Hosting A World Food Day Dinner

Did You Know: About a third of the food produced for our plates ends up lost or wasted between farm and fork?

 
If you’ve visited me before you may know that I have a special place in my heart for social justice. There was a time when I was going to major in that very subject as an undergraduate. Life circumstances changed but my desire to do good never changed. Maybe it’s because my parents always volunteered while I was growing up that no matter how much we had I always also saw the other side. I’ve learned no where is this more true than in the area of food.  As Americans we are so blessed, even the poorest of our population have access to resources such as food banks and government assistance.  I’ve seen first hand how invaluable these programs are.  I’ve seen families in other countries who can barely afford to put the bare minimum on the table.
 

Did You Know:  Our planet produces enough food for everyone, yet nearly one billion of us (1 in every 7 people) still go to bed hungry.

 
I write about food almost every day. I share photos, I shop for unique things, new things. I have the luxury of choosing “the best” items to feed my family.  Bruised apple? Oh no that’s not coming home with me.  What do you mean you don’t have organic milk? It’s a choice that I make, and I’m not always proud of my actions.  We throw out more food than we should.  We buy more than we need. I know that I’ll be able to replenish my refrigerator. Not too long ago a sister in law told us she had to give her kids yogurt to eat that was well past it’s expiration date.  Her husband had been out of work for some time and there wasn’t anything left to eat. She was too proud to ask for help. I’m sure there are people around all of us in a similar situation. But often we choose not to think about it. 
 

Did You Know: One pound of ground beef for your family uses more than 28,000 cups of water to produce—that’s enough to fill 20 bathtubs to the brim, and then some!

 
Oxfam is encouraging everyone to think about this and host a world food day dinner on Tuesday October 16th. You can sign up here and they will email you plenty of materials to hold a real discussion about food in our world. Where does it come from, who produces it and how all of us can take action to make our food system more just and sustainable.
 
Other ways you can get involved;

• Share GROW method recipes on Pinterest and we’ll add them to our GROW Method Cook Book! Just tag your pin with #GROWmethod to add it.
• Snap photos of your World Food Day meal on Instagram and tag them with #WFD2012, then check out the Oxfam site to see photos from all over the world.

 
Looking for more ways? Check out what Oxfam partner Islamic Relief has to say:
 

Whatever you do – be thankfully for what you have and remember those who will pass the day today wondering when they might eat again.

  I am writing this post as a member of Mom Bloggers Global Team of 200 Moms for Social Good. I will be blogging about social justice issues regularly for the next year.                                                                              I am not compensated in any way for this post.