LIVE: World Food Day

Hunger is rising, due to factors including conflict, climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic, which is putting a strain on food systems that are already failing in many countries. In today’s LIVE blog, marking World Food Day, we will look at some of the many issues and possible solutions.

Highlights • UN chief announces Food Systems Summit • Lid Is On food waste podcast • Food and the COVID-19 pandemic • Food and climate change

07:00 'Grow, nourish, sustain. Together'

Good morning from UN News in New York! World Food Day is celebrated globally, but it is being led by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which is based in Rome, where events will be kicking off at around 14:00 Central European Time.

Over the next few hours, we'll be taking you through some of the main themes and issues surrounding food and food systems, and how they're being tackled throughout the UN system.

And there are some serious problems to discuss: food systems – which encompass everything that goes from transforming raw ingredients on the farm, to food on the plate – are clearly not functioning as they should. They're exacerbating climate change, thanks to the greenhouse gases they produce, trillions of dollars worth of food goes to waste, and yet millions are still going hungry.

The UN wants to ensure that future food systems provide affordable and healthy diets for all, and decent livelihoods for food system workers, while preserving natural resources and biodiversity and tackling challenges such as climate change.

As is so often the case with global problems, the solutions are out there, but greater political will and awareness is needed to put them into practice.

Visit UN News for more.