Sustainable Food Production at Universities Nationwide

Eaters must understand that how we eat determines how the world is used." – Wendell Berry

Change is happening all over our campus. Student activists are growing in population world-wide, nation-wide and throughout Northeastern's campus. The Cafeteria can be an integral part of an effort to make changes in health, agriculture, resource usage and the entire food system. When researching this topic I found many interesting articles and websites, sparking my interest in bringing this important movement to Northeastern. (I will include more information about the articles below.) Cornell University and their Department of Agriculture sponsor a Farm to School Extension program, connecting locally and sustain-ably grown food with schools from elementary to university. Occidental College recently connected the Tierra Miguel Foundation's organic farm to the Los Angeles Public schools in an effort for children to learn in a hands-on (and mouth-on!) way about agriculture and the environment. The University of Connecticut pledged last year to buy as much food locally "as possible" and has started producing honey on the property to fufill the 1,000 pounds of honey that students go through per year. The University of Vermont (UVM) currently partners with Black River Produce, supplying all of their fruit and vegetables, Champlain Orchards, supplying apples and cider, and the Vermont Fresh Network, connecting UVM to more farms in the area. Our landscaping on our city campus is beautiful. Imagine planting apple trees, squash or pumpkins in just garden plot on campus and eating that food in the Caf. Suddenly the beauty of our campus means something and is helping the environment. Chartwells, our catering and dining services provider, has just unveiled it's plan to "Go Green". How can we support them? Give them your feedback and show your appreciation of their efforts. Post your ideas here and the Housing Services Committee will bring them back to Chartwells in an effort to work together to make Northeastern greener!

The following articles were informative about this subject. I would suggest reading them for more information:

• Fresh from the Farm and Into the Classroom provides an overview and a link to a more detailed report about this program from the department of Urban and Environmental Policy at Occidental College's partnership between organic farms and Los Angeles public elementary schools.
• This article gives more information about Cornell University's successful Farm to School Program.
• This is a handbook for schools for buying and serving locally grown food in school meals provided by the USDA.
• Slow Food Nation: Come to the Table is a movement for a week of awareness of locally grown food. University Students are holding their own month of awareness and activism to get more locally grown food on the tables at their dining halls. Find out more about the Real Food Challenge at this website.
• This is a link to the Uconn newspaper article about the introduction of beehives and production of honey to their campus in an effort to become more sustainable.
• Check this site out for more information about Northeastern University Dining Halls. Discover their plan to "Go Green" by downloading the PowerPoint presentation on the home page.