The Global Food Week of Action began Sunday, Oct. 14, and runs through Oct. 21. The week provides Christians around the world a chance to address food justice and sovereignty issues. Food Week of Action includes World Food Day (Oct. 16), International Day for Rural Women (Oct. 15), and International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (Oct. 17). This year, the Presbyterian Hunger Program (PHP) celebrates more than 100 congregations as Hunger Action Congregations (HAC) that advocate for food justice not just one week during the year, but year-round, as part of their ministry outreach.
World Food Day — celebrated on Oct. 16 every year — commemorates the founding in 1945 of the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The FAO was created to respond to famines and hunger in a world of God’s abundance. Despite the abundance of land, water, nutrients and sunlight on this precious planet, even in the 21st century, hundreds of millions of people go hungry.
In recognition of World Food Day, the Presbyterian Hunger Program has announced that more than 70 Presbyterian churches have become Hunger Action Congregations since the initiative was announced last summer.
How does your church commemorate World Food Day? For some congregations, the day during Food Week of Action means a special meal offered to community residents who wrestle with poverty and hunger. Others use the annual campaign to promote what they’re already doing, such as community gardens or food pantries.
“The most significant change brought about through the industrialization of farming and the green revolution in the ’60s is the gradual and insidious alienation of seeds from the farmers. So we don’t have our native seeds and we are almost totally dependent on company seeds, which include hybrid and GM seeds.”
When you go to the local grocery store or purchase a meal at a favorite restaurant how much do you know about how the food is grown, gathered and prepared? What is your church doing to end hunger and poverty in your community or across the globe? These are some of the questions Presbyterians and the public are asked to consider this October during Global Food Week of Action and World Food Day.
