World Food Day Event

To commemorate World Food Day, my dear friend Valli of More than Burnt Toast is holding a cyber event. This is what she says in her own words:

To highlight World Food Day in my own small way I am holding a World Food Day event with the help of my good blogging friend and adopted sister Ivy of Kopiaste. We are bringing the world a little closer together with us blogging on opposite sides of the world...Ivy in Athens, Greece and me from British Columbia, Canada. Ivy was kind enough to accept my invitation to raise awareness through this event. The blogging community spans the globe so I would like you to submit a recipe which represents your country that would feed at least 6 people. You can send something that is a family favourite or a regional favourite that uses local and perhaps seasonal ingredients.


We could then lay each dish back to back and have enough food to feed everyone on our street. If more people joined we could feed everyone in our city...our country...the world...you get the picture!!! A conga line of international dishes to feed the world!!!!

Now what I was supposed to do is to prepare a dish that represents my country. There are far, far too many dishes that represent Malaysia so I thought I would cheat a little and feature two dishes that I Didnt make but have posted about before that are truly Malaysian. Then I would ALSO feature a very Malaysian dish that I DID make (and also posted about before).

So here are my THREE featured Malaysian Dishes:

1. What I think is the National Food of Malaysia. Something that almost everyone eats at all times throughout the day. Its cheap and simple and would definitely be a dish that is cheap enough to feed hungry mouths. Perhaps the UN should consider this as a tasty dish to feed the less priviliged? I am talking about none other than Nasi Lemak




2. Next up is Malaysia's favourite and famous Barbecued Meat on skewers. This is another dish that is considered our National Dish so what better choice for World Food Day than

Satay


3. Finally, my homemade dish which is as Malaysian as you can get. Featured in Malay cuisine, Chinese cuisine and even sometimes in Indian cuisine - so how much more Malaysian can you get? The delicious and easy to make Kangkung Belacan. The recipe can be found at the link.



There are far too many poor people with little or no food in the world while those of us that have access to proper food sometimes over indulge and waste food. It is shocking to know that some people live on less than US1 a day! Sad but true.

For more shocking news, look at some of these stats listed at globalissues.org

• Almost half the world — over three billion people — live on less than US$2.50 a day
  


• At least 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 a day


• Less than one per cent of what the world spent every year on weapons was needed to put every child into school by the year 2000 and yet it didn’t happen


• There are about 2.2 billion children in the world of which 1 billion live in poverty - thats every second child
  

Pretty damned shocking if you ask me. So while we enjoy our food and indulge ourselves ever so often, think of the less fortunate and do what you can, no matter how small to help.

As the song by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure goes...

There's a world outside your window
And it's a world of dread and fear
Where the only water flowing is the bitter sting of tears

As a final note, to all my Muslim friends and readers, Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri (Eid Mubarak)


Note: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has celebrated World Food Day each year on October 16 since 1945. The theme for this years conference is "World Food Security: the Challenges of Climate Change and Bioenergy."