UAF hosts Food Day celebration Oct. 24
October 18, 2011
907-474-5042
10/19/11
The University of Alaska Fairbanks will host a celebration of a new national event, Food Day, Oct. 24 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the UAF 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 UAF 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 the 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. He will speak 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 the UAF Cooperative Extension Service will describe the history and health benefits of using fermentation methods for preserving food and teach the basics of how to do it.
ADDITIONAL CONTACTS: Martha Westphal, mmwestphal@alaska.edu or 907-474-7188.
NT/10-18-11/089-12