Dear Partner – Today, please join us in celebrating the first-ever International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste (IDAFLW), designated by the 74^th United Nations General Assembly in 2019. Through IDAFLW, we recognize the fundamental role that sustainable food production plays in promoting food security and nutrition. In this COVID-19 world, with potentially 83 to 132 million more people likely facing chronic hunger – over and above the 690 million people who went hungry in 2019 – we desperately need to reduce food loss and waste and redirect food to those who need it. Please show your support for IDAFLW and the fight against hunger by sharing our #ServingHope posts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. We’re doing everything we can to raise awareness about IDAFLW and World Food Day, coming up on October 16, but we need your help to spread the word. Additionally, in honor of IDAFLW, we released Advancing the Sustainable Development Goals: Roadmap to 2030. This report highlights the significant pre-COVID environmental and social impact of food banks in the networks of GFN, the European Food Banks Federation (FEBA) and Feeding America.

• 66.5 million people were served by food banks in 70 countries in 2019
• 3.75 million metric tons of nutritious surplus food was saved from landfills and redirected to hungry people
• 12.39 billion kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent (C0₂eq) of greenhouse gases were prevented – the equivalent of nearly 2.7 million U.S. passenger vehicles driven in a year

Read the full release. We discussed highlights from Advancing the Sustainable Development Goals in a conversation we co-hosted with Champions 12.3 earlier today during Save Food, Fight Hunger. Together with our fantastic line-up of speakers, we talked about all points along the food supply chain where there are opportunities to simultaneously make progress toward Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12.3 (Halving Food Loss and Waste) and SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) at a key moment when food systems are facing historic challenges. We’ve got the Save Food, Fight Hunger recording here in case you missed it. Again, we hope you’ll share your commitment to #ServingHope with GFN on social media this week. Now, more than ever, we must provide healthy food for all – and care for our planet at the same time. And we need continued help from caring partners like you to drive awareness and make a meaningful impact. Thank you for your continued support of GFN. My best, Lisa Lisa Moon President & CEO The Global FoodBanking Network