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With a String of Spring Wins, No Excuse for Inaction

Submitted by Real Food Challenge
on May 15, 2013

This post is by David Schwartz, Campaign Director for Real Food Challenge.

Today, we are proud to announce 6 new colleges and universities that have signed on to the Real Food Campus Commitment--together shifting nearly $4 million away from an corporate-industrial model of agriculture, and towards more just and sustainable alternatives.
 
These real food pioneers are: Massachusetts’ Clark University and UMass Amherst, Vermont’s Lyndon State College and Sterling College, Warren Wilson College in North Carolina, and Cornell College in Iowa. 

'Ready When You Are': Aramark, Minority Farmers, and Real Food in Mississippi

Submitted by Real Food Challenge
on May 1, 2013

This post is from Bonnie May Maye, Southeast Regional Field Organizer. This is the third in a series of blog posts from the Southeast Aramark Road Trip. Follow the road trip on Tumblr, and click here to get involved. 

“We’re ready to sell whenever students are ready,” said Mississippi farmer Ben Burkett. 
 
Towards the end of our Southeast Aramark Road Trip, we stopped by Petal, Mississippi to visit Ben Burkett and Joe Barnes, two farmers with the Indian Springs Farmers Cooperative – a cooperative of African-American farmers who started pooling their resources together in 1981 so they could get better prices for their produce.
 

Real Food for the Crimson Tide: Winning Food Chain Transparency at the University of Alabama

Submitted by Real Food Challenge
on April 11, 2013

This post is from Bonnie May Maye, Southeast Regional Field Organizer. This is the second in a series of blog posts from the Southeast Aramark Road Trip. Follow the road trip on Tumblr, and click here to get involved.


"It's so exciting to finally have achieved what we have been working toward for the past two years,” reflected student leader Olivia Bensinger after our visit to the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, half-way through our Road Trip visiting schools with Aramark Dining Services throughout the Southeast.

Sodexo and Real Food Challenge Sign Food Chain Transparency Agreement

Submitted by Real Food Challenge
on April 4, 2013


Addressing the interests of a growing student food movement, Sodexo provides a larger window on the sources of the foods they provide on campus

Gaithersburg, Md. April 4, 2013 — Amidst growing demands from college students for university leadership in sustainable, local food systems, today Sodexo, a leader in Quality of Life Services, and the Real Food Challenge, the largest student food justice organization in the nation, jointly announced an agreement that advances supply chain transparency on Sodexo-contracted campuses. 

From Chicken Scandal to Real Change: Visions for a Real Food Economy from University of South Florida

Submitted by Real Food Challenge
on April 2, 2013

This post is from Bonnie May Maye, Southeast Regional Field Organizer. This is the first in a series of blog posts from the Southeast Aramark Road Trip. Follow the road trip on Tumblr, and click here to get involved. 

A year ago, students at University of South Florida showed overwhelming support for a ballot initiative about whether the school should sign the Real Food Campus Commitment and source at least 20% Real Food on campus.

Oberlin College Signs Real Food Campus Commitment!

Submitted by Real Food Challenge
on March 26, 2013
 
This blog post comes from an article by Liv Combe, a student at Oberlin College & Conservatory in Oberlin, OH, published on the school's online news site The Source. Photo by Yvette Chen. 
 

Krislov Signs Real Food Campus Commitment

by LIV COMBE ’12
 
March 17, 2013

On Wednesday, March 13, President Marvin Krislov and Dean of Students Eric Estes signed the Real Food Campus Commitment, thus pledging to adopt a comprehensive real food policy and multiyear action plan to achieve the goal of buying 40 percent real food by 2020.

Empty Calories: What’s Missing from the Debate Over NYC’s Soda “Ban”

Submitted by Real Food Challenge
on March 18, 2013

This post is by Anim Steel, the Director of Real Food Generation, which sponsors the Live Real initiative and the Real Food Challenge campaign.

Last week, a New York state judge struck down the Bloomberg administration’s attempt to limit the sizes of certain sugary drinks sold in the city.

As the co-founder of one real food campaign, I’ve been following the coverage and public commentary with great interest, and I’m struck by what I hear.  Or don’t hear, rather.  

$48 million and rising: student campaigns transform cafeteria food service

Submitted by Real Food Challenge
on March 4, 2013

This post is from David Schwartz, Campaign Director for Real Food Challenge. 

 
 
Arizona State. Bunker Hill Community College. Ole Miss. UPenn. Gonzaga.

No, this is not an odd new athletic conference.  But, following a recent 200+ student summit in Baltimore, teams on each of these campuses are competing -- for the most ambitious campus food policy in the nation. 

BG2013: Meeting Food Justice in Baltimore

Submitted by Real Food Challenge
on February 21, 2013

This post is from Hannah Wolfe, Communications Intern for Real Food Challenge. Follow her on Twitter.

 
 
Over President’s Day weekend, 230+ students from 73 colleges and universities gathered in Baltimore, MD for Breaking Ground 2013, our second national summit! 
 
Converging on the campus of Johns Hopkins University, students and organizers from across the country shared stories and campaign strategy, attended and facilitated workshops, and realized the collective power of our network and movement - all over some delicious plates of food. 
 
Here's a quick rundown of the weekend! 

A Who's Who of Breaking Ground

Submitted by Real Food Challenge
on February 9, 2013

This post is from Hannah Wolfe, Communications Intern for Real Food Challenge. 

 
Over President's Day weekend, students from nearly 90 colleges and universities will converge in Baltimore, MD for Breaking Ground 2013, Real Food Challenge's second national summit. 

Students are traveling from as far as Arizona, Washington, and even Alaska (seriously!) to join us, so we thought we'd give everyone a preview of the stellar real food work these students are bringing to the table.

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