#20ate is a 28-day real food campaign to object to the Snack Food Association's hijacking of February as "National Snack Food Month."
I am a huge fan of Roger Doiron. He is founder and director of Kitchen Gardeners International (KGI), a Maine-based nonprofit network of over 20,000 individuals from 100 countries who are taking a (dirty) hands-on approach to relocalizing the food supply.
Back in 2008, Roger created a campaign called Eat the View that encouraged the White House to start a garden. I was a very vocal supporter of this concept, it was a great example of using the internet to build support for good ideas. As a result, the First Lady started a veggie garden on the White House lawn which has inspired countless other gardens across the country.
This year, Roger has outdone himself. #20ate is a creative way to bite back at the food industry. Since February is National Snack Food month, Roger and KGI are organizing a real food, counter-celebration for the 20ate days of February.
Its easy, to join in. Simply don’t buy processed snack foods or junk foods for the month of February and eat real foods instead. Visit the #20ate website for more information.
If you like to go on Twitter, simply use the hashtag #20ate and you’ll see lots and lots of posts all month long about 20ate.
I will do my best this month to help you out with hints, recipes and more reasons why processed junk food is bad for our waistlines, wallets and the world. 28 days of no processed snacks will definitely help to make the world a better place.
Here’s a wonderful recipe for hummus to get you started. Instead of processed pita chips, many of which contain MSG and GMO ingredients, use carrot & celery sticks instead.
Hummus is yummus!
Melanie’s Hummus
1 ½ cup chick peas cooked, rinsed, drained (you can use canned if you like)
3 cloves roasted garlic
1 chipotle pepper, canned in adobo sauce
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoon honey
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons tahini
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 ½ tablespoon coarsely chopped flat leaf parsley
Mix chickpeas and other ingredients in food processor. Add the olive oil slowly to desired consistency.
