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World Food Day—Thursday, October 16—celebrates the founding of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which is marking its 80th anniversary this year. Over the past eight decades, FAO’s research, advocacy, and lifesaving on-the-ground work have brought food security to millions of people.
But global hunger is far from solved—2.6 billion people worldwide, or 1 in every 3 of us, cannot afford healthy diets. That means we have to work together, more strongly than ever before, to scale up these proven solutions and nourish the world.
Next week, we’re hosting the official North American World Food Day 2025 celebration alongside FAO, Arizona State University’s Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems, and the Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation. If you’re in Arizona, I hope you’ll join us at the Walton Center for Planetary Health in Tempe, with more info HERE.
Expert speakers and moderators from across food and health systems will help drive conversations: Selena Ahmed, American Heart Association/Periodic Table of Food Initiative; Arnott Duncan, Duncan Family Farms; Nick Konat, Sprouts; Crystal FitzSimons, Food Research & Action Center, Denisa Livingston, Community Health Advocate, Heirloom Food Grower; Kathleen Merrigan, Arizona State University; Michel Nischan, Wholesome Wave; Thomas Pesek, FAO; Pierre Thiam, Yolélé Foods; and Lyndsey Waugh, Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation; Jenna Lea Rosen, Broadway actress; Debra Utacia Krol, The Arizona Republic; Clara Migoya, The Arizona Republic; and more.
Discussions at this Summit, including interactive breakout sessions with participants, will inform a future white paper to drive future policy and civil society outcomes surrounding food is medicine.
“Food is not just about nourishment—it is medicine, and it holds the power to shape our health, communities, and planet,” Kathleen Merrigan, Executive Director of the Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems at Arizona State University, reminds us.
As a Food Tanker, you get access to this exclusive event! Click HERE to register, and use the code WorldFoodDay to access the registration page.
This year’s World Food Day theme—“Hand in Hand for Better Foods and a Better Future”— underscores the conversations we’ve been having about the urgent need to break down silos, to work across industries, and to prioritize productive dialogue and collaboration.
“World Food Day is a moment to reflect on the critical links between our food and our health,” says Thomas Pesek, Senior Liaison Officer at the FAO Liaison Office for North America. “No single solution or actor alone will solve this challenge—but collaboration across health, agriculture, and education sectors can move us closer to a future where healthy food is available and affordable for all.”
I was so heartened and inspired last month to see so many citizen eaters join Food Tank for our 15 Summits during Climate Week NYC, where we witnessed firsthand the power of this cross-discipline approach.
The experts we had on stage were clear-eyed in discussing the challenges we all face, and they spoke just as powerfully about where we can find solutions. Division, fear, and hopelessness are not the way forward. The future of the food system will grow from joyous, empowered communities, and as the World Food Day theme reminds us, we need to work hand-in-hand to make it a reality.
There’s one quote in particular that has really stuck with me, and I hope it’ll inspire our thinking—and our collaborative action—this World Food Day.
“My abuela María…taught me that food isn’t just sustenance—it’s dignity. It’s love,” regenerative farmer and community organizer Sea Matías told us. “Land, like love, is not meant to be owned. It’s meant to be shared.”
If you’re able to join us for the official North American World Food Day 2025 celebration, you can CLICK HERE to register.
“Investing in the next generation’s understanding of food and health creates long-term impact—not just for personal well-being, but for the strength of entire communities,” says Lyndsey Waugh, Executive Director of the Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation.
World Food Day is a worldwide event, so it’s up to all of us to take action in our own neighborhoods and communities, too. If you’re already advocating for food security and nourishing, planet-friendly food systems where you live, tell me about your efforts! If you don’t know where to start, tell me that, too—and let’s share resources and make those connections that’ll push us forward.
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Photo courtesy of Chantal Garnier, Unsplash
