Summit identifies ways to feed the future

The role of nutrition in the 1,000 days between a woman's pregnancy and a child's second birthday is often overlooked when considering responses to hunger. The scientific evidence shows that proper nutrition during these 1,000 days influences a person into adulthood. Further, food access is an issue for young children throughout the world and in the United States--there is an abundance of food worldwide yet food is scarce for 1 billion people.

Those were some of the themes discussed at 1,000 Days to Change the Future: Making Malnutrition History on Monday, May 21, at the Chicago History Museum. The Greater Chicago Food Depository teamed up with the 1,000 Days partnership and other local, national and international organizations on the summit. Speakers included: Kate Maehr, executive director and CEO, Greater Chicago Food Depository; Sen. Dick Durbin; Ertharin Cousin, executive director, U.N. World Food Programme; Mayor Rahm Emanuel; Vicki Escarra, president and CEO, Feeding America; and Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, assistant secretary general for public diplomacy, NATO. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recorded a message to event attendees (above).

The 1,000 Days partnership, founded by the U.S. State Department in 2010, promotes targeted action and investment to improve nutrition for mothers in the 1,000 days between a woman's pregnancy and a child's second birthday.

ABC 7 featured the Food Depository's efforts to address the needs of young children in a piece that aired yesterday.