Contact: Maridith Geuder
Local speakers, presentations by area service agencies and a simple meal will be part of Mississippi State's observance of 2001 World Food Day.
An 11 a.m.-2 p.m. public program Tuesday [Oct. 16] in the university's Bost Extension Center auditorium will focus on community responses to local food needs. Sponsors include the social work academic program and Association of Student Social Workers, in cooperation with the Starkville/Columbus Program Unit of the National Association of Social Workers.
"Fight Hunger to Reduce Poverty" is this year's international theme. Designed to raise awareness of the myriad problems arising from hunger and food insecurity, the annual observance is spearheaded by the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization, which was founded on this day in 1945.
"Representatives of various Golden Triangle agencies will provide information about their services and who is eligible to receive them," said social work associate professor Adele Crudden. Participating organizations will include the Salvation Army, Hunger Ministries, Project Brickfire, United Way of North Mississippi, and Golden Triangle Planning and Development.
Peter's Rock Temple Church of God in Christ, Calvary Baptist Church, Starkville Church of God, and other agencies, churches and groups serving needs of the hungry in local communities also will take part.
Crudden, MSU social work program director and a local event organizer, said the FAO estimates approximately 800 million men, women and children worldwide to be chronically hungry. To help illustrate their collective plight, she added, School of Human Sciences majors will serve Bost participants a typical diet found in many parts of the world--beans, rice and water.
For more information on World Food Day at MSU program, telephone Crudden at (662) 325-8859.