Food Blessed : A CSR in Action

If you have food in your fridge, clothes on your back, a roof over your

head a place to sleep you are richer than 75% of this world.

12.7% is the average percentage of hungry people in the Arab region.

In Lebanon, the population living under the poverty line reaches 28.6 %. HUGE amounts of food are being thrown away after almost every event. People always feel the urge to take action, to find a solution, to not
throw away untouched food, but most of the cases they just don’t know
where to turn to!!

53 % of consumers are willing to pay extra for dealing with a company who is socially responsible.
Ideas are worthless unless one finds the courage and acts upon them.



3 social activists saw a problem and decided to do something about it. They saw it as an opportunity to make a greater good!


BY aiming at 'feeding the hungry, one meal at a time', this is exactly what the foodblessed team has done..

This is HOW they do it:

Save the Grace

Few days after Ramadan started I read this article by Washington Post about
How Muslims Celebrate the month of Ramadan.  

The first wrong word is " Celebrate". Ramadan is not a month of celebration, it is a month of pious devotion and struggle with one's desires and  curbing one needs.  Ramadan is solely being conveyed merely as a month of diverse "Iftar" food, drinks and scrumptious meals. This might be true in some families. But breaking one's fast should always be done in moderation for one's own  health and for fulfilling the main reason why he is fasting in the first place.

Here is one beautiful comment I saw on the web "Let us also be reminded that when you and I break the fast at sunset, the hungry continue with their fast."But what should be done to those hungry? Here is one cause " Save the Grace" Lebanon , find more about it the interview with  the team : 

Reading list for this week!

I will be collecting interesting and important articles about food science and nutrition.Though  I usually share them on my facebook page but it gets overwhelming for my fans who are on facebook for fun.
So, if you are seeking abit of education, you may check my blog frequently ( I will be launching the Reading list section soon  )

• PRESERVED FOOD

Ever wondered why canned food tasted bad? And why it would never be like fresh food? What do you know about Autoclaves and retort machines in food preservation? Here is an article that simply explains why preserved foods' flavors are not that delicious>

• Better Nutrition

In Copenhagen Consensus 2012, researchers and Nobel laureates were looking at the smartest solutions to the world’s biggest challenges. A research paper released on hunger and undernutrition by researchers from the International Food Policy Research Institute, proposed that decision-makers prioritize micronutrient interventions. A better nutrition would help the world's biggest problems: Hunger and malnutrition. Read more here How Better Nutrition for Children Helps Solve Two of the World’s Biggest Problems

Picture from Slate.com

• The Organic Dispute

  Why do people still dispute about organic and the "not-organic" farming? What is the major difference  between both? And why do media have discrepancies when it comes to this subject?Here is an interesting read by  the Atlantic about the War between the organic and conventional farming

• Coco Cola Ethics

  After the PR crisis of Coco Cola that unethically treated migrant workers for picking up the oranges in southern Italy, some have demanded that their sponsorship for the London Olympics should be halted.  Read more about this argument from the Ecologist :Should Coca Cola be allowed to sponsor the London Olympics ???

All pictures were attributed to their owners and were searched for from creativecommons.org

Why Water Matters in our Food?

     Sudanese men pull drinking water from a well in Shendi, Sudan. Lack of
                       drinking water remains to be problematic in most homes in Shendi.(Associated Press)

More pictures about World Water Day   from Boston:

• The World Water DayThe World Water Day in 2012 is intended to draw the international attention on the relationships between water & food security. “Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life” and water is one of the fundamental input factor to the food production."



All You Eat Video  is a promo by  UN for World Water Day 2012  and launched by the Food and Agriculture organization (FAO)  and check this animation as well.
This is another effective video by UNICEF: 2 lives, 2 miles apart series // Water
 

Blog Action Day 2011: Stabilizing Food Prices

This year blog action day coincides with World Food Day. That's why bloggers today, and from around the world, will be solely talking about "Food" , for creating awareness, sharing interesting information and facts, or just for discussing the controversies in agriculture, nutrition and food technologies. To follow the discussion: Click here.

Importantly,  I would like to shed the light on the dilemma that is affecting every single individual in this world, which is the increase in food prices!
For that, I will be sharing what FAO is calling for on this day: Food Prices Stabilization.
Why?
Because millions of people around the world live in chronic hunger, not to forget the horrible Crisis in theHorn of Africa, which was not just because of the dreadful drought but also due to many economical reasons. 
When food prices fluctuate wildly as they have in recent years, it's the poor who are hit the hardest. World Food Day 2011 calls on the global community to do what's needed to stabilize food prices.
Here  is the videoby FAO : "FOOD PRICES -- FROM CRISIS TO STABILITY"  to shed some light on this trend and what can be done to mitigate its impact on the most vulnerable.


And for this day also ,The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Program (WFP) are celebrating World Food Day 2011 tomorrow 17 October with a series of speeches by visiting guests and performances by celebrity goodwill ambassadors. More on this story.
Follow : World Food Day on Twitter: #worldfoodday and #wfd2011
And the Ceremony Live . 

Support  One.org campaign to end famine by just clicking : 


Watch the short video that was  launched with the help of Bono, Colin Farrell, George Clooney, K’naan, Annie Lennox and many other famous faces and that was banned ONLY in the U.K just yesterday.

The F Word: Famine is the Real Obscenity

Previous Posts Regarding this issue: 
1. Crisis in the Horn of Africa.
2. 10 Most Misconceptions about Hunger


More about Blog Action Day:

10 misconceptions about Hunger

Can  Food Aids solve Hunger crises ?  

Or is Free Trade the solution? What  about the green  Revolution ??

Hunger , just like any topic also has its myths, and its controversies.
But these "myths" are leading to social, economical instabilities  problems in the world we live in.  The drought hitting the horn of Africa is not merely  a natural uncontrollable force , it has  lead to famine , man's very own act .
 2.4 million people in five countries across the horn of Africa are affected, and Tens of thousands of people have already died from starvation, half of whom are children – and malnutrition rates in some regions are worse than anything previously recorded.

World Food Program  through its millenium goals aims   to end povertyby 2015. NGO's , local or international, are all collaborating to mitigate this crisis. As well, on the field volutneers , online volunteers, journalists , bloggers are all working worldwide together  too.But more efforts are needed. And to have more efforts,  we need more awareness. This post is nothing but to raise awareness about the general public views  towards hunger, the responsible people behind its cause and  the authorities actively participating in eliminating it.

Based on the book World Hunger: Twelve Myths  and  below  notes is taken from ( summarized) : Food First, Institute for Food and Development Policy. 

Myth 1: Not Enough Food to Go Around

tree hugger.com

Reality:
Abundance, not scarcity, best describes the world's food supply. Enough wheat, rice and other grains are produced to provide every human being with 3,200 calories a day. That doesn't even count many other commonly eaten foods - ­vegetables, beans, nuts, root crops, fruits, grass-fed meats, and fish. Enough food is available to provide at least 4.3 pounds of food per person a day worldwide: two and half pounds of grain, beans and nuts, about a pound of fruits and vegetables, and nearly another pound of meat, milk and eggs - ­enough to make most people fat! The problem is that many people are too poor to buy readily available food. Even most "hungry countries" have enough food for all their people right now. Many are net exporters of food and other agricultural products.

Crisis in the Horn of Africa

Stop complaining there is no Air conditioner when electricity  goes out, and stop complaining it is too hot when you walk few miles under the sun. Stop complaining if you missed one of your meals because you had so much work.  Stop complaining because the waiter didnt bring you your diet soda.
Why? Because what you are going through is not even comparable to the wretchedness felt by what the people are suffering everyday in Afirca. Few pictures from MSF , may speak the situation or may not , it is up to your own eyes. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150255803987385.322086.33110852384

From One.org
" You may have seen the pictures of starving people in the Horn of Africa on your TV screens.
We are all asking: how can this be happening again? Parts of Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia are facing one of the worst droughts for 60 years, and around 10 million people are desperately in need of food, clean water and basic sanitation. 

Join me in calling on world leaders to save millions of lives - today and tomorrow:
Despite the urgency of the situation, most world leaders are responding too slowly. Immediate aid is essential. Yet at the same time we must not let them drop the ball on long term solutions as has too often happened in the past.
Take action right now at:


http://act.one.org/sign/horn_of_africa/?source=horncrisistafem

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You can also Support Unicef by donating Online :http://www.supportunicef.org/site/pp.asp?c=9fLEJSOALpE&b=7542627


FAO : http://www.fao.org/crisis/horn-africa/home/en/
WFP: World Food Program : http://www.wfp.org/crisis-horn-africa ,
WFP Donation : https://secure.my-websites.org/supporter/donatenow.do?n=gbss&dfdbid=1075640

REPOST, RESHARE, EMAIL :) 

I'M MAD AS HELL

BLOW THE WHISTLE ON HUNGER

1 000 000 000 PEOPLE live in chronic hunger and I'M MAD AS HELL

Put pressure on politicians to end hunger. 

Sign the petition and push for change wherever you are:

Click here 

**In the time it takes to watch this video, two children will die of hunger

The " MaL" message:

This was my first angry hopeless message i have written in my life :S
Here it goes:

Dear AUB UNESCO MEMBERS,

I speak not as the " MaL" of AUB's UNESCO CLUB but rather as a human being seeing people suffering with no one to stand by them.. none to cry out their suffering.

Yes you know what i am talking abt.

You might skip this message ,,but i beg you to continue reading...

You might think we cant change a thing in GHAZA....but at least we can make those who are ignorant and dont have a sense about whats goin in this world ..see it..

Yes I am feeling hopeless like everyone else .Yes i feel a hypocrite because i can not do anything and i am just talking.. But i am begging each one of u to have his own demonstration against whats happening:

1) You can Sing for them
2)You can pray with every Kneel you make.
3) You can cry if you want
4)You can light a candle
5) You can pray more and more
6) You can demonstrate through BLOGS, FACEBOOK, send messages, hotmail,msn chat with ur friends abt it ..I dunnoo..
YES YOU HAVE TIME..


7) YOU CAN FORWARD THIS MESSAGE to ur FRIENDS..or just write a shorter one...and send it !!

DO WATEVER u want..!
cose there will come a time where those children and those martyrs...will ask you what did you do?
What will be your answer?

Thanks for taking your time to read this message,

Sincerely,

A Human Being.
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