October 24 is Food Day–a day to resolve to make changes in our own diets and to take action to solve food-related problems in our communities at the local, state, and national level. This annual event involves some of the country’s most prominent food activists, united by a vision of food that is healthy, affordable, and produced with care for the environment, farm animals, and the people who grow, harvest, and serve it. With Food Day, we can celebrate our food system when it works and fix it when it’s broken.
AmpleHarvest.org is a national partner of Food Day 2014 because we believe that when we work together we can reduce hunger in our communities by increasing access to fresh and healthy foods for all. We believe that no food should be wasted. No food should be left behind in a home or community garden. We work hard to make it simple for food growers of all stripes to donate their extra vegetables, fruits, herbs and nuts to their local food pantries where it can be distributed to our most vulnerable communities.
Join us in celebrating this world day of action and reflection by getting involved with our campaign to move food from garden to pantry! From the comfort of your home computer (or work computer on your coffee break!), you can make a huge difference in your community. Here are some simple ways to take action for Food Day:
1. If you’ve got even the tiniest of green thumbs, pledge to plant some extra veggies in your garden to donate to your local food pantry.
2. If your thumbs aren’t green at all, that’s ok! Tap into your creative side and create a whole fruit or vegetable centerpiece for your holiday table. When you’re done enjoying it, donate the whole thing to your local food pantry and it will bless TWO tables! Read more about our Centerpieces for Pantries campaign at AmpleHarvest.org/holiday
3. Help us spread the word about AmpleHarvest.org the 42 million Americans who are growing food gardens! Like our facebook page, and invite your friends to like it too. Join us on Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest. Write a blog article about AmpleHarvest.org–there’s a sample blog post and graphics on this page.
4. Help a food pantry get registered on AmpleHarvest.org so that growers can find them when they have extra food to donate. When you’ve located a food pantry in your community, check to see if they are already registered by searching at AmpleHarvest.org/find-pantry. If they are not there, give them a call or send them an email letting them know that registering on AmpleHarvest.org is FREE and it will help them get fresh food donations for their clients!
