Healthy food helps people to not only survive, but thrive. On an island with an abundance of trees and vegetation, no Tobagonian should go hungry.

That’s the idea behind yesterday’s (October 21, 2015) World Food Day celebrations at the Dwight Yorke Stadium Parade Grounds, where Tobago’s farmers displayed their produce in celebration of the theme “Social Protection and Agriculture: Breaking the Cycle of Rural Poverty.” The event highlights the importance of farmers’ contributions to food security in Tobago.

During the event, farmers also shared how they’re helping to reduce poverty. Alpha Sennon said he used animation and colourful hydroponics as a way to encourage children to see farming as a viable career, which could then create a more sustainable industry.

“We can’t just think about growing crops, when we don’t have people to plant the crops. So there must be somebody who’s going to grow young farmers,” Sennon said.

THA Chief Secretary Orville London said the event was important as it highlights the issue of ending hunger and food security.

“World Food Day is only a catalyst for achieving food security,” he said during the weekly Post Executive media briefing. “We are further along the road to food security than we were a year ago. The response [to the event] this year has been quite encouraging.”

London said the THA has attempted to diversify the amount of food the island produces by looking at sectors to develop and through doing the traditional things “a little better, a little more effectively to make sure they have a greater impact.”

Each year, thousands visit the booths at the two-day event, which is spearheaded by the Division of Agriculture Marine Affairs Marketing and the Environment.

World Food Day was observed internationally on October 16.