Blog: City Blog

Food Day to Tackle Local Hunger Issues

Last year on Food Day, volunteers delivered meals. One is 6 East Tennesseans face difficulties meeting their basic needs, such as preparing meals.

With the season of thankfulness, holiday meals and the loosening of belts just around the corner, it is important to remind ourselves that there are still thousands of people with limited access to food.

Food Day advocates hope to bring awareness to this hunger issue and to inspire Americans to change their diets and the country’s food policies.

The fifth annual Food Day will be held Saturday, Oct. 24, and this year’s theme is “Toward a Greener Diet.” The day is dedicated to resolving "to make changes in our own diets and to take action to solve food-related problems in our communities at the local, state, and national level,” according to Food Day organizers.

Last year, more than 8,000 events took place nationwide. This year, all 50 states are planning their own ways to participate in Food Day.

This year, the primary goal of the Knoxville-Knox County Food Policy Council is to raise awareness regarding hunger issues in East Tennessee.

The need is real, as these statistics show:

-- 1 in 6 people in East Tennessee live in poverty and have difficulty meeting their basic needs, such as food.
-- 1 in 5 children in East Tennessee is considered at-risk of hunger every day.
-- Food insecurity is associated with cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension and diabetes.

Fortunately, there are many ways for individuals to get involved. It can be as easy as signing a check to Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee, or as personal as delivering meals.

This Food Day, Oct. 24, Knoxville hopes to highlight the numerous ways anyone can play a role in the fight to alleviate the area’s various hunger issues.

For more information about the mission behind Food Day, click here: http://www.foodday.org/about

Posted by evreeland On 21 October, 2015 at 11:11 AM