World Food Day
Mark World Food Day in Your Own Community
World Food Day on October 16th is a great opportunity to reconnect with our food – and with farmers, gardeners, chefs, and others. We urge you to participate in your own way but better still, plan an event yourself… We can help! Just click the links below for some helpful tips and resources.
This year, our theme for World Food Day is From Field to Fork: Building a Better Food System. We hope you’ll use the same theme to create an event on or near October 16th to connect ‘field’ with ‘fork’ and encourage your community to work together toward a more just and vibrant food system for everyone.
Remember, to organize a successful event, you’ll need to start early. Larger events can take 5-6 weeks to plan; smaller ones involving family and friends won’t need quite as much time. Please contact us if you have any questions.
A Few Ideas to Get you Started
- Host a Potluck and Movie Night: Everyone loves dinner and a movie. Why not throw in a message too? It’s a fun, inexpensive way to spend time with friends and family while learning about important issues. Let us help you choose the perfect film for the discussion you want to have.
Organize a Workshop on Preserving or Seed Saving: people are increasingly interested in growing their own food, but many new gardeners still lack the skills needed to preserve their bounty or to save seeds for next year. You can help by sharing your own skills or finding a local expert to give a workshop.- Hold a Local-Food Challenge: You probably have friends who have walked to defeat breast cancer, or run for biodiversity. Now you can eat your way towards a stronger local food system .
- Volunteer or Donate Food from your Garden to the Food Bank: Food banks need help year-round. Harvest time, Thanksgiving, and World Food Day are important moments to examine the issues and connections between poverty and plenty, while addressing the needs of the hungry in your community. It’s also a great opportunity to connect with your local farmers, and ask them to donate part of their harvests to food banks.
After World Food Day
Don’t stop there! You can keep up the good work of helping ensure access to good quality food in your community throughout the year.
- Support Local Food: Put your money where your mouth is. Whenever possible, buy locally grown food in your area, and support your local economy. Farmer’s markets are a good place to start, or join a Community Supported Agriculture Program.
- Grow Your Own Food: Start a plan for your own garden next season, either in your backyard, in a community garden plot, or on your window sill or balcony. Here’s a good start-up guide for gardeners.
- Donate Garden Fresh Food to your Food Bank: The Plant a Row, Grow a Row program provides fresh food from local farms and gardens grown by donation to Ontario Food Banks.
- Stop the Waste: Visit local grocery stores, restaurants, and bakeries to find out how they are disposing of their leftovers. If they can be accepted at the food bank, design an ongoing action to make that happen.