World Food Day 2013
October 2013
Each year the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) marks World Food Day on October 16 as a time for bringing people together to find effective and sustainable solutions to food nutrition and security and to raise public awareness about hunger in the world. There are almost one billion undernourished people in the world today while at the same time, the FAO estimates 1.3 billion tonnes, or one-third, of all food produced is wasted or lost each year. Switzerland alone leaves 2 million tonnes of edible food uneaten. Given the scarcity of the world’s resources, reducing and avoiding food losses and waste has become an increasingly important issue around the world.
The WFSC welcomed a large, international audience to ETH Zurich as host of an event marking World Food Day in October 2013. The event featured a public lecture, an awards ceremony for the external page Our Common Food ideas competition, and an exhibition that showcased ETH research on the topics of food waste and loss.
The public lecture featured Ambassador Martin Dahinden, Director-General of SDC, Prof. Bernard Lehmann, Director of the FOAG, Dr. Ian Roberts, CTO Bühler, and Dr. Joseph Mpagalile from the FAO.
Our Common Food
The Our Common Food ideas competition was initiated by the Swiss National FAO Committee (CNS-FAO) to identify promising, practical ideas for solutions to food losses and waste.
Entries from Swiss and international students were evaluated by a jury of experts who included WFSC Executive Director, Michelle Grant, and WFSC Partnership Council member, Ian Roberts of Bühler Group as well as representatives from the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC), the Swiss Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG), the Swiss Association of Agricultural and Food Scientists (SVIAL) and the School of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Science (HAFL).
WFSC Research Exhibit
The research exhibition featured a poster display of research being conducted by ETH students and researchers on topics of food waste and loss, complementing the theme of the Our Common Food competition.
World Food Day Public Event
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Opening remarks from Director of the FOAG, Prof. Bernard Lehmann -
Bühler CTO, Ian Roberts, speaks during public lecture -
FAO's Joseph Mpagalile speaks during public lecture -
ETH PhD student Ima Zainuddin explains her research on reducing postharvest loss in cassava -
ETH students Anna Beerli and Coralinne Praz receive the Public Choice award -
Our Common Food Finalists
Photos: Maya Jörg