On World Humanitarian Day, August 19, the Angola Pavilion hosted the seminar “Inspire the World’s Humanity” where the keynote speech was delivered by Isabel Jonet, President of the European Federation of Food Banks, on the subject of food security and the strategies adopted by volunteers and aid workers to address poverty and hunger. The meeting was moderated by Arlindo Macedo and participants included the Commissioner General for the Angola Pavilion and Chair of the Steering Committee, Albina Assis Africano and a large audience of commissioners and delegates from other countries participating in Expo Milano 2015.
Food Banks, the starting point for combating hunger
“In the recent past”, said Albina Assis Africano “our country experienced times when humanitarian solidarity helped us to assert ourselves as a Nation. This is why we could not ignore this significant worldwide initiative and wanted to participate with a symbolic gesture in our Pavilion”.
Isabel Jonet spoke of how Food Banks work and their important role in limiting food waste and combating hunger all over the world. She also explained the mechanisms perpetuating poverty from one generation to the next. The seminar highlighted the enormous commitment of non-profit organizations not only in the distribution of food resources but also in the capillary reach of their healthy nutrition education programs and the awareness-raising in communities encouraging the adoption of free systems of food sharing such as Food Banks. “Each individual action, by each individual person can beat hunger”, Isabel Jonet stated. “Development cooperation can change the face of the world because it works to achieve the objective of the fullness of rights and human dignity”.
The numbers of an international success
The first Food Bank was set up in Arizona in 1966, after its founder saw a woman looking in a dumpster for food. Since then, the system of free distribution of food has spread throughout Europe and most of the world, backing up plans and activities on the ground thanks to a network of volunteers and organizations dedicated to community service. As of today, the Food Bank has 257 branches where a total of 14,000 people work, 91% of whom are volunteers, distributing the equivalent of 2.2 million meals a day thanks to the help of 31,000 organizations, such as the Red Cross and outreach centers, which act as intermediaries to distribute food to anyone requesting it.
The Food Banks’ mission is not just a battle against malnutrition and hunger, but an appeal to solidarity and respect for resources. Indeed, the food is recovered from food processing plants and agriculture and distribution targets include school canteens, where nutrition education and anti-waste programs are often implemented at the same time.
The final part of the seminar saw a lively debate between Ms Jonet and the floor, showing just how pressing the subject is, and how much interest the activities of humanitarian organizations such as the Food Bank generate.
