On October 24, I was at the Unilever Office to witness the launching of UNILEVER and World Food Programme’s newest campaign dubbed “Sandwich Heroes,” a project that aims to help 40,000 children affected by malnutrition in Central Mindanao.
The World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian agency. In 2010, WFP reached 109.2 million people in 75 countries distributing 4.6 million tons of food aid.
This campaign was made possible with the help of food establishments like Bigg’s Diner, Cibo, The Coffee Experience, CoffeeBreak, Figaro, Hotshots, JD Bakeshop, KFC, Mushroom burger, The Flying Pig, Holy Cow, The Sandwich Guy and Wham! Burgers - for every featured sandwich order from the above mentioned restaurants and food kiosk, a donation will be made to help feed the school-age children in the provinces of Maguindanao.
Last October 16 we also celebrated World Food Day. It is celebrated yearly in recognition of the founding of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which took place that day in 1945. World Food Week is the week following World Food Day with different event around food and hunger issues.
“Unilever is thus proud to be a global partner of the UN WFP in addressing the crucial question of food security. We are also thankful to the participating restaurants that have worked hand-in-hand with us in spreading the word about this project.” says Unilever Food Solutions Managing Director Pinky Laurena.
I learn to appreciate more the impact and effects of malnutrition during the presentation. Here are some facts you must know:
- Hunger kills more people every year than AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis combined.
- The estimate of the number of people who will suffer chronic hunger this year is 925 million, according to the FAO. About 12 million of them live in the Philippines.
- That means that one in seven people (adults and children) worldwide goes to bed hungry each night. It is 1 in 9 people in the Philippines.
- Almost all of the world’s undernourished live in developing countries. In Asia and the Pacific, an estimated 578 million people are suffering from chronic hunger; in Sub-Sahara Africa 239 million; in Latin America and the Caribbean 53 million; in the Near East and North Africa 37 million; and in developed countries 19 million in total.
- About one in four children under the age of five is underweight in the developing countries.
Persistent poverty, a sudden shock or slow onset disaster or even as a result of lack of essential minerals and vitamins on our body. Persistent hunger can impair our brain development, can make us thinner and shorter and most importantly enhance the chances of getting sick.
Impact of Chronic Hunger
Cilantro Kitchen of Unilever prepared delicious and nutritious ingredients of creating a scrumptious sandwich. Each of us were told to make our own sandwich just making sure that whatever and how big the sandwich we made, we must consume and nothing is being wasted.
With a variety of bread to choose from, I had ciabatta bread, added some fresh tomatoes, onions and green vegetables, spread a little mayonnaise and sprinkle with grated cheese. I name my bread, the LITEL sandwich because it’s simply thin and enough for people like me with a small appetite.
Ladies and gentlemen, here’s my “LITEL” sandwich! It’s very simple, very thin, doesn’t have too much filling. I made this kind of bread because I know that I cannot consume large sandwiches.
I didn’t even finish the whole thing so I look for a sandwich bag and carefully packed the remaining sandwich which I planned to eat on my way home to Sta Maria but a little boy at the MRT station begged for a P1 coin so instead of giving him money, I handed to him my baon, the LITEL sandwich plus a pack of cookies I have inside my bag.
It always feel good when you share your blessings to others isn’t it? With my “LITEL” sandwich it made the young boy smile.
Special thanks to Jeman of OrangeMagazineTV and our Philippine Connector for “Bloggers Against Hunger”, Flow Galindez (angsawariko.com) I was invited in this activity and we were gathered to talk about food on World Food Day.
Learn more about Unilever and its brand, visit www.unilever.com
WFP Philippines launched its Facebook page, make sure to “like” it! http://www.facebook.com/wfp.philippines
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