Reflection on food cafod.org.uk

1 in 8 people worldwide do not have enough food

Take this all of you and eat.

“Lack of food for the poor is the most un-Eucharistic situation on earth.” Cardinal Rodriguez Maradiaga, President of Caritas Internationalis

“You have tasted the blood of the Lord, yet you do not recognise your brother… You dishonour this table when you do not judge worthy of sharing your food someone judged worthy to take part in this meal” St John Chrysostom

“I believe that God created us and gave us life. When we have no food, I pray to God to help us and to make provisions for us.” Mohammed, Sierra Leone

1 in 8 is 870 million people worldwide: the combined population of the US, Canada, Europe and Australia

But there is more than enough food produced each year to feed everyone.

“Why is it not possible to prevent so many people suffering the most extreme consequences of hunger?” Benedict XVI, World Food Day 2007

“When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist.” Dom Helder Camara, Brazil ( )

“Liberation from the yoke of hunger is the first concrete expression of the right to life.” Benedict XVI, World Food Day 2011

“In order to achieve freedom from hunger it is necessary to ensure not only that enough food is available but also that everyone has daily access to it.” Benedict XVI, World Food Day 2010

Page title to go here There will be circumstances when it is sensible to not have the green band and tab on EVERY slide. So for example when presenting a reflection. In that case you could consider using a more “subtle” version of our identity and adopt this slide where the logo appears in the tab alone

“Love for others, and in the first place love for the poor, in whom the Church sees Christ himself, is made concrete in the promotion of justice … John Paul II, Centesimus Annus, 58

…It is not merely a matter of ‘giving from one’s surplus’, but of helping entire peoples which are presently excluded or marginalized to enter into the sphere of economic and human development… John Paul II, Centesimus Annus, 58

…it requires above all a change of lifestyles, of models of production and consumption, and of the established structures of power which today govern societies.” John Paul II, Centesimus Annus, 58

There will be circumstances when it is sensible to not have the green band and tab. “It’s difficult because the shopkeepers have control of the price. It’s like we’re being cheated. I feel exploited. It’s unfair. I’d like people to come here to buy my crop. It would be good to get people to come here.” Emily Mbithuka, Kenya

“In and of itself, the market is not and must not become, the place where the strong subdue the weak.” Benedict XVI, Caritas in Veritate, 36

There is enough. For everyone

“Go and feed them yourselves” Luke 9 (The feeding of the 5000)

“The food available in the world is enough to feed everyone. The parable of the multiplication of the loaves and fish teaches us exactly this: that if there is the will, what we have never ends. On the contrary, it abounds and does not get wasted.” Pope Francis, December 2013

“How can we not open our ears and our hearts and start to make available those five loaves and two fish which God has put in our hands?” John Paul II, Lenten Message 2006

“It is a question of adopting an inner attitude of responsibility, able to inspire a different lifestyle, with the necessary modest behaviour and consumption.” Benedict XVI, 2011

“It is necessary to rediscover those values engraved on the heart of every person: the sentiment of compassion and humanity for others, the duty of solidarity and the commitment to justice must return to being the base of all action.” Benedict XVI, World Food Day 2011

“A future without hunger can become a reality if the only things we are hungry for are sharing, solidarity and justice.” Cardinal Rodriguez Maradiaga

Generous God, your Spirit hovered over the waters, you breathed life into the earth and created a world of plenty.

Look on us here as we break bread together, and guide us to take only what we need so that all your people have enough.

Father of all, there are many among us who go hungry. Help us listen and respond as one family,

so that, as we break bread together, we may glimpse your Kingdom here on earth - a Kingdom of welcome and plenty for all. Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

cafod.org.uk Photos: Tim Aldred, Annie Bungeroth, Eleanor Church, Robert Cruickshank, Fora do Eixo, Simon Rawles, Sarah Smith-Pearse, Claudia Torres Prayer: Catherine Gorman/CAFOD