Woman runs from Italy to Brussels to raise food poverty awareness

Italian marathon runner Ivana Di Martina yesterday arrived in Brussels after running 900km in 13 days. The 45-year-old woman and mother of three children ran from Milan, Italy to Brussels, Belgium through Switzerland and France to raise awareness of food poverty among children. The initiative is supported by the European Federation of Food Banks and the Italian food company Barilla, writes Het Nieuwsblad.

After Di Martina's arrival in Brussels, a debate was held at the Solvay Library in the presence of several Belgian and Italian MEPs to discuss the issue of food poverty among children. Today, the runner meets with representatives of the Belgian and European institutions.

The runner chose Brussels as the destination because it is the capital of Europe, but also because one child in five lives below the poverty line in Belgium.