World Food day is celebrated each year on October 16th to promote worldwide awareness and action for those who suffer from hunger; a humanitarian crisis not only for food security, but for access to nutritious diets as well.  

In a world that produces enough food to feed everyone, nearly 800 million suffer from hunger.* Even more shocking is that billions of pounds of food are lost or wasted in the United States, while so many Americans go hungry every day. 1 in 8 Americans, in fact.**  North Carolina alone has 1.7 million*** people who are food insecure, with 80% of those receiving assistance not even knowing where their next meal will come from.****  When families have to make a choice between paying for food or paying for housing, it is clear there is an urgency for help.  

In celebration of World Food Day on October 16th, Joe Van Gogh will be participating in Neighbors Feeding Neighbors, a fundraising event that provides assistance to local hunger fighting agencies AND Church World Service through the Durham CROP Hunger Walk. The CROP Walk, is an annual walk-a-thon that takes places every spring and raises money for hunger relief in our communities.  

Join Joe Van Gogh and the Durham community to feed our neighbors by visiting either our Duke, West End, Woodcroft, or Broad St cafés on World Food Day. 10% of all proceeds will be to donated to the Durham CROP Hunger Walk to help our neighbors in need. Together we can help our community thrive, one neighbor at a time! 

Sources: 

1. * http://www.fao.org/world-food-day/2017/about/en/  
2. ** https://www.outnumberhunger.com/hunger-in-america 
3. ***The Food Effect, 2014, via https://www.tablenc.org/facts-and-statistics 
4. ****Feeding America, via https://www.outnumberhunger.com/hunger-in-america