October is considered to be a nutritionally sound month since the 16^th of October marks World Food Day, the 20^th of October is World Osteoporosis Day, and the 26^th of October is World Obesity Day.

Unfortunately, instead of celebrating the abundance of virtues offered to us by our planet, World Food Day will address the 2 extreme epidemics of undernutrition and obesity. This can very easily be considered an oxymoron but it remains the reality. At the same time famine is experienced by those less fortunate on our planet there is an extreme abundance and over use of food by the ‘developed’ part of the planet – note that the populations more likely to experience food abundance are those populations that suffer from heart disease, diabetes and other such diseases that associate with food intake.

The basic human right is the right to clean; safe food and it should be above all other large scale company interests. This right to safe food is especially true when statistics show that 10% of children in developed countries under the age of 5 suffer from diseases that are associated with undernutrition. Imagine statistics for underdeveloped countries…

Food is more than just a product. It is a fundamental human right. This should be a major priority on the agendas of governments and companies worldwide. The 1996 Rome Conference on Nutrition noted that true progress on the matter at hand will be made when the poor of the planet have the resources to feed themselves.