Food Day, recognized nationally on Oct. 24th, gives communities a chance to celebrate and promote healthy, affordable, safe, and sustainably produced foods. This annual event brings together Americans from all walks of life – parents, students, health professionals, legislators, farmers, chefs, and educators, united by a vision of:
- Promoting and improving access to safe, healthy food
- Reducing hunger
- Supporting sustainable farming practices
- Supporting fair working conditions for food and farm workers
- Improving new and existing food and nutrition policies to support healthful diets
Food Day aims to stimulate events and activities on and around October 24th to achieve these goals and draw national attention to the issues. So how can you get involved this year?
Use October 24th as a day to:
- Host a community celebration with healthy and local foods.
- Introduce cooking lessons in your school or plant a vegetable garden.
- Organize a service-learning day at a local food bank.
- Hold a food policy debate or lecture at your local college.
- Screen a food-related documentary like The Weight of the Nation, Fresh, or A Place at the Table followed by a discussion with a panel of experts.
- Encourage your city officials to adopt better local food policies.
- Find your local food policy council and get involved, or if your community doesn’t have one, start one.
- Ask your employer to use Food Day to announce a wellness policy or to participate in a community-supported agriculture program.
You can also visit FoodDay.org to see what is already happening in your community, or use the many resources the site provides to develop and promote your own event.
Here are a few examples of Food Day events from around the state of Ohio:
Crockpot Cooking Class and Food Desert Q&A Forum
Monday, October 21, 2013 at 2:00-5:00PM
YMCA Annex in Lima, OH
National Campus Sustainability Day/National Food Day
Lourdes University in Sylvania, OH
Healthy Cleveland Nutrition Guidelines Release Party
Thursday, October 24, 2013 at 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Cleveland City Hall in Cleveland, Ohio
LEAF Community Harvest Festival
Thursday, October 24, 2013 at 5:30 PM – 8:00 PM
Lakewood Public Library in Lakewood, OH
Centering Family Health
Thursday, October 24, 2013 at 5:30 PM – 6:00 PM
Eastgate Elementary School in Columbus, OH
Celebrate Food Day in Akron
Friday, October 25, 2013 at 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM
University of Akron School of Law in Akron, OH
Food, Fun, and Talk
Saturday, October 26, 2013 at 9:00 AM – 2:00 PM
Cornucopia Place in Cleveland, OH
So, how will you spend Food Day 2013? Let us know what you’ve got planned!
Written by:
Bridgette Kidd, MPH, RD
Healthy People Program Specialist, Family and Consumer Sciences
Ohio State University Extension
kidd.149@osu.edu
Reviewed by:
Linnette Goard
Field Specialist, Family and Consumer Sciences
Ohio State University Extension.
Source:
Food Day. Retrieved October 13, 2013 from www.foodday.org
