World Food Day: Action for #ZeroHunger

By Julie Yeros

World Food Day is observed every year on October 16 to promote awareness and action for those suffering from hunger and for the need to ensure food security and nutritious diets for everyone.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) calls upon citizens, governments, farmers, corporations, and youth around the world to take action and to make the goal of #ZeroHunger a reality by 2030.

Teach kids about the global goal to achieve #ZeroHunger and that by changing simple day-to-day actions, they can reduce waste, eat better, and use the Earth’s resources more wisely and take on a more sustainable lifestyle.

World Food Day Key Facts

821 million people in the world still suffer from hunger even though the world produces enough food to feed everyone. 60% of them are women.
About 70% of the world’s extreme poor live in rural areas. Most of them depend on agriculture.
Hunger kills more people every year than malaria, tuberculosis, and AIDS combined.
Nearly 45% of infant deaths are related to undernutrition.
1.9 billion people (more than a quarter of the world’s population) are overweight. 672 million of these are obese. Adult obesity is rising everywhere at an accelerated pace.
3.4 million people die each year due to overweight and obesity. In many countries, more people die from obesity than from homicide.
$3.5 trillion (USD) is the yearly cost of malnutrition to the global economy.
By 2050 agriculture will need to produce almost 50% more food, feed, and biofuel than it did in 2012 to meet demand.
One-third of the food produced worldwide is lost or wasted.

Resource: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

World Food Day 2023 Theme

“Water is Life, Water is Food. Leave No One Behind.”

Water is essential to life on Earth. It covers the majority of the Earth’s surface, makes up over 50% of our bodies, produces our food, and supports livelihoods.

But this precious resource is not infinite and we need to stop taking it for granted. What we eat, and how that food is produced all affect water.

Together, we can take water action for food and be the change. -FAO

World Food Day Activities

Children’s Activity Book

This Activity Book is aimed at a broad age range of young people interested in learning more about the importance of water on our planet, inspiring them with solutions for a wiser management of water resources. Governments, the private sector, farmers, academia, civil society and individuals need to work together to address global water challenges. The book highlights the importance to produce more food and other essential agricultural commodities with less water while ensuring water is distributed equally, our aquatic food systems are preserved, and nobody is left behind. -FAO

Download the FREE Activity Book.

Poster Contest

Children and teens all over the world, from age 5 to 19, are encouraged to use their imagination and create a poster showing a world where no one is left behind, and everyone has access to healthy and affordable food.

Use the World Food Day Activity Book (above) for inspiration.

Entries are due by November 3, 2023. Click here for more information and to upload posters.

Stone Soup: A Story for World Food Day

This version of the classic tale was written for World Food Day in 2008 and focuses on the message that when we each give a little, we can achieve a lot.