World Food Day-related Activities
With World Food Day on the 16th, many places and organizations around the world are hosting events to commemorate this day. The Jockey Club of Türkiye has been traditionally hosting the World Food Day Horse Race to "raise awareness of key issues related to food and hunger."
In Japan, one WFD event that I found interesting was Onigiri Action. Their campaign is simple, post a photo that has an "onigiri" in it on social media, and Onigiri Action's sponsors donate enough funds for five meals through TABLE FOR TWO International to children in need, mainly in Africa and Asia. This movement has successfully donated more than ten million meals since its launch. It's simple, effective, and takes the beautiful idea of an "onigiri" (which traditionally one makes for their loved ones) and projects it on a much larger scale.
I hope that people in Türkiye attending the World Food Day Horse Race wouldn't think that the eating of horse meat was being promoted. It's a unique way of celebrating the day. Usually the events have more obvious connections to food. Are they trying to send a subtle message to the horses that if they don't run fast, they may end up on the menu?
ReplyDeleteThe connection with the idea of raising awareness of food issues is much more apparent in the Onigiri Action campaign. Having donated 10 million meals since it was started is an impressive accomplishment. Also a great way to promote a wonderful "fast food": onigiri, as rice consumption in Japan gradually decreases.