Raising awareness of poverty and hunger

While our job as caterers in to encourage people into our establishments to eat delicious food, we must never forget that for many people in the world, enjoying a meal is something they can only dream of.

Two events taking place in October aim to highlight just how many people are living in food poverty globally. World Porridge Day, which takes place on 10 October every year, has been established by the people who run the World Porridge Making Championships and Argyll-based charity, Mary’s Meals, and is primarily focussed on helping to feed hungry children in some of the poorest countries across the globe. The second event is World Food Day (16 October 2019), which calls for action across sectors to make healthy and sustainable diets affordable and accessible to everyone.

The body behind World Food Day, the Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, states that achieving Zero Hunger is not only about addressing hunger, but also nourishing people, while nurturing the planet and is calling for action across sectors to make healthy and sustainable diets affordable and accessible to everyone. At the same time, it urges everyone to start thinking about what we eat. We’re all pretty aware that obesity rates are soaring as a result of unhealthy diets and sedentary lifestyles, but this rise isn’t restricted to developed countries. Unfortunately the poor availability and higher cost of safe nutritious food means that following a healthy diet is beyond the pockets of many of those who live in countries where incomes are low – hence creating a situation where hunger and obesity co-exist.

There’s lots of information on the FAO website about World Food Day, so why not join others around the world in in raising awareness of the #ZeroHunger campaign and make food poverty a thing of the past.

On a more practical level, Mary’s Meals works in eighteen countries and has one simple aim: To provide a daily meal in a place of education so chronically hungry children are encouraged into school, where they can gain a basic education, which in turn can provide an escape route from poverty. This programme has been hugely successful with a recordable increase in school attendance in every school where Mary's Meals works. The charity now feeds over 1.5 million children every school day – at a cost of only £13.90 per school year per child.

So how can caterers help support these impoverished communities?

Although we tend to think of porridge as Scotland’s national dish, it plays a huge role in the diets of other countries, particularly in the African nations of Liberia, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe, where maize-based porridge ‘likuni phala’ is a nutritious staple, so we think one of the best ways to support such communities is to host a (oat-based) Porridge Party (or two) in October and give a proportion of the profits to Mary’s Meals! There are some great recipe ideas for delicious twists on porridge here, but you don’t have to stick to just porridge – what about using oats to rustle up some scrumptious oatie cookies or flapjacks? Or even better – cranachan – with some toasted oats, double cream, raspberries and whisky?

And don’t forget to let the world know what you’re up to. Share your happy porridge face on social media using the #PorridgeSmiles and # WorldPorridgeDay and don’t forget to tag @marysmeals on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and they’ll reply with a story from one of the children they feed.