A thank you to food producers on this year’s Slovenian Food Day
The slogan this year is Thank You For Our Great Breakfast! and is meant as an expression of appreciation to all the participants of the food supply chain - the farms, the food processing industry and cooperatives | Author Stanko Gruden, STA
This year we are expecting more than 270,000 primary and nursery school children to begin the day with a breakfast consisting of produce from their local area. The slogan chosen for this year’s event is “Thank you for our super breakfast!” – a thank you addressed to all participants in the food supply chain.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food, which oversees the project, explains that “With this message we want to say thank you to all our farms, agricultural concerns, food businesses and cooperatives, not just for this breakfast, but for all the local food we eat every day. Through their hard work and perseverance in farming and the food industry, they keep our tables filled with food and ensure the continued habitation of rural areas and the remarkable diversity of our countryside.”
The Ministry believes that as well as raising young people’s awareness of the importance of food from our local environment and the advantages of local food over food that has travelled hundreds of kilometres, it is right to use Slovenian Food Day as an occasion to reflect together on our eating habits, on the kinds of food we choose or prepare, and on what we eat.
The protection of agricultural produce and foodstuffs is also a priority at the EU level, in part because of the strong competitive pressures they face. Such protection guarantees product quality and increases consumer confidence. For this reason, a number of common European quality schemes are in place within the European single market. These include protected designation of origin (PDO), protected geographical indication (PGI), traditional speciality guaranteed (TSG) and organic production. National quality schemes include superior quality, integrated production and selected quality.
Consumers are thus able to choose numerous products made with high quality, local and traditional ingredients. Choosing these products has a knock-on effect on the entire food supply chain. As the Ministry points out: “It is worth remembering that food producers will adapt to our preferences. This means that by changing our eating habits, we can do something as individuals to improve our own health and quality of life and at the same time help preserve the planet we share.”