Why Do We Have So Many National Food Days?

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but National Food Days…are every day. I mean it. There are genuinely hundreds upon hundreds of days earmarked in the calendar for pretty much any food you can think of, and restaurants and retailers like – nay, LOVE – using them as promotional tools for their dishes or products. This week, we’ve been talking about National S’Mores Day, National Root Beer Float Day, and National Frozen Custard Day. But there’s also National Zucchini Bread Day, National Cherry Turnover Day, National Fried Scallops Day, National Nut Day, and the spectacularly boring National Raisin Bran Cereal Day (sorry to any raisin bran cereal lovers who were looking forward to celebrating). 

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But…why? Why do we have so many? Where do they come from? Is this a government thing? Can we take the day off work? So many questions, and we’ve got the answers.

Who Invents National Food Days?

The “national” in national food days implies that they were sanctioned either by Congress or by the president, as so many other national holidays are. In fact, they tend to be created by one or a mixture of food companies, PR teams, and boards. Take National Peanut Butter Day, for example, which was started by the National Peanut Board: Paste also highlights that the board came up with several other days, like Peanut Butter Cookie Day and Peanut Butter Fudge Day. These entities can work in collaboration with each other or independently, and then, once they’re “declared” the day one in service of a certain food, it’s just all about promotion. 

The funny thing, though, is that if you really want to, you can just start one of these days. Paste points out that Tater Tot Day, which is celebrated each year on February 2 (we’re not exactly sure how many people celebrate it, but y’know), was quite literally just dreamed up by food writer John-Bryan Hopkins. There are also multiple days for certain foods, like donuts. So if you feel like your favorite food isn’t being adequately represented in the National Food Day calendar, or if you just want to claim another spot for it elsewhere in the year, you…kinda can. No-one’s stopping you. 

Oh, and in case there was any ambiguity whatsoever — these aren’t holidays. You can try and claim ignorance with your employer, in the hope that they’ll buy your story that you thought it was okay to take the day off for National Pickle Day or whatever, but you’ll have to deal with the consequences.

Are We Reaching National Food Day Burnout?

There’s a danger that what was once novel will soon feel stale — and it definitely feels like it’s maybe heading that way with national food days. While food companies love them, there’s a risk that with so many of them (there are well over 600), they’ll cease to lose all impact. As long as brands have things to promote, though, they’ll be trying to do so through any means necessary — so while you might be tired of them, they definitely won’t be any time soon.