Pope Francis complains that tons of food are thrown away as people starve

In a World Food Day video message on Friday, Pope Francis expressed concern that tons of food are being thrown away as people continue to die from lack of food.

"For humanity, hunger is not only a tragedy, it is also shameful," Pope Francis said in a video sent on October 16 to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

The pope noted that the number of people fighting hunger and food insecurity is on the rise and that the current pandemic will further aggravate this problem.

“The current crisis shows us that concrete policies and actions are needed to eradicate hunger in the world. Sometimes the dialectical or ideological discussions take us away from achieving this goal and allow our brothers and sisters to continue dying from lack of food, ”Francis said.

He pointed to the scarcity of investment in agriculture, an unequal distribution of food, the consequences of climate change and an increase in conflict as causes of world hunger.

“On the other hand, tons of food are thrown away. Faced with this reality, we cannot remain numb or paralyzed. We are all responsible, ”the pope said.

World Food Day 2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of FAO, born in the wake of World War II and based in Rome.

“In these 75 years, FAO has learned that it is not enough to produce food; It is also important to ensure that food systems are sustainable and provide healthy and affordable diets for all. It is about adopting innovative solutions that can transform the way we produce and consume food for the well-being of our communities and our planet, thus strengthening resilience and long-term sustainability, ”Pope Francis said.

According to the latest FAO report, the number of people affected by hunger globally has been increasing since 2014.

The United Nations estimates that 690 million people suffered from hunger in 2019, 10 million more than in 2018.

The FAO report, released in July this year, also predicts that the COVID-19 pandemic will cause the chronic hunger of 130 million more people worldwide by the end of 2020.

According to the UN report, Asia has the largest number of undernourished people, followed by Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. The report says that, if current trends continue, Africa is projected to host more than half of the chronically hungry people in the world by 2030.

FAO is one of several Rome-based UN organizations, along with the UN World Food Program, which was recently awarded the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts to “prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict ".

“A courageous decision would be to set up with the money used for weapons and other military expenses 'a world fund' to be able to definitively defeat hunger and help the development of the poorest countries," Pope Francis said.

"This would avoid many wars and the emigration of many of our brothers and their families forced to leave their homes and countries in search of a more dignified life"