What’s Cooking at the UN?

Cookbooks, Programs and Polices of the United Nations

Selected materials from the Stanford University Library Collections

The United Nations officially came into existence on 24 October 1945, when the Charter had been ratified by China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the United States, and by a majority of other signatories. United Nations Day is celebrated on 24 October each year.

World Food Day was established by the Food and Agriculture Organizations (FAO) at the Organization's Twentieth General Conference in November 1979. The date chosen - 16 October - is the anniversary of FAO's founding in 1945.

Green Library has on exhibit, from October to December 2013, materials from its special and general collections highlighting each of the major food programs of the United Nations: the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Food Programme (WFP), and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD); as well as items from these programs' precursor, the International Institute of Agriculture, founded by David Lubin. The images on the wall are from the World Food Programme and FAO image databases.

Materials selected reflect research themes from the academic departments and research programs on campus: Human Rights, Global Food Security, World Relief Efforts, Sustainable Development and Cross-cultural Exchange with Food. Included are six United Nations cookbooks from the Dawn Nicolosi Powell Collection of Regional and Ethnic American Cookbooks.

Special thanks go to Elga Zalite, Karim Arsalane, and Ben Stone for their research and curatorial assistance with the exhibit.

Questions, comments about the exhibit, materials, or conducting research please get in touch with Kris Kasianovitz, krisk11@stanford.edu.

Lastly, mark your calendars for a UN Day Program! October 24, 2013, 1:15-2:30 pm, IC Classroom. Details forthcoming; there will be food.