DATES TO REMEMBER

This day honors the resilience, knowledge, and sovereignty of Indigenous Sovereign Tribal Nations throughout the colonized U.S. We stop to recognize the foodways and land stewardship beliefs that are foundational to the traditions and customs of Tribal Nations. Indigenous communities have long safeguarded biodiversity and practiced regenerative agriculture, often in the face of displacement and erasure.

Take Action: Support Indigenous-led food sovereignty movements in your area or nationally—such as the Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance. Learn about and uplift local Tribal Nations’ ongoing struggles and contributions to food justice.

Rural women make up nearly half of the world’s agricultural workforce yet face systemic barriers that limit equitable access to land, credit, and decision-making power. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action which seeks to undo the many injustices suffered by rural women. Honoring them means recognizing their essential role in food sovereignty and dismantling the inequities that limit their rights.

Take Action: Learn from and amplify the voices of women-led farming and food justice organizations in your community. Consider supporting national groups like the Rural Coalition or La Via Campesina that uplift rural women globally.

Every October, the Food Week of Action brings communities in the U.S. together to demand food justice and affirm the right of all people to healthy, sustainable food. Annually, three powerful observances fall back-to-back, beginning with a recognition of the role women play in farm production, followed by an observance of the bountiful harvest grown globally annually and we conclude with a reminder that forces that prioritize profits over people, limits the fair and equitable distribution of the harvest to people everywhere. We have many reasons as a global community to give thanks, but we must also all work to create more people centered food systems based on equity, dignity, and the needs of people everywhere.

On its 80th anniversary, FAO calls us to join “Hand in Hand for Better Foods and a Better Future.” The focus: collective action to transform agri-food systems through better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life for all. Partnerships—and youth leadership in particular—are key to securing resilient food systems for generations to come.

Take Action: Look for local World Food Day events or teach-ins, or join global efforts through FAO’s World Food Forum. Volunteer with or donate to local food justice projects, community gardens, or hunger-relief groups.

Food justice, land sovereignty and economic justice are inseparable. Poverty is both a cause and a consequence of food insecurity. Marking this day calls us to address structural inequities that keep communities marginalized, and to support grassroots solutions that center dignity, participation, and power.

Take Action: Engage in campaigns that connect anti-poverty work to food sovereignty. National networks like Poor People’s Campaign and Bread for the World, as well as local anti-hunger coalitions, often host actions during this week.

Let’s stand in solidarity to reject the Trump Administration’s policies that prioritize the interests of the elite at the expense of low-resource families and communities. Together, let’s  protest the persecution of immigrants, reductions to critical life-saving food assistance programs like SNAP and WIC, and the erosion of vital services needed by seniors and those who are sick or shut-in. Say no to reductions in Medicaid and other essential programs families and communities need to survive. Add your voice to the call to resist and defend against the dismantling of laws and policies that protect the rights of minorities, women, the LGBTQ community, immigrants and all who feel persecuted and attacked for being “othered” or “woke”.

Take action: Visit the No Kings website to learn about events and activities on October 18th in your community. Show up, be loud, be heard, be seen and make a difference