“January 18, 2010  is King Day of Service a day ON, not a day off.”

On Monday, January 18- millions of American organizations close so that their employees, students, volunteers etc can observe Martin Luther King, Jr Holiday- commonly referred to as “MLK Day”.  Since 1986, this federal holiday is observed in our country on the third Monday of January each year to mark King’s birthday, January 15 but it was not observed by all 50 states until the year 2000.   Because the holiday is still  relatively new, traditions to observe are still evolving.

In 1994- Congress designated the King Holiday a national day of service and the King Day of Service has grown every year since that time.   In 2009 President Obama very publicly urged our nation to observe the call to service which resulted in a record number of Americans turned out to honor Dr. King by helping their neighbors and communities.  It was reported that more than one million volunteers served on 13,000 projects taking place in all 50 states.

Many of us think of a holiday as a day off- and in the dead of winter it is very tempting to stay in; read a book, watch movies, etc.  But perhaps it is time for more of us to actively participate in King Day of Service- and encourage our friends and neighbors to do the same.

What better way to honor the courage and selfless devotion that Dr. King exemplified and inspired in an entire generation than to give back to your community in any way that you can?  King Day of Service is a symbol of how Dr. King’s legendary dream is still alive and unfolding.

This MLK Day Toolkit is designed to provide you with the information you need to create projects and events in celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life through the MLK Day of Service.

Check out some of the media coverage from 2009 about the President and First Lady’s participation, interviews with volunteers, and footage of service projects.  Please tell us how you are planning to serve on King Day of Service 2010 on our Facebook Page.

What is small, sticky and found at the grocery store on your fresh produce?

If you guessed the PLU code then you are correct! But what exactly is the PLU code anyway? Besides an easy way for the checkout computer to identify your purchase, the PLU code has so much more meaning that you should be  of. The PLU code is found in grocery stores on produce that is sold in bulk. It stands for the Price Look Up Code and is determined by the International Federation for Produce Standards. The produce either has a 4 or 5 digit code printed on a little sticker and then is applied directly to the produce.

Next time you’re at the store, pay close attention to the PLU code. Here’s why, all organic produce will have a 5 digit code beginning with the number 9 while the conventional produce will have a 4 digit code which begins with the number 4. Genetically Modified Produce (GMO) has a 5 digit PLU number that begins with the number 8.

Most people know the difference between buying organic or not. However, do you know and understand what GMO produce is and where it comes from?

Long story short, in 1992 bio tech companies thought consumers would buy more genetically altered food and since they believed that’s what we wanted, they put a label on it so it can be found easily. The number 8 was added to the beginning of their code, which is perfect for us to now know what NOT to buy! Anything beginning with the number 8! The industry soon realized that we weren’t biting the GMO bait and quickly and decided to remove the number 8 as a part of their code, making it hard to distinguish genetically modified produce.

Ironically, organic producers must follow strict rules to be able to label their foods as “organic”. The most interesting and shocking part of all of this, is companies producing GMO (and let me remind you that means genetically altered foods) do not have labeling restrictions. Now, does that make sense to you?

President Obama has recently stated that he supports mandatory labeling of GMO foods. If you would like to sign the petition, visit www.responsibletechnology.org