Food Day 2015
Food Day inspires Americans to change their diets and our food policies. Every October 24, thousands of events all around the country bring Americans together to celebrate and enjoy real food and to push for improved food policies.
October 24 is 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.
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In 2015, Food Day has the theme "Toward a Greener Diet."
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Green? Does that mean eating boring salads? No. Absolutely not, in fact. Green simply means food coming from the earth - all plants, which encompasses fruits, vegetables, nut, seeds and legumes. If this still sounds boring, try briefly looking at beautiful recipe sites like: this, this or even this one.
If you're really not so much a foodie and try to stay away from the kitchen at all accounts, have your food (either full meals or ingredients only) delivered from these guys, this one or maybe this one. If you are in the metro STL area, I can deliver to you personally!
Now you get it, the food can be beautiful and tasty. What's more you don't even need to prepare it if you chose not to! But why? Why adopt this way of eating - this plant-based way of eating.
If you are just getting in to this whether it be way of a health scare (as I did), or you simply want to lose a few pounds, a plant-based diet is perhaps the ideal way to not only fuel your body, but also reverse and prevent chronic illness that have become commonplace in today's world.
I have personally had the pleasure of meeting people who have reversed their type II diabetes and have much better control of their type I diabetes, reversed all the symptoms of multiple sclerosis and come off of 99% of their medications, eradicated melanoma, reversed heart disease, reversed severe rheumatoid arthritis, cleared up chronic skin issues, gotten off of their cpap machines, lost hundreds of pounds - this is just the beginning. Aside from clearing up health issues, I've watched endurance athletes adopt a plant-based diet whose performance increases greatly and have talked with parents whose kiddos have alleviated ADHD and have become happier little beings.
I understand that feel-good stories only go so far and that scientific studies will keep you on the path, it's what keeps me on the straight and narrow. Here are some references for you:
Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn on preventing and reversing heart disease
T. Colin Campbell on Controlling Cancer
Dr. Neal Barnard’s Program for Reversing Diabetes
Treating Multiple Sclerosis with the Swank MS Diet
Plant-based diets and Rheumatoid Arthritis
It seems like every day that I wake up to new published studies on the benefits of a plant-based diet waiting for me in my in-box. Researchers are testing around the clock to build a library of reputable studies that back the immediate effectiveness of adopting a 100% plant-based diet; there is a lot of work to be done. To put it into perspective, it took thousands and thousands of studies for the public to go from this:
to this:
7,000+ studies, actually:
(Source: Michael Greger, MD, "Preventing and Treating Our Most Dreadful Diseases with Diet")
And, remember they were just linking smoking to lung cancer. There are studies being conducted every day on how plants alleviate hundreds of different ailments, it will take a little bit of time for this to catch on, but it will.
In the meantime, if you'd like a resource that scours the internet daily and complies all things plant-based from studies to books to documentaries to particular ailments, athletes, support groups, 101 guides and even just cookbooks, you will find it all in the Plantrician Project's ULTIMATE PLANT BASED RESOURCE GUIDE. They even have a Food Day folder with simple Food Day recipes that are organized by the color of the rainbow. They call them the Colors of Health Recipes. The thought here is to not stress out about getting this nutrient or meeting that daily value, but rather filling your plate with plants the colors of the rainbow and you will, just by default, round out your diet nicely.
And finally, if you are eager to get started right away, I have created a great brunch recipe to get your day started off with a bang! This Vegetable Tofu Egg Scramble is a cinch to whip up and I invite you to make it your own by adding different veggies and spices to wow all of your guests. It's colorful (remember the rainbow...) it's delicious and it's all yours. Enjoy.
xo
