So what special day is it today – do you know (and more importantly,do you care)?

There are days or weeks for nearly everything nowadays – or at least it seems that way. But really how many of the many named days or weeks in the year do most of us know or even care about it?

How many of these days or weeks actually do what they are intended to do – promote the particular issue that is being recognised so that people remember it?

For all of us involved in food the big one has to be Food Safety Week, when the Food Safety information Council Ltd takes the lead in highlighting the importance of preventing food poisoning to consumers. But do you know when this important week is each year and has your business even done anything to  recognise it? It is such an easy thing to do in your business to pint out some of the resources from the FSIC’s website (www.foodsafety.asn.au) and put them up around your business and in your newsletters, but do you know when it is? (The second week of November).

Many in the food industry cannot answer this question either, and it raises the question that if a week that is so important to all of us in the food industry is not known well, or even known that it actually happens at all, do these days and weeks actually do what they are intended to do?

Another important day for us foodies is Global Handwashing Day. As we all know the single most important thing that we can all do at home and in our business to stop food poisoning is to wash our hands when and as required. Once again most of us in the food industry do not even know about this day to encourage this vital food safety control. For your info this year Global Handwashing Day is the 15 October.    So how will your business do to recognise it?

There are days to recognise all types of cancers and other diseases, as well as days for awareness of health issues, amongst other days for certain activities, causes, animals and foods.

Some have had cut through and are well known like Cupcake Day for the RSPCA, Shave for a Cure to get funding for blood cancer research, Million Paws Walk for the RSPCA, Red Nose Day to recognise Cystic Fibrosis,  Jeans for Genes Day to raise funds for research into genetic disorders, and of course, Greatest Morning Tea for the Cancer Council. How do these get massive attention and many others don’t?

Some  are such big issues that a whole week is dedicated to them, like Heart Awareness Week and Food Safety Week.

To complicate this already crowded arena, some days and weeks are run at exactly the same time as others so the impact is spread over the two or three or more.

While most of these days and weeks are run by charities and other health organisations to get the issue / cause / disease recognised and to also raise funds, there are many days / weeks which are actually run by government, like Small Business Week to promote a particular group or topic related to the whole of the country.

It must be believed by all of these groups / government departments / organisations that these days and weeks must have some sort of impact and promote recognition and funding or there would not be as many of them as we now have each year. There is the problem, their success in achieving the funding and recognition, even if only for that day or week, is also their failure. With so many of these days / weeks happening, the impact of each is becoming progressively less, as there is just so much noise out there competing for the public’s attention that each one is at increasing risk of not being noticed anymore.