Harper Adams to celebrate World Food Day

Posted 8 October 2014

Harper Adams University is to host its second international festival of food next week, to celebrate World Food Day and raise funds for a farming charity.

Staff and students are selling homemade treats at a fair in the Regional Food Academy on campus, with the aim of improving public awareness of the problem of hunger across the world.

World Food Day is an annual event celebrated on October 16, to mark the anniversary of the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations in 1945.

This year, the theme is Family Farming: “Feeding the world, caring for the earth” and proceeds from the event at Harper Adams will be donated to Self Help Africa Shrewsbury – a charity that works with rural African communities to help improve their farms and livelihoods. Money will also be donated to Shropshire food banks.

Treats include Indian food, hot drinks, Chinese food, Best of British cakes and pastries, Brazilian sweets and many more.

Organiser of the event, Rural Enterprise and Land Management Course Leader, Simon Keeble, said: “This is the second time that we have celebrated World Food Day at Harper Adams, following the huge success of our first food fair last year.

“It is vital that awareness of the importance of food security, both nationally and internationally, is increased and one way of doing that is by supporting World Food Day.

“We had so much support last year from staff and students that it would have been a real shame to not host the event again.

“I hope we can raise even more money for Self Help Africa and the Shropshire food banks, whilst bringing something different to campus during lunchtime!”

Self Help Africa works in nine African countries supporting rural communities to grow more food and earn a better living.

For more information about World Food Day click here. To find out about Self Help Africa, visit here.