14 October 2020 – The 2020 World Food Day marks the 75th anniversary of FAO in an exceptional moment as the global community confronts the widespread effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. World Food Day calls for global solidarity to help the most vulnerable populations recover from the crisis, to make food systems more resilient while delivering more affordable and sustainable healthy diets to all, and providing decent livelihoods for food system workers.

To mark the day, FAO North America convened a dynamic program with diverse perspectives on the road to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal to end hunger (SDG 2­). The virtual ceremony was moderated by Florian Doerr, Associate Professional Officer at FAO North America.

"Today as we turn 75 it is time for us to reflect upon our journey. We are justifiably proud of our achievements yet cognizant of the responsibilities which still rests on our shoulders," stated Vimlendra Sharan, Director of FAO North America, in his opening remarks. Despite the progress made to date, he noted that it still not acceptable that nearly 700 million still go to bed hungry, while the COVID-19 pandemic could push 130 million more people into chronic hunger. 

Inaugural FAO North America World Food Day Lecture

The ceremony featured the inaugural World Food Day lecture by Homi Kharas, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. In his address, Kharas provided an overview of the global progress towards the SDG 2 and FAO’s role towards this objective.

He highlighted the World Hunger Clock, an initiative World Data Lab, which aims to provide real-time hunger forecasts that uses FAO’s Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) data for 77 countries to forecast trends in global hunger. “Undercurrent trajectories when we look ahead to 2030, we still see that there are likely to be 500 million people facing severe food insecurity and 2 billion people facing moderate to severe food insecurity,” he stated, noting the slow pace of global progress towards SDG 2.

“Sustainable agriculture is the key component of building back better,” added Kharas. “It's that sustainability portion of agriculture that needs to be emphasized in today's world where everyone is looking for a for a new model which links issues of climate inclusivity and economic prosperity together and that's exactly the kind of the sweet spot in the integration that organizations like FAO are working on.”

FAO on the Road to 2030

Following the lecture Alexandra Bugailiskis, Ambassador of Canada to Italy; Kip Tom, Ambassador of the U.S. Mission to the UN Agencies in Rome; and Beth Bechdol, Deputy-Director-General of FAO, shared their reflections on the key points raised by Kharas and their vision of FAO on the Road to 2030. 

In her remarks Ambassador Bugailiskis walked participants through the history of FAO’s formation, noting that the “establishment of the FAO almost six months before the end of World War II was an important sign of hope for the future coming out of the ashes in the devastation that left millions of refugees, millions of people homeless, and obviously millions in food insecurity.”  

As we look to the future, she highlighted key areas for change, including providing farmers “access to the entire toolbox of mutually reinforcing innovative policies and technologies.” She added that “FAO has a key role in supporting the development of that enabling environment that can foster innovation while ensuring the health and safety of people, plants and animals in the environment through its technical and standard-setting activities.”

“To achieve true and lasting food security, we need improved access to technology and we need to embrace the potential for agriculture innovations to meet growing global demand,” said Ambassador Tom. Both Ambassadors highlighted the importance of the upcoming 2021 UN Food Systems Summit in laying the groundwork to drive food systems transformations.  

Beth Bechdol echoed the vision and direction shared by both the Canadian and US Ambassadors. “Our aspiration is to very simply leave no one behind,” she said. “The food systems of the future need to be sustainable, inclusive and resilient.”

Announcing winners of the 2020 World Food Day Poetry Competition 

The program also featured the announcement of the top three winners and honorable mentions of the 2020 World Food Day Poetry Contest by Aaron R., winner of the 2018 competition and poetry in-residence fellow at the Capital Area Food Bank. First place winner of this year’s competition, James Brian from Manassas, Virginia, joined the session and recited his poem, “Testimony.”

The third annual competition was organized by FAO North America in partnership with Poetry X Hunger and the Capital Area Food Bank, with support from Split This Rock. Hiram Larew, Founder of the Poetry X Hunger initiative, noted that the competition is “helping to rouse poets to the anti-hunger cause.”

Recipes from Turtle Island

Anna Mulé, Executive Director of Slow Food USA and Denisa Livingston, Slow Food International Indigenous Councilor, introduced Recipes from Turtle Island – a booklet of recipes from renounced Indigenous Chefs across North America. The cookbook is the result of a special World Food Day collaboration between Slow Food USA, Slow Food Turtle Island Association and the FAO North America.

At Slow Food “we see food as a common language that helps us build relationships across cultures ecosystems and traditions,” said Mulé.  “It was a true honor to work with FAO on Recipes from Turtle Island. With this collection of 14 nutritious recipes from Indigenous chefs, we are centering Indigenous perspectives and foodways on the path to heal our country.”

The recipe book is “creating a greater public consciousness of native sovereignty,” said Livingston. “It is to honor the narratives, the practices, and spirituality that are sacredly based in relationship and healing of the land, the water, and the air, as we reclaim our traditional lifeways and foodways.” She added that the chefs are, “ultimately advocating for eating and acting with intention and responsibility. Not to be wasteful. To eat seasonally. To focus on strategic agriculture with the landscape with the purpose of food and not to disrupt wild food areas.”

2020 World Food Day Storytelling Award

Emmy Award-winning journalist and Creator of Planet Forward at George Washington University, Frank Sesno highlighted the World Food Day Storytelling Award.

He noted that while we live in an environment “inundated with data,” what makes, “these things come to life and what gives people memory in response to them are the stories that we tell around them. The people we make real, the characters who are struggling to overcome and to survive to do great things.”

The World Food Day Storytelling Award, organized by Planet Forward in partnership with FAO North America, recognizes and rewards the most compelling student-told stories about the ways society can transform its food system to end all forms of malnutrition and make healthier diets accessible to everyone. In previous years, FAO North America and Planet Forward took the top candidates to attend the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) in Rome. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the trip was not possible this year.

Food Heroes

The session also gave voice to Food Heroes Naima Penniman, Program Director at Soul Fire Farm in upstate New York, and Lori Nikkel, CEO of Second Harvest Canada.

“We are driven by our mission to feed our community while stewarding this land, and also to train the next generation of farmers and activists for food justice and to support and build the movement for food and land sovereignty,” shared Penniman. Soul Fire Farm, an afro-indigenous farm, is dedicated to ending racism and seating sovereignty in the food system. Through the Solidarity Share Program, the farm has been able to deliver free nutritious foods to marginalized communities during the pandemic.

Second Harvest, Canada's largest food rescue organization has the “dual mission of no waste and no hunger,” explained Nikkel. “In Canada, one in seven people are experiencing food insecurity right now. On top of that, as a result of rescuing this food, we're keeping it out of landfills and diverting the harmful greenhouse gases in our environment,” she added. 

At the onset of the pandemic, Second Harvest Canada created the Food Rescue Canadian Alliance, a  multistakeholder initiative trying to eliminate hunger in the country by rescuing food that would otherwise go to waste and providing it to people in need. As result, the Canadian Government created a CA $ 50 million Surplus Food Rescue Program to facilitate the purchase and distribution of all excess food that resulted from the pandemic. Second Harvest also hosts foodrescue.ca, a matchmaking app to connect business with surplus food and local charities.

Overall, the commemoration highlighted how FAO was formed, and the importance of its mission till this day. The session showcased diverse perspectives on the actions needed to build resilient, equitable and sustainable food systems that deliver on the environmental, social and economic pillars of the Sustainable Development Goals. As FAO’s Beth Bechdol stated, “We should never lose sight that each and every one of us is a food hero in each and every one of us has a food story.”

Watch the full session.