National Food Day - October 24th

What is Food Day?

Food should be tasty, healthy, affordable, and produced with care for the environment, animals, and the women and men who grow, harvest, and serve it. Created two years ago by the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest and driven by a diverse coalition of food movement leaders and citizens, Food Day aims to bring us closer to that ideal. Food Day is a nationwide celebration of healthy, affordable, and sustainably produced food and a grassroots campaign for better food policies. It builds all year long and culminates on October 24. Last year, people organized more than 3,200 events in all 50 states, and a number of companies used Food Day to create change in the work site.

With an average working adult spending nearly 10 hours working and commuting a day, eating real and staying healthy at work can be a challenge. With about two‐thirds of American adults pre‐obese or obese, and about 86 percent of full-time workers above normal weight and with at least one chronic condition, annual medical costs for obesity and related diseases, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes amount to around $150 billion. Employees’ better health brings higher morale, greater productivity, and lower health care costs.

How can Food Day promote work site wellness?

Food Day is an occasion for employers to create work environments that foster health and wellness. For the last two years, LSG Sky Chefs, the world’s largest provider of in-flight services, has used Food Day to continue the internal health and wellness education campaign it launched on Food Day 2011. During the weeks leading up to October 24, the company held a nutrition education campaign for its 8,600 employees in the North America region, gave away seed packets, and created digital boards within each of 40 locations promoting local farmers markets. In celebration of Food Day 2011, Bolthouse Farms, one of the nation’s largest carrot growers, sponsored an employee wellness program and a farmers market.

Whether you’re an employee or employer, work site wellness programs can greatly facilitate better health. Use Food Day as an opportunity to promote a supportive work environment with healthier foods in cafeterias, vending machines, or during meetings and events. And why not devote some land to a vegetable garden, start a farmers market, or hold a healthy food celebration for employees? Visit http://www.foodday.org/resources to learn about how to bring Food Day--and better health--to work!