FOOD DAY!

Today, October 24, 2011, is the first annual Food Day! You are probably asking yourself, what is Food Day? Food Day is a new concept which promotes "healthy, affordable food produced in a sustainable, humane way." At first, I was a little skeptical about supporting a day in the name of food. However, after doing some research I found that this day is about much more than food. It is intended to focus the American public on some of the most important issues facing our society, which, whether we realize it or not, have a lot to do with food consumption and production. Here are the 6 principles of Food Day to help you better understand what I am describing:

1. Reduce diet-related disease 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

These goals are not extreme, but rather, what I view as basic necessities for a more healthful society. I, myself, lost my grandmother to complications related to type 2 diabetes. And thus am and avid supporter of limiting junk-food, promoting exercise and healthy foods. On the other side of the coin, the hunger epidemic effects millions world-wide on a daily basis and is something we should fight to change.

One of my favorite shows on television is The Biggest Loser. This show not only promotes healthy eating, exercise and lifestyle changes, but also supports a program called "Pound for Pound Challenge." Pound for Pound encourages people to lose weight while also contributing to the hunger crisis which faces 1 in 6 Americans. For every pound of weight lost, the Pound for Pound Challenge will donate 11 cents to Feeding America, enough money to secure one pound of groceries on behalf of local food banks. This is an amazing program which is changing lives and creating a new balance.

Another way to support Food Day is through hosting your own Food Day event or party. Whole Foods, one of my favorite places to shop, created a great blog post about Food Day and how you can host and event to show your support. In partnership with Epicurious, they provide a comprehensive list of recipes, principles and tips on hosting your own event.

I encourage you to visit the Food Day website at: www.foodday.org to learn more about this new concept and how you can get involved and make changes. The website also provides a petition you can sign to encourage your Members of Congress to support the Eat Real agenda which Food Day promotes. The message of this letter really resonated with me and the goals I would like America to support and I hope you will choose to support this message as well.