Annually on Oct. 16, countries all around the world celebrate World Food Day. This day is specifically dedicated to those suffering from hunger or food shortage wherever they may live. Hunger is a major problem in most countries around the world which is why this day is one of the most celebrated days in the UN calendar.
Kelly Brewer, a sophomore at Pleasant Valley, stated “I thought World Food Day meant that we were celebrating all the ethnic foods and different types of foods each country has. I had no idea it was meant for those suffering from hunger”. More people in the world need to realize the extreme number of starvation in today’s world and what we can do to fix it.
About 795 million people don’t have enough food to live a healthy live, which is one in every nine people. World Food Days objective is to bring that number down every year. In order to “celebrate” World Food Day, which is officially celebrated in 150 countries, countries will hold ceremonies and bring in food to those in need. People will bring in their own ethnic dishes for others to try and to promote food and nutrition security.
When asked the question, “What does it mean when people are suffering from hunger?” to Emma Curtis, a junior at Pleasant Valley, she responded with “It means when people don’t have enough food to feed themselves”. This is true but also false. There is enough food on this planet to feed every single man and women but the issue is the lack of resources and power to get the food.
At Pleasant Valley High School, spartan assembly really encourages students to bring in cans during the student hunger drive. Spartan assembly tries in every way possible to somehow incorporate cans into the activities at the school. A popular way to bring in cans is through some healthy competition. This year’s theme is “Chopped”. This means it’s every teacher for themselves. If they don’t meet the requirement of a certain amount of cans for that week, they get chopped from the competition. Some teachers are very into this competition and will even form alliances with each other to try and knock out certain teachers.
“I think World Food Day is one of the most important days to celebrate that most people don’t even know about” stated Brewer. To educate students about this certain day is especially important because the majority of people that suffer from hunger are students that go to school everyday. Nearly 13 million people that are hungry are students in the USA. “I know some students that are in my classes that are suffering from hunger so the student hunger drive definitely means something to them” said Brewer.
World Food Day is a very important day in order to end hunger globally and even at Pleasant Valley High School. It’s amazing that 150 countries around the world are all coming together in order to resolve one big global issue and to end hunger.
