So, last Wednesday, I told you that tonight would kick off The Haskell Indigenous Food Festival, which is affiliated with National Food Day.

The actual date for National Food Day is Monday, but events will be going on around Lawrence and the surrounding area all week. Food Day is being celebrated not only at Haskell, but in one way or another at Baker University, The Raven Book Store, Lawrence Memorial Hospital and the Douglas County Courthouse (with the Douglas County Food Policy Council).

National Food Day was founded to:

– Reduce diet-related diseases 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 children.

– Support fair conditions for food and
farm workers.

Check out the full event listing here, and for more information, see this story on Sunflower Horizons.

Food Day Activities

Friday

7 p.m.

Haskell Auditorium, Haskell Indian Nations University

Kicking off Haskell’s Indigenous Food Festival will be a keynote address from Casey Camp-Horineck, a member of the Ponca Nation, longtime native-rights activist, environmentalist and actress.

Saturday

1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Stidham Union, Haskell

Haskell will host a series of workshop on indigenous foods. Sessions will focus on school garden curricula, tribal food projects, food sovereignty and seed-saving projects.

5:30 p.m.

Stidham Union, Haskell

An indigenous food cooking contest will be held. Categories include chili, stews or soups, side dish and dessert. All dishes should have ingredients commonly found in Native foods or are indigenous to the region. The cooking contest will be followed by the indigenous foods feast at 6 p.m.

Sunday

2 p.m.

Harter Union lobby, Baker University

Baker Servers, a community service organization, will host a Numana SWIPE Out Hunger food packaging event that aims to package 20,000 school meals for Haitian relief.

5 p.m.

Harter Union Dining Hall, Baker

An OXFAM Hunger Banquet will feature recent Baker graduate and food activist Blain Snipstal and Marta Chiappe, a sociology faculty member at Universidad de la Republica in Uruguay.

7:30 p.m.

Rice Auditorium, Baker

Cornelia Butler Flora, a professor of agriculture and sociology at Iowa State University, will give a talk on Climate Change, Food Security and Food Sovereignty. She’s the featured speaker at Baker University’s Food Day celebration

Monday, Oct. 24

11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Harter Union lobby, Baker

A Real Food Information Fair will feature local organic farmers, diet and disease specialists, food activists, Baker Farm Hands, Baldwin Food Pantry representative and dining services purchaser.

2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Multicultural Resource Center, Kansas University

The KU Center for Sustainability will host a talk on the role of higher education in fighting hunger. The discussion will look at what the campuses are doing and what they could be doing from both an academic and service perspective.

7 p.m.

Raven Book Store, 6 E. Seventh St., Lawrence

Alison Cain will read excerpts from Girls Got Guts, a booklet of interviews from small-scale, sustainable women farmers in the region. The event will also feature a panel of local community leaders, who will discuss the importance of local foods and how they can be incorporated into the community. And, there will be sampling of local foods.

9 p.m.

Owens Audio Visual Room, Baker

“Dirt! The Movie” will be shown. The documentary looks at the relationship between humans and dirt, a resource that helps sustain life.

Tuesday, Oct. 25

11 a.m.

Mabee 100, Baker

A workshop on sustainable growing practices will be presented by Steve Pierce and Matt Williams

Wednesday, Oct. 26

4 p.m.

Douglas County Courthouse, 1100 Mass., Lawrence

The Douglas County Food Policy Council will discuss their recommendations with the Douglas County Commission regarding a report that examines the regional food system.

Thursday, Oct. 27

5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Baker University dining room

A virtual farm tour will feature many local growers and producers.

Friday, Oct. 28

12 p.m.

Harter Union lobby

Speech Choir performance will focus on real food topics.

Saturday, Oct. 29

9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Lower level of Lawrence Memorial Hospital

Lawrence Memorial Hospital will host a kid-centric nutrition carnival that will include booths and speakers that promote healthy eating for children. Seed packets will be handed out to encourage children to become involved in food production.