It’s scary to think that as diabetes and obesity among American children continue to increase – for the first time ever, this generation of children could be outlived by their parents. Fortunately, it might not be too late to change this reality as today marks the first ever Annual Food Day. Founded by Ph.D. Michael F. Jacobson, the executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), Food Day is one of the ways this non-profit watchdog and advocacy group is trying to change how people consume food and how they understand nutrition. Events for Food Day will be held all around the US and include lectures, films, discussions, vegetable tastings and meetings with farmers (just to name a few). Food day also provides teachers, doctors, parents, chefs, community representatives and the public the opportunity to come together to take charge and make a difference. It might just be up to us to change the way we produce and consume food to better sustain the health for our bodies, planet and economy, and it looks like Food Day is a great place to start.
Food Day focuses on six strategic goals they are calling the Eat Real agenda. With this agenda they aim to do the following: promote healthy food to reduce diet-related disease, shift current market trends to reduce the amount of junk-food consumed by children and end hunger by increasing the accessibility of food for people in need. The Eat Real agenda also urges support for sustainable farms so that they can thrive in an industry led by large agricultural corporations, and calls for the protection of the environment and farm animals by reforming factory farms. The sixth goal demands fair working conditions for food and farm workers. Additionally, Food Day insists on change to government policies affecting our food systems, particularly revision of the Farm Bill to increase support for locally-grown produce and sustainable processes.
Events will be held all around the US. In the New York City area alone, over 60 Food Day events will take place. Check out Food Day’s event page to find events in your area. If you are unable to attend an event, you can still participate by using Food Day’s online contact form to tell your congress members to support the Eat Real agenda. Support Food Day and take the opportunity to be part of the movement to provide solutions to food-related problems in America.
While Food Day founders encourage the participation of governments and corporations, they do not accept funding from either.
