Food Day Activities: Organize Lunch

Food Day is generating a lot of talk out there. Just search the event lists on the Food Day website and you can see there's plenty of ways to become involved. The official day is Monday October 24th, but no one will chastise you for doing this on any day.Here at Slow Food DC, we encourage you to take a more personal route. Instead of doing something out of the ordinary, we want you to do something very ordinary: eat lunch. If you're like me, you have to be at work on Monday the 24th. But who better than the people you work with to share the idea of good, clean fair food? The best part is, you can demonstrate by bringing something to share.So we hope you will hit the farmer's markets over the weekend, see what's local, in season, and really tasty, and make something to share with those you'll see on Monday. The Food Day organizers even pulled together recipes from top culinary talent in case you’re looking for inspiration (Mark Bittman’s Couscous Salad with Dried Cranberries & Pecans looks like a keeper).Food Day PicnicOf course, if you find yourself still wanting to get out on Monday and do something, I wholeheartedly encourage you to check out this Food Day Group Picnic. Our friend and bikeable feaster Ibti is organizing this event. Take a break from work and get outside for a while on Food Day, Monday October 24th. Bring your own picnic lunch and blanket and join Ibti and Ollie downtown for a celebration of good food and people in our nation's capital. Details: Monday, October 24 · 11:30am - 1:00pm, near the Farragut West Metro. Check the event's Facebook page for the latest details.According to Ibti, those who bring a dish with at least one local/seasonal ingredient get a big hug (and the first 75 or so will get... a surprise Food Day memento).Worth checking out!Update: More from Ibti from the DC Food For All blog.Take a break from your Monday sometime between 11:30am and 1:00pm to join me and other food-loving friends for a group picnic in honor of Food Day! Think flash mob, but made up of a bunch of friendly folk with checkered blankets and massaged kale salad. Or whatever you’d like to bring for your picnic. If you want to chat about some of the issues that CSPI is hoping to highlight at events around the country, great, but that’s not required.It’ll be downtown, at a park near Farragut Square (indoor rain location near Chinatown metro). BYO picnic and blanket. Exact location will be posted Monday morning. Ooooh, the anticipation….No need to RSVP, just come by. And bring some friends/colleagues. More details can be found here (or if you’re not addicted to facebook, also posted here).Be ready for fun, an apple or two (a few crates have been donated by local farmers for picnickers to enjoy and hand out to passers-by), and a freebie or two from CSPI. (Now to figure out how to schlep a picnic and more than a bushel of apples there on my bicycle….)—-Food Day’s Goals1: Reduce diet-related disease by promoting safe, healthy foods2: Support sustainable farms & limit subsidies to big agribusiness3: Expand access to food and alleviate hunger4: Protect the environment & animals by reforming factory farms5: Promote health by curbing junk-food marketing to kids6: Support fair conditions for food and farm workers