Food For Change: Paying Respect 10 Years Later

Most Americans old enough to recall can remember exactly where they were on September 11, 2001. The whole experience seemed surreal, like watching a movie, not the news. For those that were in the city, the experience must have been all the more intense. And while the events left us all shaken, the recovery effort that followed showed the United States at its best. For a moment in time, the country felt a unified remorse for what had just happened and a unified pride for this country. This statement could not be truer of the heroes that risked and gave their lives to save their fellow citizens. With the 10-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks approaching, all Americans should take time to reflect on the sacrifice that the police and firefighters of this country made on that day and continue to make every day across the country.

Nominate Your Local Hero

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Happy and Healthy Products (H&H), a franchiser of specialty foods, has launched a campaign, which runs July 11 to September 11, paying respect to local heroes and their families in two ways. To start, H&H will donate a portion of proceeds from the sale of its Fruitfull Frozen Fruit Bars to the Fallen Hero Fund, an organization that supports the families of law-enforcement officers and firefighters who have lost their lives in the line of duty. These bars can found nationally at Whole Foods and Publix stores.

As a second part of this effort, H&H is also asking you to nominate a local hero that changed your life. One nominee will be named the National Happy & Healthy Hero of the Year and will receive a $1,000 cash prize. Nominations are being accepted via H&H’s Facebook account (facebook.com/fruitfull).
 

A Fancy Food Firefighter takes on the
2011 World Police and Fire Games

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The National Association for the Specialty Food Trade (NASFT), the nonprofit organization that runs foodspring.com, is also responsible for the biannual Fancy Food Shows, North America’s largest specialty food trade show.  Putting together an event of this magnitude is a huge undertaking, and the NASFT relies on a lot of outside help to make these shows work. Retired New York City firefighter Jim Carney, an operations consultant for the shows for the last 25 years, is one such individual who has been an invaluable part of the team.

It just so happens he’s also President of the 2011 World Police and Fire Games, taking place between August 26 and September 5 in New York City. The event is one of the largest multisport events in the world—second only to the Summer Olympics—and this is the first time it will be held in New York City since its inception in 1967. Because of its proximity to the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the games this year highlight two themes: Remembrance of those who lost their lives and Gratitude to the support that flooded to the City on that day and in the aftermath. Carney’s personal connection to these themes is significant. After September 11, he was put in charge of organizing hundreds of funerals for fellow firemen, and helped manage a memorial service at Madison Square Garden in 2002 to honor FDNY’s heroes. To ensure the sacrifice those individuals made are paid due respect 10 years later, Carney’s goal is to make the New York games the largest and most memorable yet—and with his ability to support the biggest event in specialty foods year after year as evidence, I don’t think he’ll have a hard time.—Dennis Marrero

2011 World Police and Fire Games Video

Learn more about this year’s World Police and Fire Games in the video below.

Dennis Marrero is the Managing Editor of foodspring.com
and author of the foodspring's Food For Change blog.

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