Food Day is a national celebration of local food and community. It takes place on Thursday, Oct. 24 at locations around the country. Here in Philadelphia, Drexel University will host an evening of free food and a screening of the documentary, “A Place at the Table,” which explores the state of hunger in America.

The celebration is organized by a coalition of food-based organizations, including nonprofits, businesses and government agencies. There were over 3,000 events around the country in 2012.

From 12 to 2 p.m., Drexel student organizations focused on food and environmental justice will give presentations throughout the campus on topics ranging from veganism to factory farming.

The film screening will be at 6 p.m. There will also be a free meal, prepared by Drexel Culinary students, starting at 5 p.m.

“The food is FREE but we ask that students and attendees bring a food item to donate to People’s Emergency Center’s food bank as they are having difficulty filling their shelves, “ said Hayley Tintle, lead organizer of the event.

The event will take place in room 103 of Disque Hall, located between 31st and 32nd just below Market Street. For more information click here.

– Alex Vuocolo

Here’s a good option for those who want access to locally grown fresh produce during the winter and spring months, when most CSAs are not operating. Winter Harvest is a buying club that works with regional producers and offers delivery locations in West Philadelphia. Membership is free and all you have to do is fill out an application online. After that you order what you want on a biweekly basis for weekly deliveries. You can choose a prepaid option, where a weekly amount is withdrawn from your account, or pay-as-you-go. And you can choose to order a little, a lot, or not at all as each week rolls along.

Currently, Winter Harvest has two West Philly drop-off/pick-up locations – in Spruce Hill (see more details below) and in Overbrook (near Drexel Rd. and City Ave) – and deliveries of fresh produce, dairy, eggs, poultry, flour, coffee, meats, cheeses and more start in November and go on through April.

For our Spruce Hill neighbors, the first ordering window opens on Friday, Oct. 25, with the first delivery on Thursday, Nov. 7. Pick-ups on Thursdays will be at 4:30-6:30 p.m. at the Spruce Hill delivery site, at a house near Melville and Locust intersection, with “after hours” pick-up nearby. More details about the pick-up locations are available after registration.

For more information about Winter Harvest and to sign up, click here.

In case you hadn’t heard, we wanted to let you know that Shake Shack, a well-known New York City-based fancy fast-food chain, opened a West Philly location this morning, according to a report by Philadelphia City Paper. The University City branch of Shake Shack is located at Chestnut Square, the recently completed mixed-use development on Drexel’s campus at 32nd and Chestnut. The two-story University City Shack includes a patio for al fresco dining. The restaurant will be open daily from 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.

This is the second Shake Shack location in Philadelphia – the first one opened in summer 2012 in Center City at 20th and Sansom.

Recently, we reported that two other popular food joints have chosen West Philly for their new locations. HipCityVeg opened this week on 40th Street between Walnut and Locust and Federal Donuts is coming to our area in early 2014.

Photo from HipCityVeg’s Facebook page.

In July, we reported that Nicole Marquis, owner of HipCityVeg—the to-die-for vegan eatery east of the Schuylkill River—is bringing her jewel of Rittenhouse Square to West Philly. Well, turns out HipCityVeg’s second location, which will make itself home in the former Won Oriental Restaurant space at 214 South 40th Street (between Walnut and Locust), is opening this week (thanks to Philly.com for the heads up on both accounts). If all goes well with construction today, HipCityVeg’s West Philly spot should open tomorrow, Melissa, a worker at HipCityVeg’s 127 S. 18th Street location, told West Philly Local.

HipCityVeg’s West Philly hours are tentatively 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., with a possible later closing time Thursday through Saturday, said Jess, another HipCityVeg employee. Jess also added that the hours are “up in the air,” though, and management will have a better sense of how to move forward after the weekend. We’ll update this post when we have more info.

–Annamarya Scaccia

Photo by Michael Persico.

The news has spread like wild fire and we’re also happy to let our readers know – Philly’s homegrown fried chicken and donut shop Federal Donuts has set its eyes west of center and is expected to open a location at 3428 Sansom Street, which is on Penn’s campus. This will be the third location for this popular local chain. The somewhat bad news is that the new shop is not expected to open before early 2014. We’ll keep you posted on the date when we know more.

Th American Red Cross does tons of great work in the city. In our neck of the woods, they run the Red Cross House at 4000 Powelton, which provides families displaced by disaster in the area a well-appointed, private, free place to stay. This Saturday the Red Cross is gathering about a dozen barbecue vendors in the parking lot at 39th and Market streets for a cook-off.

This thing runs from noon to 4 p.m. and will feature a cook-off among some of the area’s leading BBQ restaurants and vendors. Several local bands will provide the music and there will be plenty of activities for kids.

All proceeds will benefit Red Cross House and Red Cross disaster relief efforts.

In the last 24 hours, 34 people needed Red Cross assistance after their homes were destroyed by fire. 32 of those people are now staying at the Red Cross House in West Philly.

Click here for ticket info.