CropLife Canada recognizes World Food Day and the continued struggle for food

OTTAWA , Oct. 15 /CNW/ - While the majority of Canadians enjoy a standard of living that allows them to meet their basic food needs, millions of people here and elsewhere around the world do not. Tomorrow, on World Food Day, CropLife Canada joins the call for recognition of the fact that too many men, women and children continue to struggle with hunger, malnutrition and poverty.

"Access to safe and healthy food should not elude so many people," CropLife Canada president Lorne Hepworth said. "Plant sciences do a great deal to increase yields, enhance food quality and increase farm profits. In developed nations like Canada that is often taken for granted, but in developing countries the contribution these technologies make to address the challenges of hunger, malnourishment and poverty are substantial."

World Food Day was proclaimed in 1979 by the Conference of Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to heighten public awareness about world food problems, which today means that one in six people around the world do not have enough food to eat. The theme of this year's World Food Day is Achieving Food Security in Times of Crisis.

In Canada , growers have embraced developments in plant science because genetically modified crops and modern pesticides enhance their ability to produce more food on the same amount of land while responsibly managing both soil and water resources.

"It is abhorrent that 30 years after World Food Day was first declared we continue to fight the battle against world hunger," Hepworth said. "The plant science industry, which invests literally millions of dollars a day into research and development, will continue to innovate in the hope that one day soon we will see a substantial reduction in world hunger numbers."

CropLife Canada is the trade association representing the manufacturers, developers and distributors of plant science innovations - pest control products and plant biotechnology - for use in agriculture, urban and public health settings.

For further information: Nadine Sisk, Director Media Relations, P: [phone] ext 3224, [email protected]