Category: Food

Today is FOOD DAY – Find an event, host a dinner party, eat a banana…

Today is FOOD DAY – Find an event, host a dinner party, eat a banana…

Today – October 24th – is Food Day!!

Food Day seeks to bring together different groups to push for healthy, affordable food produced in a sustainable, humane way.

Today there are over 2,000 events happening today in the U.S.  including a “Eat In” in Times square, a festival in Savannah, GA, an Open House at the National Archives, and other events in homes, schools, churches, farmers markets, city halls, and other locations. Many groups have partnered to support this event including Slow Food USA, the labor group Unite Here, and the campus-based groups Real Food Challenge.

I first learned about the event from the sticker that was on my banana.   Companies Dole Food Company and Bolthouse Farms placed millions of Food Day stickers on bananas and bags of carrots.

Today at the Real Food “Eat In” in Times Square, 50 people involved with the food movement including chef Mario Batali, filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, Food Network host Ellie Krieger and food activists will eat at a communal table and will share a healthy and sustainable meal. During the Eat In, the Reuters/Nasdaq signs in Times Square will carry Food Day messages.

More than 30 governors and mayors have proclaimed October 24 as Food Day, including those in Colorado, Ohio, Oregon, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, and Washington, DC. Special Food Day menus will be served in all Detroit public schools. Schools across the nation are hosting Food Day events as part of the ongoing National Farm to School Month celebration. In Washington, the National Archives is hosting a Food Day Open House in conjunction with its “What’s Cooking, Uncle Sam?” exhibit.

In New York City, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg will hand out New York State-grown apples to commuters in Queens to observe Food Day, and will appear on ABC’s new daytime show, The Chew.  Epicurious.com teamed up with Whole Foods Market to encourage dinner parties aimed at raising money for local food charities.

Big question for me – is what will I eat today and where?

Read about Food Day, Find an event, or  download Dinner Party Information- http://foodday.org/ –

Support change of America’s Food System – sign a petition on foodday.org

Article about Food Day on the Center for Science in the Public Interest site

Cooking Channel video of Morgan Spurlock talking about Food Day

Food Day is Back after a 34-year Absence – Article in The Washington Post

“Upcyling,” The U.S. Farm Bill and the Ohio Fair Trade Expo

“Upcyling,” The U.S. Farm Bill and the Ohio Fair Trade Expo

Yesterday I went to the Ohio Fair Trade Expo at John Carroll University in University Heights, OH. The event was organized by the Ohio Fair Trade Network, a group who works to create positive change by educating consumers with a better understanding of the impact of purchasing choices and by educating businesses about the impact of trading practices.

The Expo had workshops, presentations, and a marketplace with fair trade businesses.

One workshop I attended was a presentation by Adam Olson of Oxfam America who presented on the politics of food and trade, and talked how current trade practices contribute to our challenged food system and how some reforms can help break cycles of poverty.

I learned about the U.S. Farm Bill, the primary agricultural and food policy tool of the federal government, and reviewed every 5 years. This bill can impact international trade, environmental preservation, food safety, and the well being of rural communities. One important element that is reviewed in this bill is which crops will receive subsidies.

Adam also talked about how when food becomes fuel – the prices go up. He also talked about how the subsidy of corn to support ethanol undermines the corn market and affects both the U.S. and international market. Surpluses of crops are sold on the international market at low prices, making it so that other countries cannot compete in the agriculture market.

I also attended an interesting presentation by Megy Karydes, owner of World Shoppe. She talked about the goals of fair trade, and how it is not about the product – but about the process and being a good steward of the environment. She showed examples of fair trade organizations that take this one step further and recycle or “upcycle” raw materials to create fair trade designs. “Upcyling” – taking something that would be thrown out or put into a landfill as waste – and using this material to make something new. Some examples included Revy, who sells necklaces out of fish scales, World Shoppe who sells cow bone earrings, and Greenola who makes necklaces out of recycled acai berries and ayayo cloth.

Megy’s presentation was helpful in that she ended with a list of what we could do- which included sharing this information with others, supporting Fair trade where we could, and participating in Fair Trade Day and Fair Trade month (which is right now – October.)

Links:
Ohio Fair Trade Network – http://ohiofairtrade.com/
Megy Karydes – World Shoppe http://www.world-shoppe.com/
Megy Kardes blog – shopfairtrade http://shopfairtrade.wordpress.com/
Oxfam America – http://www.oxfamamerica.org/

“The only thing you can’t buy used is food.” Film Screening: Urban Roots

“The only thing you can’t buy used is food.” Film Screening: Urban Roots

Tonight I went to see a screening of Urban Roots, a film which focused on urban farming in Detroit.

The film started by reviewing the history of Detroit and the current state of the city, and then focused on urban farmers who are farming in the middle of neighborhoods, in vacant lots, and in their yards.

There were some interesting things said in the interviews of the urban farmers and commmunity members including this quote, “The only thing you can’t buy used is food.”

“By forming urban farms, locals in Detroit have begun turning abandoned city lots into small-scale gardens that give sense of hope and community ….”

The event was Sponsored by Women Speak Out for Peace and Justice, Community Greenhouse Partners, Cityfresh & Clefnb and endorsed by the Save Our Communities forum in Cleveland.

From the Producer – Leila Conners’s statement of the film
“Well, enter urban farming, a way in which individuals can take control over something so critical as food that in the very act of growing it, they not only feed themselves, they also become healthier, more self-reliant and in some cases they become entrepreneurs. And most remarkable, they create a new approach to community, the economy and life overall.”
Links:
Community Greenhouse Partners

Urban Roots – the movie site

Image credit: Urban Roots Film