Ever heard of National Cookie Month, National Pretzel Month or National Pickled Peppers month? Surprisingly, each of these, and every other national food holiday was once on the agenda of a U.S. President. And those are just a couple of the designations for October.
According to Bon Appétit, in the most official cases of national food holidays, the President signs a joint House and Senate resolution into law, formally declaring the holiday. So when he isn’t negotiating with Iraq or implementing a new healthcare system, the President is probably deciding whether or not to make National Guacamole Day on July 2nd or August 14th (it’s actually on September 16th). Seems legit. However, even without the approval of Congress, the President can simply proclaim a food holiday whenever he so chooses. Remember that executive order thing you learned about with the Emancipation Proclamation? It’s pretty much like that.
Photo by Taylor Kaminsky
The reason why so many food holidays coincide or overlap, and some foods have designated days, weeks and/or months is because, along with the federal government, state and municipal legislators, governors and mayors can proclaim these days as well. When it comes down to it, though, almost all of the food holidays are perpetuated by- yup, you guessed it -marketing and PR people. Their reasoning is that if it’s National Doughnut Day, you’ll be more tempted to use this an excuse to treat yourself to a delicious glazed Krispy Kreme than on any average day. Individual food companies often take advantage of these holidays to generate commercials and advertising campaigns.
Photo by Julia Murphy
Even so, the best part about national food holidays is that, with enough determination, we all have the chance to make our own. After you generate interest from a large group, you simply need to petition the people behind Chase’s Calendar of Events, which has published every national food day, week and month since 1958, to include your proposed day. Then, you might urge your local mayor or governor to recognize the holiday and, whether or not you receive a positive response, you could also reach out to House or Senate members.
In the mean time, you might celebrate one of the 49 different national food days in October, ranging from National Pumpkin Cheesecake Day (October 21st) to National Oatmeal Day (October 29th). If you’re looking for a prolonged celebration, you might choose National Kraut Sandwich Week (3rd week) or Chicken Soup for the Soul Week (4th week). And of course, we cannot forget about the month-long celebrations of popcorn, seafood and caramel also going on throughout October.
Photo by Becky Hughes
We’re thinking about making a National Spoon Day for us to celebrate all of the foods we normally eat with spoons, so keep your eye on the calendar for that one.