Text 16110, 174 rader
Skriven 2007-05-30 11:22:24 av CAROL BRYANT (1:123/140)
Ärende: Holidays!
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From the NYTimes

May 30, 2007
Having a Snack? Make It a Holiday 
By KIM SEVERSON
WE are, each and every one of us, standing together on the threshold of
National Surimi Seafood Month. June is also the month to celebrate papayas,
iced tea, frozen yogurt, candy, soul food, steakhouses and applesauce cake.
And whether you eat turkeys or simply admire them, prepare to party. June
is Turkey Lovers’ Month, too.

At least 175 days a year are set aside in recognition of some form of food
or drink. This puts a lot of pressure on the average eater. The week of
July 15 alone starts with Tapioca Day, moves into Fresh Spinach Day,
National Caviar Day and National Daiquiri Day, and ends with National Junk
Food Day. 

Most food holidays didn’t spring from a spontaneous national outpouring of
passion for, say, lunchmeat (Bologna Day is Oct. 24, by the way). Unlike
Mother’s Day, which sprung from early anti-war efforts, National Crown
Roast of Pork Day (March 7) has no political underpinnings. National Frozen
Food Month (also in March) does not have the religious or cultural
framework of Valentine’s Day. 

Although most elected officials will happily declare a food holiday when a
trade association or commodity group asks, the proclamations don’t really
mean much. Schools and banks do not close for National Vinegar Day (June
16).

No, most food holidays are invented by people who want to sell more food.

Bake for Family Fun Month, bless its heart, appears dedicated to preserving
a meaningful ritual of the kitchen during February. That may well happen,
but the holiday also benefits its sponsor, an association of companies that
sell flour, butter and home baking equipment.

So many food holidays can be hard to keep track of. There are almost two
dozen dessert days, a number that begs for comparisons. Is National Sacher
Torte Day bigger than Spongecake Day? Or are both kicked to the curb by
National Butterscotch Pudding Day? (Sept. 19, if you’re planning ahead.)

Food holidays can highlight gross injustice. Consider the sandwich
category. Egg salad gets a week in April, but the peanut butter and jelly —
clearly the more enduring American sandwich — has only a day (April 2). 

Nowhere are the holidays more unevenly distributed than among the fruits.
Is it fair, for example, that raisins and figs get only a week each, but
peaches have an entire month (July)?

And peaches have nothing on apples, which get three months (September
through November), with special break-out days for specific varieties. (Eat
a Red Apple Day comes, inexplicably, on Dec. 1.) 

Blame seniority. Apple Week is one of the earliest food holidays. It began
in 1904. By the 1970s, the week became a month, and by the 1990s the apple
celebration had grown to three months, said Kay Rentzel, director of the
U.S. Apple Association’s national apple month program.

Apple sales jump by as much as 25 percent during the promotion, Ms. Rentzel
said. Last year 5,550 retailers received certificates from Ms. Rentzel’s
office for participating.

“They may have special apple events that go on or they may have special
signage in their store,ö she said. “Some stores will do a baking contest.
It’s a pretty exciting time.ö

Often, a commodity group looking to popularize a food holiday will wrangle
a government official to help. Three years ago, the California Wine
Institute convinced Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to declare September
California Wine Month. It’s not the only food holiday he likes. Mr.
Schwarzenegger declared July California Wild King Salmon Month and January
California Dried Plum Digestive Health Month.

But prunes and cabernet don’t need the governor’s blessing. In the loosely
organized world of food holidays, nothing is really required for
legitimacy. One could simply decide that Sept. 12 is Ropa Vieja Day and
hope that a blogger somewhere picks it up and gives it some traction. 

For serious students of the genre, there is something of an authority:
Chase’s Calendar of Events, 750 pages of notable birthdays, community
happenings and holidays. If someone develops an idea for, say, Bread
Pudding Recipe Exchange Week (May 1-7) and submits a form found in the back
of the book, it will be considered for inclusion.

Chase’s has standards, and not every proposal makes the cut. An
organization has to agree to sponsor the holiday, or there has to be some
sort of ongoing promotion or tangible enthusiasm for it, said Holly
McGuire, who edits the book in Chicago. 

“If you want to say May is Horseradish Month you can do it, but will you
get attention for that? Will people take you seriously?ö she said. In fact,
the National Horseradish Information Council petitioned Chase’s, and now
the spicy root is celebrated in July. 

The politics of food manufacturing can leave a holiday dead in the water.
Through her research, Ms. McGuire discovered four separate chocolate
holidays. The National Confectioners Association recognizes them all. “As a
consequence, I won’t have that in the book,ö she said. “If they’re not
taking a stand, then I’m not going to.ö

Food holidays are like catnip for public relations people, all of whom have
a copy of Chase’s on their desks, said Katherine Newell Smith, a publicist
who has been in the business for almost 30 years.

“If you’re looking for a story and it happens to be national avocado month,
it’s a hook,ö she said. “Every possible commodity has something. Kimchi
might have something now.ö 

The food holidays can sometimes fuel passive-aggressive dietary battles.
Since 1937, June has been Dairy Month. As a countermove, Veganet, a vegan
advocacy group, recently declared June Dairy Alternatives Month. 

That only presented more publicity opportunities. A Boston firm promoting
Contrex mineral water jumped on Dairy Alternatives Month as the perfect
angle. “Contrex contains 486 milligrams of calcium per one-liter bottle,
which makes these holidays very relevant and important for creating
awareness of the product,ö explained the account executive, Farrell Klein,
in an e-mail message.

Ms. McGuire does not pass judgment on how her book is used, but she has a
soft spot for playful food holidays. A Pennsylvania couple that specializes
in inventing random holidays submitted some of her favorites: Sneak Some
Zucchini on Your Neighbor’s Porch Night (Aug. 8), National Eat What You
Want Day (May 11), and Cook Something Bold and Pungent Day (Nov. 8).

The couple, Ruth and Tom Roy, have created almost 90 holidays, most of
which have nothing to do with food, like Yell Fudge at the Cobras in North
America Day on June 2. 

“In order to keep poisonous cobra snakes out of North America, all citizens
are asked to go outdoors at noon local time and yell ‘fudge!’ Fudge makes
cobras gag, and the mere mention of it makes them skeedaddle,ö the couple
claims on its Web site, wellcat.com.

But what do the Roys get for inventing holidays that make the Chase’s cut?
Not much beyond personal satisfaction, said Ms. McGuire. “We’re not going
to send you a certificate saying you have now become National Biscuit
Month,ö she said.

Recognition was never the intention, said Bill Chase, who first published a
calendar of events and notable occasions in 1957. He’s 85 now, and lives in
Ann Arbor, Mich., with his wife, Helen. 

The idea came to him when he was a newspaper librarian at the Flint
Journal. Reporters and editors were constantly looking for timely subjects
on which to build news stories. So, with the help of his brother, the late
Harrison Chase, he compiled a list. 

The next year, the United States Chamber of Commerce, which had been
printing a promotional publication called “Special Days, Weeks and Months,ö
passed the task on to the Chases. Things grew from there.

The first edition had fewer than 400 events. About two dozen were
food-related, like Honey for Breakfast Week and National Drive and Dine Out
Month.

Mr. Chase and his wife stopped editing the book in 1989, and the
McGraw-Hill Companies now publish it. Next year’s 50th anniversary edition
will have 12,000 listings.

Mr. Chase has some thoughts on the popularity of food holidays.

“There is, of course, the commercial motive,ö he said. “But it seems to me
that celebration is something that we all enjoy. If we can celebrate a
particular food or drink or activity, it enhances our lives.ö

But Dried Plum Digestive Health Month? Jell-O Week? “We attempted to use
good sense and reason and observe good taste and at the same time be
non-judgmental,ö he said. “We didn’t always succeed.ö

And if you have come this far, here is some relief: Dec. 30 is National
Bicarbonate of Soda Day.
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