‘Our Actions are Our Future’- Let’s Eradicate HUNGER! St Aloysius College organizes ‘World Food Day’
Mangaluru : World Food Day is a day of action dedicated to tackling global hunger. Held annually on 16th October, people from around the world come together to declare their commitment to eradicate worldwide hunger from our lifetime. Celebrating the creation of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), events are organized in over 150 countries across the world, making it one of the most celebrated days of the UN calendar. These events promote worldwide awareness and action for those who suffer from hunger and for the need to ensure food security and nutritious diets for all.
The focus of the day is that food is a basic and fundamental human right. Yet, in a world of billions, over 820 million people worldwide suffering chronic undernourishment, 60% women and almost five million children under the age of five die of malnutrition-related causes every day. It’s also important to note that while millions go hungry, 672 million people suffer from obesity, and a further 1.3 billion are overweight. We can change this.
World Food Day 2018 focused on “SDG 2 – Zero Hunger”, with a theme of “Our Actions are our Future”. There are eight Reasons Why Zero Hunger can Changes – the Word, like- Zero hunger could save the lives of 3.1 million children a year; Well-nourished mothers have healthier babies with stronger immune systems; Ending child under- nutrition could increase a developing country’s GDP by 16.5 percent; Proper nutrition early in life could mean 46 percent more in lifetime earnings; Eliminating iron deficiency in a population could boost workplace productivity by 20 percent; Ending nutrition-related child mortality could increase a workforce by 9.4 percent; and Zero hunger can help build a safer, more prosperous world for everyone.
World Food Day was organized by Post Graduate Studies & Research in Food Science, and Food Processing & Engineering (DDU Kaushal Kendra) at LCRI Hall of St Aloysius College. The chief guest for the programme was- H R Jayaram-Vice President, International Competence Centre for Organic Agriculture (ICCOA) ; and Founder of Green Path Foundation-Bengaluru; with guests of honor, namely- Surya Shastry-Managing Director-Phalada Agro Research Foundation Pvt Ltd-Bengaluru, and presided over by Rev Dr Praveen Martis SJ- Principal of St Aloysius College, Mangaluru, who inaugurated the programme along with Dr Richard Gonsalves-Director of LCRI Block and DDU Kaushal Kendra; Dr S N Raghavendra- HoD Dept of Food Science, Dr Adarsha Gowda-Convener, and Ms Shilpa Lekha-co-convener.
Addressing the audience, chief guest H R Jayaram said “Food, which was medicine before, has literally become poison these days. Diet biscuits which many relish has Aspartame–a chemical sugar substitute which is 200 times sweeter than sucrose and hence poisonous”. Even home food is junk, declared Jayaram who has been practising organic farming at Sukrishi farm spread over 40 acres in Nelamangala.“The sugar is whitened artificially with the help of Sulphur. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), USA had declared sugar as the most poisonous food. All oils boiled at extreme temperature are carcinogenic,” he warned. Due to our lifestyle, we are consuming more packed and processed food which is junk. “Cancer is rampant because we have turned our gut into a gutter,” Jayaram remarked.
He advised the gathering, particularly students, to change their eating habits and to chose consciously what they eat. “When we are with nature, the body starts responding,” he maintained. Also speaking, Surya Shastry said those practising organic farming are often asked on whether organic food will feed the hunger. Organically grown produce roughly constitutes less than one per cent of the total produce. Millets can eradicate global hunger.“To achieve zero hunger by 2030, it needs sustained work and policy changes, he said.
St Aloysius college Principal Fr Praveen Martis said the programme was organized with the objective of sensitizing students to food that are unadulterated. “Even though there is lots of food available, but a lot is wasted. Instead of wasting food, we need to share it others who are dying of hunger. We need to eradicate hunger as soon as possible, since people are dying of hunger. Hope this programme will bring a change among the youth, thereby bring an awareness on healthy food and also about food wastage” added Fr Martis SJ.
During the one-day programme, Dinesh Yadav- Research Scientist (MRDU) Gandhi Medical College-Hyderabad spoke on “Food Security”; and K Thiru-Principal, Welcome Group Graduate School of Hotel Administration-Manipal University spoke on “Eat Right: Power a healthy Planet”. The programme began with prayer by Ms Shravya and team; welcome address was delivered by Dr Richard Gonsalves; Vote of thanks was proposed by Dr Adarsha Gowda; and programme was compered by Ms Aparna Jose.
