16 Oct 2009

World Food Day a 'CoOL' day here

6:32 am on 16 October 2009

World Food Day on Friday marks the start of a week-long campaign led by Horticulture New Zealand to highlight the need for country-of-origin labelling on food.

Run by the United Nations, World Food Day aims to heighten public awareness about hunger, malnutrition and poverty.

Hort NZ says New Zealand's labelling laws are out of sync with most other countries, which require retailers to display the country of origin for a range of products such as meat, fish, fruit and vegetables.

The focus for what the organisation is calling "CoOL Friday" will be a public forum bringing together representatives of growers, farmers and consumers for a discussion about country-of-origin labelling.