Food Check-Out Week commemorates the time of year when the average American will have earned enough income to pay for the entire year's food supply. This year Food Check-Out Week is January 29 – February 4, 2006. Statistics from the U. S. Department of Agriculture indicate American families and individuals currently spend, on average, just 9.5 percent of their disposable personal income for food. This means the average U.S. household will have earned enough disposable income to pay for its annual food supply in just five weeks!

Americans enjoy the safest, most abundant and affordable food supply on earth, thanks to the efforts of the American farmer. Consumers in other nations spend much more of their disposable income on food:

• France, 18 percent
• Japan, 29 percent
• Mexico, 33 percent
• India, 51 percent

Food Check-Out Day began in 1998 in Chicago. The effort continued with a comprehensive national campaign in major cities throughout the nation. The national event this year will take place in Washington, D. C.

Locally, the Champaign County Chamber of Commerce and Champaign County Farm Bureau will be celebrating Food Check-Out Week on February 1. Our Chamber of Commerce Agribusiness Council is co-sponsoring an event with the Champaign County Farm Bureau to celebrate the affordability of food in America thanks to the efforts of the American farmer. Laura Weis, Executive Director of the Champaign County Chamber of Commerce said, "The high-quality, affordable food we enjoy is a product of our successful food production and distribution system, as well as America's farmers retaining access to effective and affordable crop protection tools. As community partners, we remain concerned that some Americans cannot afford to buy the food they need, but we are proud of the role Champaign County farmers play in making our food supply more affordable to all."

Jerry's IGA at 312 W. Kirby Avenue will provide the venue for a good-natured contest between Mayor Jerry Schweighart of Champaign and Mayor Laurel Prussing of Urbana shopping for two area families. The event will be at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, February 1. The mayors will have five minutes to shop throughout Jerry's IGA for a list of non-perishable items for two families in the Center for Women in Transition After-Care Program.

More than 24 million American workers (17 percent of the total U. S. workforce) produce, process, sell, and trade the nation's food and fiber. Only 4.6 million of those people live on farms, slightly less than 2 percent of the total U. S. population. Food Check-Out Week may be from January 29 – February 4 this year, but remember that the ability to purchase affordable, safe food is an everyday event!