Celebrating Food Day

Today is the inaugural Food Day, an occasion to focus on the very stuff that sustains us -- and how to improve it and access to it for all. Events are happening all across the country to celebrate and promote awareness for six major objectives:

1. Reduce diet-related disease by promoting safe, healthy food.
2. Support sustainable farms & limit subsidies to big agribusiness.
3. Expand access to food and alleviate hunger.
4. Protect the environment & animals by reforming factory farms.
5. Promote health by curbing junk-food marketing to kids.
6. Support fair conditions for food and farm workers.

These are issues close to the heart of those of us who observe the DIY food/preservationist/homesteading or whatever-you-want-to-call-it lifestyle. To my mind, the best way to make an impact is to make changes to one's own life, and to lead by example. 

Personally, I try to source my produce and meats locally and from small farms, reducing demand for factory farms and government-supported commodities. I try to use only whole, pure foods, avoiding processed and packaged foods and therefore avoiding insidious inclusion of unhealthy ingredients. If I had kids, they would adhere to these rules as well. 

I say this not to be sanctimonious, only to highlight that these changes, made incrementally, are not difficult to make or maintain, and in fact enjoyable in many cases. Whether we're canning our year's supply of tomatoes or baking a loaf of bread, the act of making food becomes as meaningful as consuming it. You develop a connection to your food that is lost in the supermarket. 

How will you celebrate Food Day, today and every day?