Food Day in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

is celebrated annually on October 24 and often throughout the month. The celebration was started in 1975 by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) in an attempt to create an event similar to

Earth Day Earth Day is an annual event on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First held on April 22, 1970, it now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally through earthday.org (formerly Earth Day Network) includin ...

. Food Day in the U.S. was created to raise awareness about the increasing industrialization of American agriculture, rising

food prices Food prices refer to the average price level for food across countries, regions and on a global scale. Food prices affect producers and consumers of food. Price levels depend on the food production process, including food marketing and food di ...

, hunger, and the American diet and health crisis. Food Day in the U.S. only lasted until 1977, until 2011, when CSPI revived the National Food Day campaign. The Food Day initiative is now run by FoodDay.org within CSPI. Food Day is still focused on raising awareness and changing behaviors related to food in the U.S. Issues of concern include: nutrition education,

food rescue Food rescue, also called food recovery, food salvage or surplus food redistribution, is the practice of gleaning edible food that would otherwise go to waste from places such as farms, produce markets, grocery stores, restaurants, or dining facil ...

sustainable agriculture Sustainable agriculture is agriculture, farming in sustainability, sustainable ways meeting society's present food and textile needs, without compromising the ability for current or future generations to meet their needs. It can be based on an ...

hunger In politics, humanitarian aid, and the social sciences, hunger is defined as a condition in which a person does not have the physical or financial capability to eat sufficient food to meet basic nutritional needs for a sustained period. In t ...

, farm animal welfare, and farm and food service worker rights. Food Day in the U.S. is typically celebrated by nationwide and local events to educate people about the

food system The term food system describes the interconnected systems and processes that influence nutrition, food, health, community development, and agriculture. A food system includes all processes and infrastructure involved in feeding a population: growi ...

and/or to gain support for policies that event hosts deem to be improvements for the current food system, such as improved nutrition labels, funding for

SNAP Snap or SNAP may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Snap'' (film), the initial release title for the 2013 film ''Enter the Dangerous Mind'' * '' The Stanly News and Press'', a newspaper in Albemarle, North Carolina, US * "Snap" (''Duty Free'') ...

, and decreased use of

antibiotics An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting pathogenic bacteria, bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the therapy ...

in food-producing animals typically in factory farms. 2,300 events took place across the country during Food Day in 2011, 3,200 in 2012, and over 4,700 events in 2013. Events have been hosted by a variety of different groups including local governments, food co-ops, schools, college campuses, non-profits, businesses, government agencies, food banks, farms and farmers, and restaurants. Food Day or Food Day Canada is a culinary celebration that originated in Canada as "The World's Longest BBQ" in reaction to the BSE crisis of 2003. This economic crisis for farmers was a trade embargo by the US on Canadian beef, based on a single case of BSE (or

mad cow disease Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease, is an incurable and always fatal neurodegenerative disease of cattle. Symptoms include abnormal behavior, trouble walking, and weight loss. Later in the course of th ...

) in

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, Canada. Since that year, Food Day has evolved into a celebration by chefs from across Canada. Food Day happens every day in Canada on the Saturday of the August long weekend (also known as the

Civic Holiday Civic Holiday () is a public holiday in Canada celebrated on the first Monday in August. Though the first Monday of August is celebrated in most of Canada as a public holiday, it is only officially known as "Civic Holiday" in Nunavut and the ...

Weekend). Food Day was founded by Canadian culinary pioneer,

Anita Stewart Anita Stewart (born Anna Marie Stewart; February 7, 1895 – May 4, 1961) was an American actress and film producer of the early silent film era. Early years Anita Stewart was born in Brooklyn, New York, as Anna Marie Stewart on February 7, ...

References

{{reflist Types of secular holidays August observances October observances Observances about food and drink

See also

References