World Food Day

Tomorrow, October 17th, is World Food Day. Did you know that there was a special day for food? I didn't know that. But I'm not surprised. Sometimes it seems like there are so many special days in the year that there is not enough days in the year to go around. It seems to water down all the specialness about special days. I kind of like the idea of World Food Day though. I spend a fair amount of time thinking about food. Not that I'm all that hungry usually, Those of you that know me, and from what I can tell, that's both of you, will know that I am an avid gardener. I like to promote the ideals of buying your food locally and I promote sustainable food production. I got an email today from Kitchen Gardeners International. After alerting me that tomorrow was World Food Day they presented me with a list that I thought was kinda cool. I believe the list was created by a guy named Roger Doiron. Here is the list below.

1: number of new kitchen gardens planted at the White House this year AP


1943: the last time food was grown at the White House White House

20 million: the number of new gardens planted in 1943 LA Times

40%: percentage of nation's produce coming from gardens in 1943 LA Times

7 million: estimated number of new food gardens planted in the US in 2009 NGA

$2000: amount of savings possible per year from a 40' x 40' garden KGI

90%: percentage of fruit/vegetable varieties lost in the US the last 100 years CNN

3500: number of vegetable varieties owned by Monsanto Monsanto

18,467: number of new small farms counted in the last agricultural census USDA

4,685: number of farmers markets nationwide USDA

4,100: number of Wal-mart stores and clubs in the US Wal-mart

187,000 ft2 : average area of a Wal-mart superstore Wal-mart

60,112 ft2: average area of a farmers' market USDA

9.5 million: number of imported food shipments arriving in the US each year Huffington Post

226,377: number of establishments registered to export food to the US Huffington Post

200: number of on-site inspections of these establishments conducted by the FDA last year Huffington Post

76 million: number of people who fall ill each year due to food poisoning CDC

50 gallons: volume of sugared beverages consumed per person in the US each year LA Times

22,727: number of Olympic-sized swimming pools those beverages would fill Answers.com

$15 billion: annual estimated revenue of a penny-per-ounce tax on soda LA Times

$20.5 billion: Coca-Cola's gross profit in 2008 Coca-Cola

72 million: number of American adults considered obese CDC

33%: percentage of US children likely to develop obesity or Type 2 diabetes CDC

10-15 years: average number of years their lives will be shortened as a result CDC

57 years: average age of the American farmer USDA

25 days: average shelf-life of a Twinkie Snopes

350 parts per million: sustainable level of CO2 in atmosphere 350.org

390 parts per million: current level of CO2 in the atmosphere NOAA

31%: percentage of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions attributable to food and agriculture IPCC

2020: year by which many geologists feel the world will have reached "peak oil" production UK Research Centre

10 calories: average amount of fossil fuel energy required to produce 1 calorie of food energy in industrialized food systems Cornell

29,100 calories: estimated fossil fuel calories required to produce one order of Outback Steakhouse Aussie Cheese Fries Men's Health

1 billion: number of hungry people in the world in 2009 FAO

9.1 billion: projected world population in the year 2050 US Census

70%: percentage increase in global food production required to feed that projected population FAO

70%: percentage of world's fresh water used for agricultural purposes UNESCO

1.8 billion: number of people expected to experience "water scarcity" in the year 2025 UNEP

0: number of new, oil-rich, water-rich, fertile and inhabitable planets we are likely to discover in the next 40 years

1: number of people needed to make a positive difference in any of the above: you!

I thought that was an appropriate list for World Food Day. The blue text on the end of the lines that look like links are just blue text. I was too lazy to put all of those links in. Too much stinking linking. Supposedly you can go to those websites to verify the information. I don't know for sure since if I was so lazy I had to put in fake links I was surely too lazy to go and check their sources.

Have a great World Food Day. As luck would have it I will be going to a BBQ to celebrate my Step Moms birthday. She's 80 something. Happy Birthday Mom.

Bye!