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In the Wheel of the Year, August 1 is often celebrated as Lughnasadh (or Lammas) in a variety of ways, both modern and traditional, many of which honor it as the first of the harvest festivals. Activities common among many Pagans and Pagan families (including ours) often include the baking (and sharing) of bread. In our Pagan family (momma *is* a kitchen witch, lol), this holiday is the celebration of the Summer’s Bounty–a celebration of the intersection of time and place where food acts as the bridge between the nourishment for not only our bodies and our souls (you are, after all, what you eat), but also for our individual communities and our society as a whole. Because there is such a plethora of ideas for a traditional (or modern derivative) Lammas or Lughnasadh celebration available, I have instead decided to post a different sort of message.
We have a problem, and that problem is centered around food. There are roughly 7 billion people on this planet–1 billion people of them go hungry and another 1 billion of them are obese–at the end of the day, this means that two of every 7 people are malnourished. These seemingly disparate issues are actually two sides of the same coin, and while both problems are universal, the former is currently at crisis level in Somalia while the latter has been an ongoing problem in America. I think that it makes sense, at a time that celebrates the harvest, to think about our relationship with food, with each other, and with ourselves. As such, I have chosen a selection of resources (including several TED talks from the past few years that I think are quite pertinent) to educate and inspire us both in our day to day decisions, and (tough times being what they are) to make that extra sacrifice in supporting organizations into our that help others gain food security as well.
Josette Sheeran on ending world hunger:
Jamie Oliver on teaching our children about food:
30 Project’s Reading List for Food System Change
Unitarian Universalist Association’s Ethical Eating Guide
World Food Programme
Feeding America (nationwide network of food banks and food security advocacy)
bay witch musings 
Great point Thal! As someone who has struggled with an eating disorder, that balance on a more personal scale has been very near the front for me lately.
I can see how that would be a struggle…I know that I really have to work to have a good relationship with food at times, and that is without the added burden of an ED…
Its sort of like…take your average American, then add in body image issues, genetics, the social conditioning of a consumptive culture, failure of a food system and wham! Everyone *knows* that they should eat healthy, but so few people can 1) afford it and 2) actually know how to achieve it…and in both cases it boils down to lack of affordability and lack of education (on everything from healthy foods to farming sustainability).