This year, the theme is Human Rights. As a health and nutrition blogger, I have participated in the water, food, and power of we themes over the years. Human Rights is a very important topic for us to write about and this year Amnesty International is a partner. Amnesty's vision is for every person to enjoy all the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights standards.. A short interview with Salil Shetty, who is the Secretary General of Amnesty International, gave me perspective on how lucky I am to be able to blog and express my opinions on-line. We take it for granted that we can share photos, recipes, thoughts, and beliefs with the rest of the world. Freedom of expression wasn't even on my mind when I was thinking about this year's topic.
I was thinking about the right to have food, or food security (when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life), which is mentioned in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
Article 25.
(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.Many of the rights that Canadians enjoy are the same things that you may hear people complain about - the right to own property, the right to work, the right to rest and leisure, the right to education. We forget how lucky we are. One reason I love to travel is that it reminds me of these things and causes me to think beyond possessions. I can do a lot more to give back, but one way I currently reach out is through kiva - to allow access to capital to help people improve their own lives.
Today is also World Food Day, another reminder that we have so much and yet there is poverty all around us. This year's focus is "Sustainable Food Systems for Food Security and Nutrition" (read more). The food is there, but we have extremes of people eating too much in some parts of the world and people going hungry in others. Below is a video on hunger...
To help end hunger, I have decided to fundraise for Canadian Feed the Children - please join me and make a donation. Click the "Help Support Stephanie Langdon, Click Here to Donate" link on the top right corner of my fundraising page to be sure that your donation is included in my fundraising efforts and reflected on my goal meter.
Comment to let me know what you're doing for Blog Action Day, World Food Day, and to help end hunger.
Cheers,
Steph Langdon, RD
something nutrishus counselling & coaching
www.nutrishus.com
