FOOD BREAK
Last week (Oct. 24) was national "Take Back Your Time Day".
Most of us at the OCA offices forgot to acknowledge it, as we were too
busy working, serving as a testament to the problem at hand. In the US,
we each work an average of 350 hours (9 weeks) more per year than our
European friends. In other words, for the EU and the US to have equivalent
work hours per person per year, the average American would need to take
off work from October 24 until the end of the year. Although this is not
an obvious food related issue, the American work schedule directly impacts
how the food industry reacts to consumer demands. Longer days at the office
mean more convenience foods, more eat-on-the-run foods, more fast foods,
more packaging, and more preservatives. It also means less time to cook
with fresh locally grown produce from co-ops, farmer’s markets, CSAs,
and home gardens.
