World Food Day is October 16.Isn't it ironic? Oklahoma is one of six states in the US with an obesity rate of 30 percent or more, but we also rank eighth in the nation in the number of people per capita who are hungry. One in every five of our children lives in poverty and is at risk of going to bed hungry.How does that happen? According to a study by the Center on Hunger and Poverty, one factor that may contribute to the co-existence of obesity and food insecurity is that low-income families may consume lower-cost foods with relatively higher levels of calories per dollar to stave off hunger when they lack the money or other resources to purchase more nutritious foods. Another factor is the lack of access to nutritious foods in some parts of the state. Thirty-two of Oklahoma's 77 counties are classified as food deserts, meaning that at least 25 percent of the population lives 10 miles or more from a supermarket.
Fighting Hunger, Feeding Hope: Oklahoma Food Bank Network The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations celebrates World Food Day each year on October 16, the day on which the FAO was founded in 1945. This year's theme is "Achieving Food Security in a Time of Crisis." Read about seed banks: A Priceless Collection Feeding Minds, Fighting Hunger (lesson plans) "I long ago decided that the first human right for which people fight is the right to eat. " -Eleanor Roosevelt Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom
Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom is a program of the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry and the Oklahoma State Department of Education |
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