10 Ways to Celebrate Food Day

Food Day, held each year on October 24, is dedicated to raising awareness about the impact our diets have on our health, the environment, and the people who produce our food. Want to join in the fun?

Here are ten ideas for making the most of this national celebration of healthy, affordable, and sustainable food.

1. Make a real meal. It doesn’t actually take that much longer to put a “real” meal on the table, rather than some concoction that’s frozen, over-processed, and not even particularly tasty. Need recipes for quick and easy suppers? Here you go.

2. Host a potluck supper. Like the idea of real food but hate to cook? Invite friends and family over for a potluck. Someone else can bring the appetizers, main dish, side dish and dessert. You supply the atmosphere, the location, and the drinks. Easy peasy!

3. Eat at a restaurant that offers local, organic food. More and more restaurants and fast food chains are choosing quality as well as convenience, by sourcing their ingredients from local farmers who have committed to growing their food sustainably. Here’s a list of some of the best.

4. Shop at a farmer’s market. Is there any better place to find locally grown, organic food? Plus, when you shop at a farmers market you’re putting money back into your local economy and helping to protect land from urban sprawl.

5. Join a CSA. Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) enables you to buy a share in the food a farmer produces. You’ll enjoy an abundance of fruits and vegetables you love, but probably be introduced to some delicious new varieties, as well. Kohlrabi, anyone?

6. Go meatless for a day, a week, or…? Some people don’t like the idea of “becoming” vegetarian, but what about going meatless one day a week? Here are some delicious vegetarian recipes that will give meatless new meaning.

7. Convene a community forum. You can make big changes happen by involving friends, neighbors, elected officials and policy makers in the conversation. You’ll find ideas here to help you get a community forum off the ground.

8. Watch a movie. Check out the Food Day organization’s Film Screening Guide. You’ll find reviews of compelling films about food and agriculture, plus suggestions on how to organize a film screening for friends, neighbors, elected officials and policy makers.

9. Eat everything in your refrigerator. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, consumers waste almost 30% of the food they buy. How? It gets “lost” in a cupboard. No one remembers to eat the leftovers and they rot. We simply buy too much. On Food Day, take stock of the food you already have. Eat what’s there before you buy more. If you’re putting food in the freezer, label it and date it so you know what it is and when you put it away.

10. Tell 5 friends about Food Day. The success of Food Day lies in people participating in it. Tell your friends and neighbors about it, and mention it on your social networks. Post pictures of the meals you make on Pinterest and Instagram, and share recipes on Facebook and Twitter. Make Food Day so much fun this year that you can’t wait until October 24 rolls around again next year.

[via Care2]

7 Ways to Stop Eating Pesticides

Pesticides On Foods Aren't Going Away Anytime Soon, But Here's What You Can Do About It 

Last month, the Hawaiian island of Kauai passed a bill strictly limiting how and where large farms and biotech companies can spray pesticides. Bill 2491 will force agricultural companies to disclose when and where they spray pesticides, restrict spraying to a certain distance away from public areas, and disclose what genetically engineered crops they grow.

Perhaps Bill 2491 will be the beginning of a movement across the United States to further limit pesticide use, which, according to a report published in Environmental Sciences Europe last year, increased by 404 million pounds from 1996 to 2011.

Until then, the sad truth is pesticides are everywhere: the air, the water, and your food, and they’ve been linked to birth defects, poisoning deaths and a wide range of illnesses.

So here are some reminders on how to mitigate the pesticides covering your fruit and vegetables, and which produce are the most (and least!) pesticide-residue prone.

1. Wash Your Food, All of It, and Wash It Right

Thoroughly wash all your produce. No, rubbing the apple on your shirt before biting in is not enough. According to the National Pesticide Information Center, even organic foods and foods that you peel should first be washed. The NPIC recommends that you wash your produce under running water rather than dunking or soaking it. Scrub produce with tough skin, like melons or potatoes. In addition, dry your fruits and vegetables with a towel.

2. Stick With The Insides

Whenever possible, peel your fruits and vegetables. Residue can get stuck in the crevices of peels and be difficult to remove. Toss the outside layer of leafy vegetables. Even with meat, it is best to cut off the excess fat and skin, which could have absorbed pesticide residue.

3. Mix It Up

The NPIC suggests eating a variety of fruits and vegetables so as to prevent overexposure to a single pesticide. You should be doing this anyway to make sure you’re getting all your needed nutrients, remember?

4. Grow Your Own

The best way to control what’s on your vegetables is to grow your own. This may sound daunting, especially with colder temperatures on the way. But there are several vegetables that can be grown indoors, such as tomatoes, mushrooms, peppers and eggplants. Got a windowsill? Cool, now you’ve got a vegetable garden.

5. Eat Organic -- It’s Easier Than You Think

People often bristle at being told to eat organic. Organic produce can be expensive, difficult to find, and who has the time to chase down which farmer’s market is open on which day. If this sounds like you, consider a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) club. CSAs ensure you know from whom exactly you are buying your produce. Often CSAs end up being more economical because they give you a limited amount each time, which prevents overbuying and letting food go to waste. Many organic CSAs exist, and many of them deliver your goods to your door. To find one in your area, try Local Harvest’s CSA finder. And remember -- even organic produce can have pesticide residue on it from nearby farms or contaminated transportation methods, so still wash everything thoroughly!

6. Be Wary When Buying These

Each year, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) releases its “Dirty Dozen” list of the 12 foods found to be most contaminated with pesticide residues. The organization ranks 48 fruits and vegetables based on thousands of samples tested by the USDA and FDA. These tests are done after produce is washed and peeled, giving the consumer an idea of which produce maintain higher levels of toxicity even after proper precautions. Topping the Dirty Dozen list are apples (99% of apples test positive for some pesticide residue), celery, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, grapes (a single grape tested positive for 15 pesticide residues), hot peppers, imported nectarines (every single nectarine sampled in the test came up positive for pesticide residue), peaches, potatoes, spinach, strawberries and sweet bell peppers.

7. And Buy More Of These

The EWG concurrently releases a “Clean Fifteen” list of the fruits and vegetables with the least pesticide residue. Their favorite low-pesticide fruits and vegetables include asparagus, avocados, cabbage, cantaloupe, sweet corn, eggplant, grapefruit, kiwi, mangos and mushrooms. Remember -- that doesn’t mean these items had no pesticide residue, just less.