The Problem of Food Waste is Being Addressed in France

France has just passed legislation designed to help minimize food waste. Reducing food waste reduces agriculture's environmental impacts including greenhouse gas emissions. Reducing food waste is also an important part of managing world hunger which is destined to worsen as climate change increasingly impacts global food production.

Around 40 percent of the world's land is taken up by food and agriculture and together they produce almost one third of global greenhouse gas emissions. Reducing waste will decrease the amount of food required and by extension reduce some of the adverse environmental impacts associated with agriculture.

Video - Food By the Numbers: Feeding our Hungry Planet

With the recent World Food Day event on October 16th, this video from National Geographic reviews the challenges and solutions to feeding the world. By 2050, the world's population will likely increase 35 percent. In this video National Geographic provides some answers to this crisis beyond simply growing more food.

Showing Support for Family Farmers and Sustainable Agriculture

Family farmers are extremely valuable yet they are under siege and need our support. World Food Day 2014 shines a spotlight on the world's 500 million family farmers. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reports that based on data from 93 countries, family farmers account for an average of 80 percent of all holdings, and are the main producers of food that is consumed locally. Family farmers are also sustainable farmers. Sadly family farmers are disappearing at an alarming rate. Family farms that used to be an important source of rural jobs.

As explained in a foodtank article

"The world cannot do without the family farmer," says Amy McMillen, Partnerships and Outreach Coordinator for FAO. "It’s because of the family farmer that we eat a variety of healthy foods every day. And yet, family farmers still make up the majority of poor and hungry people in the world. We must do more to incentivize, celebrate and exponentially improve the lives of family farmers to ensure all people have access to fresh, healthy food."

Infographic - Biodiversity for Family Farming

World Food Day 2014: Assessing US Agricultural Risks and Focusing on Family Farms

October 16th is the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations’ designated World Food Day. This event was first celebrated thirty three years ago. The theme for 2014 is Family Farming: “Feeding the world, caring for the earth”, drawing global attention to the importance of smallholder farmers. Family farms are key to improving food security and better management of natural resources. As explained by the CGIAR Consortium, "Family farming plays a significant role in reducing poverty and hunger, by providing the household and communities with nutrition rich food and livelihoods."

The Think Eat Save Student Challenge

Sensitizing children to the ecological impacts of food waste is important and the Think.Eat.Save Student Challenge is a great example of an powerful educational project. Vast quantities of food are wasted each year and this phenomenon is sadly a part of many western cultures. To help reorient children to this issue, UNEP has launched a new campaign that calls schools and students to start a wasteless revolution.

The campaign challenges students and to find out how much food gets wasted in their schools. Then students are encouraged to organize a project and take action to reduce or eliminate food waste.

Event - Responsible Business Forum on Food and Agriculture 2014

The Responsible Business Forum on Food and Agriculture, will take place on July 14th & 15th, 2014, at the Shangri-La Hotel in Makati, Manila. Feeding a global population of 9 billion by 2050 will require transformational changes to our farming and agricultural systems, already under pressure from climate change and water scarcity. This year’s Responsible Business Forum on Food and Agriculture is being held in partnership with WWF.

Video - The Rebirth of Food Waste into Fuel in South Korea

In densely populated South Korea food waste is being reborn as methane. Through a process that reduces climate change causing greenhouse gases, the nation is developing new technologies that are transforming daily waste into energy.

Infographics: Population, Food, Agriculture, Water, GHGs and Solutions (World Resources Institute)

Video - Sustainable Meat: Trailer from the Documentary "American Meat"

American Meat, is a feature documentary about a grass-roots revolution in sustainable farming. This film explains how America arrived at its current industrial system, and shows you the feedlots and confinement houses, not through hidden cameras but through the eyes of the farmers who live and work there. The story shifts to the burgeoning movement of farmers, chefs and everyday folks.

In India Childhood Malnutrition is Compounded by Deadly Corruption

The combination of malnutrition and corruption are proving to be deadly in India. A total of 22 children have died so far from eating a pesticide laced lunch at a Chapra primary school in the rural Indian state of Bihar. Doctors are fighting to save the lives of 25 others. On July 17, the day after the incident, heartbroken parents and their supporters protested the tragic loss of innocent lives outside the school and at a local police station.

The cook complained to the headmistress about the smell and the taste of the food, but she insisted that it be served nonetheless. In response the authorities had suspended a food inspector and are pursuing a criminal case against the school headmistress who fled the scene and is currently being sought. The state has ordered an inquiry and announced that parents of the dead children will receive financial compensation.

Climate Change and Biofuels on World Food Day 2012

October 16 is a special day for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Each year at this time food becomes the center of attention and this year agricultural cooperatives are the focus of World Food Day 2012. The day is intended to raise awareness and understanding of approaches to ending hunger. The 2012 theme was chosen to highlight the role of cooperatives in improving food security and contributing to the eradication of hunger. Interest in cooperatives and rural organizations is also reflected in the decision of the UN General Assembly to designate 2012 “International Year of Cooperatives.”

Two major issues that directly impact World Food Day are climate change and biofuels. In 2012 climate change induced extreme weather has wreaked havoc on world food prices and threatens to increase global hunger. The use of agricultural lands for Biofuels have also increased the likelihood of global hunger. In the US, 40 percent of maize yields are converted to ethanol to power vehicles. The UN estimates that 1 in 8 people on the planet are now living in chronic hunger conditions.

Food Production and UN Millennium Development Goals

Food crises are jeopardizing efforts to achieve the United Nations' millennium development goal of halving the proportion of people who suffer from hunger by 2015. According to an annual report on world hunger, food price volatility is likely to continue and perhaps even increase, making poor farmers, consumers and countries more vulnerable to poverty and food insecurity.

Breaking the Cycle of Famine

The famines in East Africa and elsewhere make food a critical issue in 2011. Small, import-dependent countries, particularly in Africa, are especially at risk, with many of them still facing severe problems following the world food and economic crises of 2006-2008. Much of East Africa is in crisis and the current famine is not its first. In some places this is the worst drought in 60 years. The result is that 13 million people at now risk and 1.8 million people have been displaced in Somalis alone.

Blog Action Day 2011: Food

This year, Blog Action Day is on October 16, which coincides with World Food Day, so the 2011 theme is, quite naturally food. Since its inception in 2007, Blog Action Day themes have included water in 2010 and climate change in 2009. This year, in the short span of just two weeks approximately 1,500 bloggers from 80 countries registered to take part in Blog Action Day, 2011. Because of World Food Day, for Blog Action Day 2011, some bloggers are focusing on devastating famines, while others are addressing the abundance of food that is causing new health problems in the western world.

The F Word: Famine is the Real Obscenity

Bono, George Clooney, Jessica Alba, Idris Elba and more unite behind ONE's new campaign to help focus the world's attention again on the famine and food crisis in the Horn of Africa. Click here to find out more.

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Breaking the Cycle of Famine
Food Production and UN Millennium Development Goals
Blog Action Day 2011: Food
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