A day to celebrate the issues of food

If Earth Day looks at the environment, what would Food Day involve? Well, of course, food, in all its breadth and depth. That's the hope of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), which has spearheaded an effort to use Oct. 24 as a national day to consider not only what we eat, but also the policies behind those decisions and the people who grow and harvest.

"We try to create a national event that local groups can take advantage of," said Michael Jacobson, longtime director of CSPI, in a phone interview. "What happens at the local level is out of our control."

On the agenda -- which keeps growing -- are both big and small events. You can find out what's planned here or, for example, in Rhode Island on an interactive map on its website (foodday.org).

In the next four weeks, Jacobson hopes to inspire more activities, including events at schools, churches or in homes as people gather and celebrate with potlucks (presumably healthy). Should the diners want to talk food issues, so much the better.

"Organize events around issues that excite you, whether it's hunger, nutrition or farm subsidies," said Jacobson.

Among the activities on the agenda in Minnesota:

• The University of Minnesota will hold a daylong Food Expo in Coffman Memorial Union. with workshops and food-film screenings open to the public in the evening. The campus will offer a Cook at Home challenge for staff and students.

• Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota will encourage its participants to organize Food Day activities.

• Kids Against Hunger, a Minneapolis-based humanitarian food-aid group, will announce volunteer opportunities.

• The Emergency Foodshelf Network and the IDS Center will host a food drive and hunger education forum.

Around the country, schools are offering special Food Day menus, governors in several states are issuing proclamations about Food Day, a progressive dinner and bike tour are being held in Tucson, Ariz., and a regional festival in Savannah, Ga., expects 15,000 attendees.

On board is a wide-ranging group of organizations that have supported the concept, from the American Culinary Federation and American Dietetic Association to the Jewish Community Centers Association of North America, the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University to the Vegetarian Resource Group. Dole Foods will post stickers on 100 million bananas promoting the event. The Cooking Channel and epicurious.com, which will offer specific regional menus, are also partners.

Food Day originated 36 years ago, when started by CSPI in 1975; it ran through 1977, during a time when college campuses and churches were focused on hunger issues. But food as a subject didn't attract a substantive following in the mid-'70s. "Back then yogurt couldn't be found in a grocery store. Organic foods were the butt of jokes," said Jacobson. Even the U.S. dietary guidelines didn't come out until 1980.

"The guidelines gave credibility for impact of foods on health. It was the first time the government said that Americans were eating too much salt and sugar, and that we needed to eat more fruits and vegetables," he said.

"Now seemed like a good time to bring it back because there is so much more interest in nutrition, farmers markets, food deserts, agricultural subsidies.

"Things have changed tremendously, as reflected by the fact that many health departments across the country are taking advantage of Food Day, Minnesota among them."