{"id":1139160,"date":"2021-10-15T11:47:35","date_gmt":"2021-10-15T09:47:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/asc-aqua.org\/?p=139160&source_id=139160&target_id=1139160"},"modified":"2024-10-16T10:13:59","modified_gmt":"2024-10-16T08:13:59","slug":"wfd2021","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/asc-aqua.org\/blog\/wfd2021\/","title":{"rendered":"World Food Day: how we can all fight food insecurity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t

October 16 is\u00a0World Food Day<\/a>, and its message of \u2018our actions are our future\u2019 encourages people to help fight food insecurity with their personal choices. Sound overwhelming? Don\u2019t worry, this is exactly what ASC aims to help you do.<\/p>\n

This is the second World Food Day to be commemorated under the shadow of the pandemic. Some countries are opening up and may feel like life is getting back to normal, while others may still have a long way to go. Similarly, the fight against hunger is at very different stages in different parts of the world. This is why it is so important to have a global day dedicated to eradicating this preventable scourge.<\/p>\n

Despite the ongoing restrictions, World Food Day 2021 will be marked in over 150 countries, with events bringing together governments, NGOs, businesses and the public.<\/p>\n

Our actions are our future<\/strong><\/h3>\n

One of the key messages this year is \u2018Our actions are our future\u2019. Of course, food systems are complex and multinational and action to improve them and eradicate food insecurity will require action from governments and industry \u2013 no one person or group can do this on their own. But that shouldn\u2019t mask the impacts that us ordinary people can make too.<\/p>\n

As the World Food Day website says: \u201cWe need to influence what is produced by increasing our demand for sustainably produced nutritious foods, and at the same time be more sustainable in our daily actions, first and foremost by reducing food loss and waste.\u201d<\/p>\n

As you can imagine, this is something that really resonates with us at ASC. We strongly believe that by choosing more responsibly farmed seafood, we can reward those producers and encourage other producers to improve their practices as well. Of course, consumers can\u2019t do this on their own \u2013 this is where ASC comes in. We can provide trusted and transparent assurance of which products have come from responsible farms.<\/p>\n

What is World Food Day?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

An annual commemoration of the formation of the Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN (FAO), which took place on 16 October 1945. The FAO works to ensure food security for everyone, and World Food Day is one of the UN\u2019s biggest annual celebrations. It aims to promote awareness of those who suffer from hunger, and encourage action to promote food security and better nutrition.<\/p>\n

What are the issues?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Chronic hunger makes it harder to meet many of the UN\u2019s other goals, such as good health and quality education, and it in turn is impacted by a number of other global issues. These include conflict, climate, the economy and inequality. The most vulnerable communities are the most susceptible to sudden shocks and volatility in food supply chains, and this year has been an unwelcome reminder that this volatility can strike at any time. The challenges of malnutrition, in all its forms, is complicated further by the rising cases of obesity around the world. Looking to the future, the world\u2019s population will continue to grow and is estimated to reach 9.6 billion by 2050, so the demand for healthy food will only continue to grow.<\/p>\n

How can aquaculture help?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Seafood is a great source of healthy protein to meet these rising demands. The amount of seafood eaten around the world per person has already doubled since 1961 \u2013 and the FAO predicts it will continue to rise. Aquaculture already accounts for more than half of the global supply of seafood, and the FAO predicts that the share of aquaculture will continue to grow in the coming years. As well as feeding millions, aquaculture also provides livelihoods around the world \u2013 often to\u00a0small scale farmers in developing economies.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Aquaculture is a source of food and livelihoods all over the world<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What\u2019s this got to do with the ASC?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

As the aquaculture industry continues to grow, so does the imperative to ensure that farms are run well both environmentally and socially. Farms that are not well managed can have a number of impacts, including water pollution, disruption of local ecosystems and poor working conditions.<\/p>\n

At ASC we don\u2019t believe it\u2019s enough\u00a0for aquaculture to keep growing to meet rising demand \u2013 if it is not done properly, the potential impacts could have grave consequences and lead to exactly the sort of uncertainty that the FAO warns against. That\u2019s why ASC certified farms must demonstrate that they are managing and minimizing these impacts. It\u2019s not just about managing the impacts of aquaculture. ASC certification also encourages more efficient practices, which can help in the fight to increase the global supply of food.<\/p>\n

Who else can help?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Achieving zero hunger will require the efforts of everyone \u2013 including governments, private businesses and farmers. And we can\u2019t put it any better than \u2018our impacts are our future.\u2019 This doesn\u2019t mean it should be down to individuals to reimagine the global food system. It means we should feel empowered that we can <\/em>make a difference with our choices, and however small that difference might feel individually, taken together it can add up to something unstoppable.<\/p>\n

Your purchasing decisions have power. By choosing to buy seafood from farms that display the ASC logo, you can show your preference for farmers that engage in a transparent and always evolving process to ensure that the food they produce is raised according to best practices and in a manner that will provide much needed resources for the future.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1139162,"template":"","tags":[],"blog_cats":[],"class_list":["post-1139160","blog","type-blog","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/asc-aqua.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog\/1139160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/asc-aqua.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/asc-aqua.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/blog"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asc-aqua.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1139162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/asc-aqua.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1139160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asc-aqua.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1139160"},{"taxonomy":"blog_cats","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asc-aqua.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog_cats?post=1139160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}