World Food Day activities will be held on the grounds of
the St. Croix campus of the University of the Virgin Islands from
noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 18. This year's theme is: "Global
Food Crisis: Opportunities, Responsibilities and
Solutions."
The Virgin Islands community is urged to come out and support
junior high and senior high school students as they compete in the
second World Food Day "Youth Super Chef Competition." There will
also be an open "Breadfruit Bonanza Cooking Competition" for the
public. Entries will be accepted from 11 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. on
Oct. 18. Categories are breads, desserts and side dishes. Prizes
will be awarded for the best entries.
For the past 27 years, the UVI Cooperative Extension
Service has taken the lead in providing educational workshops and
interactive activities during World Food Day to encourage the
planting of vegetables, fruits, and other food crops, thus,
securing our own food security.
Free vegetable seedlings such as tomatoes, beets, peppers,
collards, lettuce and pak choi will be distributed for home
gardeners. A food vendors' court, a farmers' market, tours of UVI's
Agricultural Experiment field facilities, a petting zoo and musical
entertainment round out the day's activities.
This year, World Food Day workshops will focus on growing
beets and breadfruit, and on raising goats. The first 30 persons to
sign-up and attend the workshops will receive additional seedlings,
slips and free samples of dishes featuring these crops. All
schools, youth groups, and organizations are invited to help fight
hunger by taking part in the World Food Day "Kids CAN Make a
Difference Food Drive." Donations will be given to the local food
banks.
World Food Day brings attention to the plight of the hungry and
undernourished in the territory and the world. It also provides an
opportunity for a deeper understanding of the complex solutions
required to reduce hunger. The 2009 World Food Day Teleconference
will consider the impact of the financial crisis on those living in
poverty, the responsibilities of the rest of the world, and the
solutions that are emerging.
World Food Day is observed throughout the world on October 16 each
year, commemorating the day in 1945 when the United Nations Food
and Agriculture Organization was formed. The day is used to raise
awareness of the plight of those living in hunger all over the
world.
World Food Day activities are sponsored by UVI Cooperative
Extension Service in partnership with the V.I. Department of
Agriculture and UVI's Agricultural Experiment Station. For more
information, call Clarice Clarke at (340) 692-4060.