Gourmet Live Blog

Thanks to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, there’s a bold new way for the many voices advocating healthy and sustainable food to join forces and be heard loud and clear: Food Day, next Monday, October 24. Well over 120 national and local organizations—including American Farmland Trust, FoodCorps, and Slow Food USA—have partnered with CSPI to dedicate that day to activism, events, and fund-raising. Food Day champions six core principles, no doubt familiar to readers of Barry Estabrook and Kristin Kimball on Gourmet Live:

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

The genius of Food Day, the first of a planned annual observance, is in bringing together so many groups with complementary missions, harnessing America’s grass-roots resources, and sending a unified message to Congress. Search Food Day’s site for an event near you, or host one and raise funds for your favorite food-related charity (check out our sister site Epicurious.com for a complete Food Day package, including party how-tos, pointers to food charities, and a Facebook contest with coupons courtesy of Whole Foods).

Eat real, and help do away with food deserts in urban communities and unsustainable farming in rural America. What will you be doing on Food Day?