Some 20 Salt Lake City restaurants and cafes led by One World Everybody Eats Community Kitchen will participate in the city’s first extensive commemoration of World Food Day this week.

With the focus on food security — that is, where people have consistent, reliable access to nutritionally adequate, safe foods without resorting to depleting emergency food supplies, scavenging, stealing, or other socially unacceptable coping strategies — the event’s timeliness has been accentuated by recent highly pessimistic, negative economic news.

Denise Cerreta, One World’s founder and owner, proposed the idea of local restaurants joining together on World Food Day offering meals that could be ordered in reduced portion sizes that the patrons could price themselves, similar to what is offered daily at her restaurant. One World’s concept has flourished at its downtown location of 41 S 300 E since 2003 and the community kitchen model is now being exported to other cities, the most recent being Spokane, Washington.

Food security, indeed, is just one of the concepts at the core of Cerreta’s model. One World serves roughly 150 meals each day. Some people don’t pay while others volunteer for work in exchange for meals or pay enough to cover those who can’t afford to pay. The restaurant also offers a daily complimentary meal of dal and rice. It is open every day of the week.

In some ways, One World’s recent economic barometers reflect the results of the volatile uncertainties in the economy. Volunteer vouchers have quintupled recently to 15 a day. Meanwhile, food costs — especially for basic foodstuffs — have been steadily increasing for more than a year: cheese up 14.7 percent, eggs up by one-fourth, and bread by at least 16 percent. Per meal pays have also been affected as well: down to $7 from $10.

The problem is evident even more in statewide figures. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that 5.1 percent of Utahns deal with hunger and 14.5 percent meet the essential definition of food insecurity. While nearly 10 percent of the state’s population lives in poverty, only six out of 10 eligible for food stamps participate and those provisions hardly satisfy even a modicum of basic nutritional needs. And, one-third of Utah’s school children receive meals in school free or at a partially subsidized cost.

As for restaurants and cafes, the participation in such an event makes equally compelling economic sense. Faced with a tough market where credit lines have been tightened or suspended and where consumers scrutinize rigorously how they spend their discretionary income, restaurant owners and employees are that much more sensitized to inventory control and the need to eliminate wasting food as much as possible. In turn, that reinvigorates the commitment of chefs and employees to deliver quality, nutritious meals in reasonable portions that precisely reflect the appropriate price-value points. And, it draws extensive attention to the worthwhile promises of sustainable agriculture, increasingly the backbone of operations by independent farmers and growers.

The participating rules for the Oct. 16 event are simple. Restaurants will offer a special that can be ordered in small, medium, or large portions during operating hours on that day. Patrons will then be asked to price this special after the meal before the total bill is presented. A portion of the monies collected from the specials served that day will go to a food-related local charity selected by the individual restaurant. A list of the participating restaurants is available here.

Other events also have been scheduled. SLC Mayor Ralph Becker will formally sign the World Food Day proclamation at 10 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 13, at Squatter’s. A noontime walking tour will be held Tuesday, Oct. 14, starting at the Crossroads Urban Center and including Wasatch Community Gardens, Hildegard’s Pantry, One World Everybody Eats, and The Good Samaritan Program. The Utah Bioneers Conference this week at Westminster College also will feature a panel discussion on food security Friday, Oct. 17, at 2 p.m. Cerreta will join Gina Cornia of Utahns Against Hunger, Dave Everett of the mayor’s office and James Soare of Squatters in discussing local food culture and the roles of local food production, processing and distribution in enhancing food security.

Organizing sponsors for the events include the SLC Mayor’s Office, One World, Squatters Pub Brewery, and Millcreek Coffee Roasters. Other major contributors include Andrus Sales and Service, The Grand America’s Garden Cafe, and Gastronomy, Inc. More details are available here.