UAF hosts Food Day celebration Oct. 24

October 21, 2011

Marmian Grimes

UAF will host a celebration of Food Day, a new national event, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. Monday, Oct. 24 at the Wood Center.

The goals of Food Day are to 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; and support fair conditions for food and farm workers.

In Fairbanks, Borough Mayor Luke Hopkins has recognized Food Day with an official proclamation. The UAF Food Day event is sponsored by the School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences, Cooperative Extension Service and the UAF Anthropology Society.

The event is free and open to the public. It will include exhibits from local agriculture and food-related businesses, community organizations and university departments from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The agenda includes an “Iron Chef” cookoff at 11 a.m. and a Food Jeopardy game at noon. A Taste of Alaska booth featuring all Alaska-grown food will open at 11:30 and remain open until the food runs out.

At 1 p.m. the film Fresh will be shown upstairs in Wood Center Room E/F. Seeds of Deception will show at 3 p.m.

Lectures will begin in the ballroom at 1 p.m. with UAF energy and housing specialist Rich Seifert speaking about identifying the components necessary for healthy sustainable living, such as food security, health and housing.

At 2 p.m., Rose Meier and Amy Breen will present “Ethnobotany: Traditional Uses and Knowledge of Native Plants.” Breen is a postdoctoral fellow in the UA Geography Program and Meier is the head of the Ethnobotany Certificate Program through the Kuskokwim Campus.

At 3 p.m. Marsha Munsell of Extension will describe the history and health benefits of using fermentation methods for preserving food and teach the basics of how to do it.

Food Day was organized by the Center for Science in the Public Interest. National organizations, such as the American Dietetic Association, American Public Health Association, Community Food Security Coalition, Earth Day Network, Farmers Market Coalition, Humane Society of the United States, National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, Prevention Institute and Slow Food USA, along with many city- and state-level organizations, are planning on organizing or participating in Food Day events.

For more information contact Martha Westphal at mmwestphal@alaska.edu or 474-7188.