobile Farmers Market!
Questions? Email Bettny Mazur at farm@recworcester.org
FOR INQUIRIES ABOUT OTHER VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES, CONTACT Calandra Chaney at volunteer@recworcester.org
LAWRETA KANKAM, YouthGROW Junior Staff photos:REC
From REC:
We are excited to welcome our newest YouthGROW Junior Staff! Lawreta is a Junior at South High School in Worcester and just completed her first year in YouthGROW.
Lawreta was hired as Junior Staff this fall beause of her excellent leadership abilities, passion for youth employment, urban agriculture and community education. Congratulations to Lawreta on her new position!
