Goodie Bags for the Attendees (photo: Elizabeth Hathaway)

There are a lot of influential people advocating for a change in our eating habits.

The nation’s top chefs, including Alice Waters and Jamie Oliver, are on board; high-profile leaders, like Michelle Obama, are on board; celebrities, including Oprah, Susan Saradon, and 50 cent (yes, 50 cent), are on board; nationwide organizations, such as Slow Food USA, are on board; media outlets, like this one, are on board.

But that’s still not enough. Real change is in the hands of the home chefs and food providers in everyday American kitchens. That means me, and you.

On Monday, Food Day became part of a growing trend of community-centered movements hoping to target these providers. And, like most grassroots mobilizations, Food Day was contingent upon the initiative of volunteer event hosts willing to commit time and energy to share their knowledge about healthy sustainable food with their local communities.

Though the success of the first annual Food Day was relatively modest in scope and participation, these volunteers are laying the groundwork for widespread access to and education about healthy, sustainable foods.

Three such volunteers in the Boston area were Lyn Huckabee, Susan Johnston and Tara Belluci, the woman behind the Boston Food Swap. The three friends decided to use their planning expertise, gleaned from organizing monthly food swaps, to host a Food Day Community Sourced Potluck. Like other event hosts across the nation, they were willing to capitalize on their strengths and collective knowledge in support of Food Day.

“We had gotten so much attention early on [for the Boston Food Swap] and we have so many connections in the food blogger community, we felt we had something to offer the campaign,” explained Lyn Huckabee.

The event hosts, from left to right, Tara Bellucci, Susan Johnston and Lyn Huckabee (photo: Elizabeth Hathaway)

I attended the Monday night celebration, which took place at “Space with a Soul” in South Boston, an intimate function hall decorated to create a homey sort of feel. The event was open to all, and had a simple, two-pronged mandate: bring a dish with a story about how it relates to one of the Food Day principles; or, just bring yourself and eat while learning!

All the money from the event went to two worthy Boston non-profits, The Food Project and Lovin Spoonfuls Food Rescue. The former promotes farming and food leadership, the latter focuses on reducing food waste by redirecting unused food to those in need. Both are emblamatic of the Food Day principles and mission.

While the diverse crowd of bloggers, lawyers, mothers, financial analysts and students mingled and tested each other’s creations, Maggie Battista, founder of EAT Boutique, Christine Liu of America’s Test Kitchen, and Catherine Walthers, author of Soups + Sides and president of the Martha’s Vineyard chapter of Slow Food, were busy at the judge’s table. A lot was at stake, including generous prize baskets full of cookbooks, gift certificates, chocolate and, of course, bragging rights (this evening will be looked back on as the original Food Day, after all).

My sour cream apple pie, Phase I (photo: Elizabeth Hathaway)

I was nervous about my sour cream apple pie entry. Practically the only thing I have any real confidence making for strangers is apple pie, and I was unsure of what level of cooking enthusiasts we were talking about here. Luckily, Magners was on hand with a donation of ice-cold hard apple cider to calm my nerves, though it didn’t end up being necessary in that sense. Everyone was too excited talking about the food and sharing to try to upstage each other with tales of complicated cooking techniques and recipes. Woo-hoo! This is exactly what Food Day was supposed to be about — 0rdinary people creating and choosing better meal options.

Not by coincidence, that’s also the idea behind the Boston Food Swap. As Lyn acknowledged, in grassless, garden-less urban settings it can feel like a burden to cook, especially if you’re short on time and only cooking for yourself. The monthly food swap, which allows participants to exchange their pantry and freezer’s surplus with another, is, as Lyn told me, “a real way to connect with real food in a way that is also practical. It encourages people to cook, and to learn from each other.” Such a brilliantly simple idea, and one that’s catching on across the States. One man’s ‘trash’ becoming another’s treasure — food-wise, that is.

In hindsight, the best aspect of the night for me was that it asked me to consider, really consider, the story behind my sour cream apple pie. Our food has a story, beginning with its origin, continuing with when and why we select it, and what we chose to do with it. When we unwrap processed food from elaborate packaging, we have to remember that that food also has a story beyond the bright clever marketing on the box. If we get in the habit of asking ourselves what the story is behind the food in front of us, we may not like the tale at first, but it could give us the motivation to make better choices next time.

My sour cream apple pie entry, Final Phase (photo: Elizabeth Hathaway)

So what’s my sour cream apple pie Food Day story? I actually had an extended celebratory weekend, starting with a family trip to Hamilton, NY,  to catch up with my sister for her birthday. Despite the rainy, cold weather, a farmer’s market had set up shop on the Hamilton town green on Saturday. We bought grass-fed beef from Quarry Brook Farms of Sherburne, NY and by Sunday it was in the slow cooker, melting into delicious strips of beef brisket.

Meanwhile, I had asked some of my sister’s friends heading to a local orchard to pick me up some Cortland Apples, not knowing that Cortland apples are slightly off peak at this time of year. Alas, I had no choice but to cook the half bushel of apples into pies before they rotted away untouched, which also solved my problem of what to make for the potluck. I decided to nix my traditional apple pie, which works best with peak season apples, and go with a sour cream apple pie.

On Monday, Food Day, my breakfast and lunch consisted of Sunday’s leftovers. (Yes, I’m guilty of eating pie for breakfast). Dinner was the mixture of fun, healthy food entries at the Food Swap, including Roasted Autumn Veggie Lasagna, Sweet Carrot Ginger Soup, and Curried Squash and Kale dumplings. I’m beginning to think everyday should be Food Day! Oh, was that the point?