Title
Recognizing and Declaring Friday, October 16, 2015 as World Food Day in Philadelphia, a day of action against hunger, where people work together to eradicate hunger worldwide.
Body
WHEREAS, World Food Day was created by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations on October 16, 1945 in Quebec, Canada and since then has been recognized in almost every country by millions of people who through community action and awareness fight to eradicate hunger; and
WHEREAS, In a world of plenty, 805 million people, one in nine individuals, live with chronic hunger with the costs of hunger and malnutrition falling heavily on the most vulnerable. Sixty percent of the hungry in the world are women. Almost 5 million children under the age of 5 die of malnutrition-related causes every year. It is estimated that hunger kills more people every year than malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS combined; and
WHEREAS, In America, the US Department of Agriculture estimated in 2013 that one in seven Americans (14.3%) did not have enough to eat; and
WHEREAS, Nearly 1 in 4 people in Philadelphia are poor, double the rates experienced at both the national and state levels, with more than one-third of all children in Philadelphia living in poverty. In April 2014, 475,890 individuals or 31% of Philadelphians received SNAP (food stamp) assistance; and
WHEREAS, Hungry people are 30% more likely to be hospitalized and require longer in-patient stays, twice as likely to need mental health services and are at higher risk for obesity, because healthy, fresh foods usually cost more than high-calorie options, like chips and soda. Low-income neighborhoods often lack supermarkets, so residents rely on limited grocery selections at local convenience or corner stores; and
WHEREAS, Hungry children are 60% more likely to miss school, 50% more likely to repeat a grade, twice as likely to be suspended from school and twice as likely to require special education; and
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