Celebrate Food Day 2015: Encourage Greener, More Sustainable Diets

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More than 300 organizations will serve meals today celebrating plant-strong diets packed with fruit, vegetables, whole grains and small amounts of lean, sustainably raised protein in celebration of Food Day, Oct. 24. Food Day’s Green Meal initiative is supported by The Humane Society of the United States, Health Care Without Harm and Meatless Monday. This year, Food Day’s goal is to raise awareness about the importance of eating less meat to support better health, animal welfare and the environment.

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The Green Meal initiative is only one of several thousand events taking place on or about Oct. 24.

Millions of people around the country will crunch into an apple in a unifying action to raise awareness about access and affordability of fresh fruit, and to support local farmers. Apple crunches will take place throughout New York City, throughout the Great Lakes region and in schools in all over America.

Organizers of Food Day hope that the occasion will spur people to improve their own diets and spur city councilors, governors and members of Congress to create better food policies.  Officials in Massachusetts, for instance, will use Food Day to unveil a draft Food Systems Plan for the state.

Keep Food Day going! Help us multiply the number of communities organizing around food policy, food access, food education, worker justice. #FundFoodDay Barnraiser bit.ly/FoodDayBR

Posted by Food Day on Thursday, October 22, 2015

In Savannah, Georgia, the fifth annual Food Day Festival is expecting between 10,000 and 15,000 participants at a free, outdoor festival featuring live music and more than 100 exhibitors and a farmers market.

On Oct. 22, Chicago will begin a week-long Food Day celebration and a harvest festival featuring good food, music and local chefs.

New Orleans nonprofit Sankofa will open the first ever Fresh Stop produce market in the Lower Ninth Ward on Oct. 24.  The market will operate several days a week and be the first and only place to purchase fresh fruit and vegetables in the Lower Ninth Ward.

Yale University will celebrate Food Day in the heart of campus, with master chefs, the director of the Yale Sustainable Food Program and Food Network star Candice Kumai.

Minneapolis, Minnesota will hold an entire week of events from Oct. 18 to 24.  Events will include a harvest BBQ and potluck, an event featuring the voices of immigrant farmers and chefs, and a public Food Day proclamation made by City Councilmember William Finney.

People can participate in Food Day by making a small change, like cutting out meat from their diet one day a week.

“Meatless Monday is a great way to green your diet because it’s simple—one day a week, cut out meat,” says Sid Lerner, chairman and founder of the Meatless Monday campaign.  “Make the commitment to go Meatless Monday this year on Food Day and keep it up all year long!  It’s good for your health and the health of the planet.”

While Food Day emphasizes hands-on events, the Internet will be hopping with Food Day activities, such as:

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“It’s an honor to partner with Food Day and to play a role in helping reach millions about the food issues that affect each one of us,” says Rockefeller.

Food Day was founded in 2011 by the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest and led by a diverse advisory board of physicians, nutritionists, educators, entertainers, chefs and public health officials.

“Food Day seeks to inspire Americans to make meaningful changes for the better in their own diets, but also to spotlight local efforts to re-shape food policies in a healthier, more sustainable direction,” said CSPI president and Food Day founder Michael F. Jacobson.

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