Monday, October 24th is Food Day!

A day that seeks to bring together Americans from all walks of life to push for healthy, affordable food produced in a sustainable, humane way.

Parents, teachers, and students; health professionals, community organizers, and local officials; chefs, school lunch providers, and eaters of all stripes are looking to accomplish a straightforward goal: nothing less than transforming the American diet. 

 

Fruits and vegetables grown at Bluebird Hill Farm.

The day is sponsored by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a nonprofit watchdog group that has led successful fights for food labeling, better nutrition, and safer food since 1971.

What is meant by real food?

By real food, organizers for the day mean a meal built around vegetables, fruits, and whole grains that are both delicious and satisfying.

Far too many Americans are eating diets composed of salty, overly processed packaged foods clad in cardboard and plastic; high-calorie sugary drinks that pack on pounds and rot teeth, but have no nutritional benefit. Add fast-food meals made of white bread, fatty grain-fed factory-farmed meat, French fries, and more soda still into the mix, and you have a diet that is contributing to several hundred thousand premature deaths from heart attack, stroke, diabetes, and cancer each year.

Six Principles of Food Day:

1. Reduce diet-related diseases by promoting safe, healthy foods
2. Support sustainable farms & limit subsidies to big agribusiness
3. Expand access to food and alleviate hunger
4. Protect the environment & animals by reforming factory farms
5. Promote health by curbing junk-food marketing to kids
6. Support fair conditions for food and farm workers

To read more about Food Day, visit www.foodday.org and be sure to check out the Food Day events map!

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This post was adapted with language and permission from FoodDay.org.