5 Ways to Celebrate National Food Day

This post written by guest blogger – Lindsay Zwicker

Have you heard about National Food Day? It is a movement and celebration that aims to create awareness about healthy, affordable and sustainable food. As readers of the Full Circle Farms blog, many of you are probably aware that the standard American diet (SAD) can lead to all kinds of illness, including the big three: diabetes, heart disease and cancer. The American food system is not a sustainable model for our own health, as well as the health of the Earth, produce, animals, or workers. But we don’t have to continue down that path. We can change the way we live and eat, and turn things around!

The National Food Day celebrations take place across the country on October 24th each year, and there are many ways that you can participate! Below are some easy ideas on how, one for each of the five priorities of the movement. For more information on each priority, and to volunteer at or host a Food Day event in your area, please take a look at the Food Day website.

Promote safer, healthier diets

Get a group of friends together, with their kids if possible, and host a cooking party to spread the ripple of eating healthy! Assign each guest an unprocessed, whole ingredient to use in creating a new recipe. At the gathering, be sure to talk to your friends about the importance of sustainable, organic farming and why you’re doing holding the party. Remember – no sugary drinks allowed, and read ingredient labels. If your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize it as food, don’t buy it!

Support sustainable and organic farms

Check with www.localharvest.org for Farmers Markets in your areas or join a service like Full Circle to support your areas organic farms. Many are seasonal, but some (like Full Circle) provide delicious organic, seasonal produce year-round. You can also find out if there are farms in your area and go on a field trip. It’s fun for adults and children! I recently visited a local goat farm, and it was amazing to see the whole cycle – from baby goats, to adults, to the cheese making – all in one place. We even got to walk around the pasture and hang out with the goats. Check out the photo of me with one of the guard llamas!

Reduce hunger

Donate healthy foods to your local food bank, or get involved with your local community garden or urban farm.

Reform factory farms to protect the environment

Vote with your dollar! Purchase meat from organic producers, who do not practice confined feeding and have less of an environmental impact. If you can’t tell by looking at the packaging whether the animal was raised organically, ask your local neighborhood butcher.

Support fair working conditions for food and farm workers

Appreciate the hard work these people do! If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t have food on our plates or in the markets. Check out Food Day’s website for links on how you can get involved supporting worker’s rights.

About Lindsay Zwicker

Lindsay has a MA in Counseling Psychology and is a Certified Holistic Health Coach. She supports women to regain lost energy, conquer cravings, discover their best selves, and live life to the fullest! The product of a health nut mother and a foodie father, Lindsay considers herself a healthy foodie. She is a big fan of both cooking and eating delicious food, usually with produce that comes from her weekly farm delivery box. Lindsay’s Facebook page is full of tips on how to live a healthy life, and to find out more about Lindsay and her health coaching services, including the Kitchen Detox, please visit www.lindsayzwicker.com.

The views and opinions of guest authors do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Full Circle.