The United Nations is marking this year's World Environment Day under the title: “Think, Eat, Save”. In Beirut, ESCWA is organizing a roundtable in cooperation the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Food Establishments Recycling Nutrients (FERN) International at 10 am on Wednesday, the 5th of June 2013 at the UN House, Riad Solh Square, Beirut.

The 5 June roundtable will be marked by the participation of the British Ambassador to Lebanon, Mr. Tom Fletcher. It will also include a statement by the Deputy Executive Secretary of ESCWA, Mr. Nadim Khoury, and statements by UNHCR and FERN.

In addition, an open air cooking event will be held on Saturday, the 1st of June 2013 from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm in the framework of Souk el Tayeb, an initiative which allows Lebanese farmers to present their produce directly to consumers in Beirut Souks. The activities include a live cooking show using fresh but cosmetically imperfect produce that is not commercially available because of very strict aesthetic requirements in most supermarkets and marketplaces. This activity will also help raise awareness on how to reduce food waste at home.

According to the United Nations, every year, 1.3 billion tonnes of food is wasted, equivalent to the amount produced in the whole of sub-Saharan Africa. At the same time, 1 in every 7 persons in the world goes to bed hungry and more than 20,000 children under the age of 5 die daily from hunger. While resources to sustain 7 billion people (and growing to 9 billion by 2050) are increasingly scarce, the United Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that a third of global food production is either wasted or lost. Food waste is an enormous drain on natural resources and a contributor to negative environmental impacts.

The ESCWA Communication and Information Unit (ECIU) kindly requests that media colleagues who would like to cover the 5 June roundtable confirm their attendance by calling either of the following numbers: 03- 910 930 or 76- 04 64 02.