Food Day 2014: Awareness, Action, Gratitude
Initiated in 2011, Food Day — October 24 – is an annual occasion to support a healthier diet for both ourselves and the planet. As a network of sustainable food advocates, including Catholic Rural Life, Food Day is actually is a year-long catalyst for healthier diets and a better food system.
This year’s Food Day has a special focus on issues related to food justice. This extends to many facets of our national food system: food that is healthy, affordable, and produced with care for the environment, farm animals, and the people who grow, harvest, and serve it.
Food Day is also an opportunity to help our children know where their food comes from and how to cook simple meals.
At the Food Day website, you’ll also see several resources to download. As you scroll down the Food Day resources page, you’ll see the NEW Guide for Faith Organizers 2014. This is a 14-page color publication (downloadable pdf file) that covers many faith traditions. National Catholic Rural Life is mentioned with specific reference to our Food Security & Economic Justice study guide.
Make your voice heard on Food Day 2014
Want to do something now? Click on this link to add your name to this letter to the Food & Drug Administration to show your support for safe and sustainable food through the proper implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) that will:
— encourage – not prohibit – the use of sustainable farming practices;
— increase – not stifle – innovative local food and farm efforts; and
— ensure transparency, consistency, and – most importantly – fairness for family farmers.
FYI: Food Policy Action Scorecard
The National Food Policy Scorecard is a go-to source for information about important food legislation and how all members of Congress voted on those issues. The Scorecard reflects the consensus of top food policy experts who select the key food policy votes each year.
Catholic Rural Life agrees that these are indeed important food policy issues: domestic and international hunger, food safety, food access, farm subsidies, animal welfare, food and farm labor, nutrition, food additives, food transparency, local and regional food production, organic farming and the effects of food production on the environment.
The National Food Policy Scorecard lets you identify which legislators are working for sensible food policies. Click on a state to see how legislators voted to keep food safe, healthy and affordable. (Perhaps add that this is not meant to for or against anyone in the upcoming elections, but to hold whoever you vote for accountable…)
A Final Thought: Grace for Simple Meals
Simple meals reveal the providence of God and the harmony of creation. This is the important message that our CRL Board president, Bishop Paul Etienne, writes in our summer magazine issue. He also made this available at his blog post at the Diocese of Cheyenne website. He writes:
“The next time you sit down for a meal, take just a moment to be still; pray and give thanks to the God of all creation. Then, ask for the grace to simply be present to the moment, asking the Lord to help you come to a deeper consciousness of what is before you, even of the incredible gift of your person. It is also a good idea to recall the many people who are going without this basic sustenance this day, and to allow the hunger you experience before eating to be a moment of solidarity with all who will go without a meal this day.”
Click here to read his full blog posting.
