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18 June: what is celebrated today
There are dates that read like a menu of an era: what we eat, what we say, what we breathe and what we decide to keep quiet. 18 June brings together everyday pleasures and necessary warnings, as if the calendar reminded us that life is sustained by details — a shared dish, a timely word — and also by invisible responsibilities. Today, culture is served in small portions, but with great consequences.
Sustainable Gastronomy Day
The UN has promoted this date since 2017 (proposed by APEGA) to remind us that eating is also a way of voting for the world we want. Sustainable gastronomy is not a fad: it is the idea of choosing foods that protect biodiversity, respect those who produce them and reduce the impact on soil, water and the climate.
In practice, it sounds less solemn: buy seasonal produce, favour local food, plan so as not to throw food away, cook with more vegetables, avoid unnecessary packaging. Sometimes sustainability starts in a small kitchen, when we understand that the future also simmers slowly.
International Day for Countering Hate Speech
Since 2022, the UN has marked 18 June as a reminder that violence does not always come in the form of blows: it often enters through phrases, labels, mockery and messages that dehumanise. Hate speech feeds on prejudice and finds in new technologies a fast, difficult-to-stop loudspeaker.
Countering it does not require heroics, but habits: verify before sharing, do not normalise what is humiliating, report it when appropriate, and sustain conversations where nuance has a place. Tolerance, in the end, is also a form of public hygiene.
International Sushi Day
It began as a popular initiative in 2009 and today has something of a global celebration about it: sushi has travelled from the past into the present as a dish that adapts without losing its ritual. Vinegared rice, small bites, different names according to shape: behind the trend is a long tradition with ancient roots in Asia.
Celebrating it can be as simple as looking at the dish with curiosity: understanding the ingredients, respecting the craft, enjoying it without haste. Sometimes eating is also a miniature history lesson.
World Day Against Incineration
This day focuses on an industrial practice which, despite its apparent “solution”, leaves a toxic trail. Waste incineration can release dangerous pollutants — dioxins, furans and heavy metals — with serious effects on health and the environment, which is why there are calls for more prevention, reduction and less harmful alternatives.
The underlying conversation is uncomfortable but clear: if we produce rubbish as though the planet had spare parts, any disposal system will be insufficient. Reduce, reuse and recycle are not slogans; they are collective self-defence.
International Falafel Day
A humble croquette that became an emblem. Falafel — made from chickpeas or broad beans, spices and herbs — belongs to Middle Eastern cuisine and carries a pleasant mystery: its exact origin is debated, with Egypt among the most frequently repeated theories.
Some dishes travel because they are simple and generous: they are eaten in the street, shared, accompanied by pitta bread, hummus or tahini. Celebrating it means giving in to that happy idea: vegetarian food can also be festive, filling and popular.
International Picnic Day
A picnic is a pause with a landscape. This celebration, born in the United States and increasingly widespread, requires no etiquette: just a blanket, easy-to-carry food and permission to be outdoors without performance or haste.
Perhaps that is why it works so well in a fast-paced world: the picnic gives us back the body — grass, shade, air — and turns food into a moment of togetherness, rather than a task.
World Autistic Pride Day
Since 2005, this date has sought more than “raising awareness”: it wants to change the framework. Speaking of autistic pride means recognising neurodiversity, reducing discrimination and pushing society towards real acceptance: appropriate support, respect, participation and less prejudice.
Pride here is not a spectacle: it is dignity. It is saying, without apologising, that every way of perceiving the world deserves space and understanding.
World Kidney Cancer Day
The third Thursday in June is dedicated to raising the profile of this cancer and reminding people of the importance of early diagnosis: it often progresses without clear symptoms in its initial stages. The campaign stresses information, support and honest conversations between patients, carers and professionals.
At heart, it is another call to listen: pay attention to the body's signs, ask for help in time, do not walk alone. Health should not depend on luck, but on access and shared care.