by Leah Cohen, Gainesville Food Day Co-Coordinator
The nation will celebrate Food Day on Oct. 24. Gainesville communities and organizations are planning so many activities that they couldn’t all fit in one day. Events will kick off Oct. 15 with a fair food panel discussion and film at the Civic Media Center, sponsored by the CMC, Florida Organic Growers, the Citizen’s Co-op and the Agricultural Justice Project. Students at Morning Meadow Preschool and Kindergarten and Heart Pine School will plant fall gardens the week leading up to Food Day. Check out www.gainesvillefoodday.org for information on other events.
Themes for Food Day 2011
- Reduce diet-related disease by promoting healthy food
- Support sustainable farms & limit subsidies to big agribusiness
- Expand access to food and end hunger
- Protect the environment and farm animals by reforming factory farms
- Promote health by curbing junk-food marketing aimed at kids
- Support fair conditions for food and farm workers
“Food Day seeks to bring together Americans from all walks of life—parents, teachers, and students; health professionals, community organizers, and local officials; chefs, school lunch providers, and eaters of all stripes—to push for healthy, affordable food produced in a sustainable, humane way…Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) are the Honorary Co-Chairs for Food Day 2011, and the day is sponsored by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the nonprofit watchdog group that has led successful fights for food labeling, better nutrition, and safer food since 1971.” (www.foodday.org) To me, the idea of Food Day is to encourage us to think about the implications of how we eat and how we produce and sell what we eat.