Campaign Toolbox
-
-
The basic building blocks for starting a campaign, organizing creative actions, and creating real food policies for your school.
-
-
-
Get the facts on community food access, how food affects the environment, the relationship between food and culture, and more!
-
- Media & Communications
- How to spread the word - both on and off campus - about the great work you're doing to support real food.
- Additional Resources
- Don't reinvent the wheel! Check out these AWESOME resources on fair trade, anti-oppression, student activism, college farms, farmworkers' rights, and more, and get the tools you need to share this information with others.
- Food Films
- Films are a great organizing tool--they are a fun and informative way to gather students on campus to get the message across. Here's a list of awesome films you might want to use on your campus.
- Films are a great organizing tool--they are a fun and informative way to gather students on campus to get the message across. Here's a list of awesome films you might want to use on your campus.
- RFC Videos
- Need an idea for a club meeting? Look no further-show one of our videos that feature our awesome staff and students and host a real food potluck.
- Commitment Toolbox
- The resources you need to get your entire campus to support real food by signing in the Real Food Campus Commitment.
- Calculator Toolbox
- The ins and outs of using the Real Food Calculator to track your school's food purchases.
Campaign Materials
- Check out food service contracts from various universities, thanks to Stir it Up!
- Also check out the University of California System's Policies on Sustainable Food Service.
Real Food Fact Sheets!
- Community Access
- Locally-produced, sustainable, healthy food is being produced more and more, across the US. But who actually gets to harvest the bounty?
- Control of Food
More and more communities around the world are losing control over their food, and the consequences are devastating. It’s harder than ever to know where our food comes from, who grew it, or how it was grown. If we can’t even answer these questions, we can’t have control over what or how we eat.
- Culture and Food
- In the United States, 1 in 5 meals is eaten in the car. Time and time again, it is said that the US is devoid of a food culture--but is that true? We all eat, so we all have experiences with food. Maybe we just need to ponder them a bit and figure out what food means to each of us, individually and collectively.
- Farmers and the Food System
- Conditions and resources vary greatly around the world, but the challenges that face farmers are pretty much the same: access to land, water, and fair markets are some of the things that all farmers hold as common struggles.
- How Food Affects our Natural Resources
- Food does not actually grow out of the plexiglas and lineoleum in a supermarket--it requires natural resources like soil, seeds, and water, as well as the maintenance of biodiversity--all of which are increasingly threatened by the expansive industrial, chemical agriculture that is destroying ecosystems and accelerating the impacts of climate change around the world.
Media & Communications
I. Outreach on Campus
A class rap is a simple 2-5 minute speech you can give right before the start of a class. It's a great way to reach a lot of students at once and get across a clear explanation of your campaign, including what they can do to help. Just email/call a professor ahead of time or show up 5 minutes before the start of class (it doesn't need to be a class you're taking). Ask if you can make a quick--no more than 5 minutes--presentation on the topic of real food. Start with small seminars and work your way up to those giant lecture halls (be bold!). Don't forget to have an action item prepared--a stack of cards you want everyone to sign as you give your spiel, or fliers for an event you want everyone to come to the next day.
To find a listing of all the major media outlets in your area, click here. Cast a wide net, and be persistent. Don’t forget blogs, campus web forums and other alternative media sources!
Media Advisory
A media advisory is an initial “heads up” to alert the press about your action, explaining the basics (who, what, where, when, and why) without giving away your story. Be sure to send it out a few days ahead of time (ex. on Monday or Tuesday for a Saturday event). Fax it or email it to your press contact. Make sure to follow up with a phone call the next day to confirm that the advisory was received. Following up also encourages the reporter to cover the event and allows you to answer any questions they might have.
Press Release
The press release tells the story of your event before it happens, helping the media write the story your way. The release should be written exactly like an ideal story would be written—this allows you to slam home your message, include quotes from event organizers, and tell a compelling story. The press release should be emailed and/or faxed out the day before the event. Follow up with a phone call a few hours later to ensure that it was received and urge them to cover the story.
Op-ed
Another way to get your story in print media is writing an Op-ed piece. Op-eds are editorial pieces that are run on the opinions page of a newspaper. They are generally 500-800 words long, include a provocative hook, vivid examples, and can be co-authored by multiple parties. Contact the editorial page editor of your local (or campus) paper well ahead of time to gauge interest. Send in your op-ed piece and follow up with a phone call or email to see if they’ve received it, will print it, and/or would like you to adjust the specifications.
Letter to the Editor
Follow up on articles about your event with a letter to the editor. Letters to the Editor are widely read, easy to get published, and generally a great way to keep the issue and dialogue alive. A letter to the editor should be short (under 250 words), respond directly to a printed article (about your event or a different, relevant story) and be submitted as soon as possible after the fact. Follow up with the editor after you send it in.
Radio
Often underutilized by most campus activists, radio (student or local) can be a great way to get a message out about your action to a large number of people. Call up your local station and ask to speak to the newsroom or news editor. They may not be able to send out a reporter, but make sure to ask to record a short “radio feed” (a 30 second sound clip) or a “radio actuality” (a collection of quotations from you separated by a bit of silence, to be inserted individually into their news reports) that they’ll play throughout the day. Make sure to ask for the editor’s name and when the clips will pay on the air.
This document outlines some simple talking points for you to use when talking to 1) student leaders and activists, 2) other campus administrators and stakeholders, 3) movement allies, and 4) the media. The Background Document describes the Real Food Challenge in more depth, including and overview of the campaign, network, and history of the challenge. Remember to rehearse your talking points before contacting the media. When talking to the media make sure to keep it succinct, and repeat your central message over and over again.
Additional Web Resources from Partner Organizations
- Campus Food
- Student Activism
- Local Food
- College Farms
- Fair Trade
- Farm Workers' Rights
- Food Policy
- Anti-Oppression
- Definitions
CAMPUS FOOD
This guide provides a general overview for institutions of all types universities, hospitals, municipalities, and others on how to develop, implement and promote a practical sustainable food purchasing policy.
Focusing on Farm-to-School and Farm-to-Institution programs, this guide runs through the many benefits as well as constraints and challenges of initiating and maintaining such a program. It also discusses topics such as purchasing contracts, government programs, and implementation steps.
Tips for Dining Administrators, Family Farmers & Student Advocates. This guide provides tangible guidance on how to conceptualize, structure, and implement food programs that support local family farmers.
A comprehensive step-by-step guide for Chefs and Food Service Professionals on how to integrate local food into their operations. Provides great advice and insider tips (including industry case studies) on how to get it done.
This report by Oxfam America offers provides strategies on getting sustainable food into schools and offers resources to help you on your campus.
Cornell's Farm-to-School program has put together a toolkit which includes a section on understanding the basics, food service and college dining realities, building relationships, and further resources.
Look here for a wealth of information on Farm-to-College programs around the country. Make sure to check out the extensive list of links and publications on the topic. Also, the site provides a number of graphs and charts for some concrete numbers.
Includes promotional sheets for students interested in starting Farm to College programs at their educational institution. Use them as campaign fliers to get other students, faculty and food service personnel working for your cause. Other tools for food and farming advocates.
Includes publications, news & events, funding opportunities, groups and organizations, and policy/legislation.
Includes policy profiles of select universities and companies, reports from programs, and purchasing guides.
In response to the growing demand for locally-grown and sustainable foods, Sustainable Food Systems, a unique consulting and technical assistance service, helps organizations and institutions consider and implement social, ecological and delicious modifications to their current food service delivery.
This blog is to create a space for students to discuss the initiatives at their colleges and universities to increase the presence of organic/real food. It will be a forum to ask questions, give advice, and share stories.
STUDENT ACTIVISM
This super-helpful document will walk you, step by step, through planning a successful campaign on campus. The guide offers questions to help you frame your issue, determine organizational and campaign goals, identify targets and allies, set your strategy and tactics, and more!
Another, simpler, chart with helpful questions to assist you in planning any initiative on campus.
A tool for affirming and expanding people's viewpoint.
Learn more about The Center for Inclusion's highly sophisticated framework for understanding modern oppression and the connection between racism and the Food System. Offers a powerful history lesson on the development and maintenance of the US food system as seen through the lens of race and class. Audio lecture with power point (83mins).
This interactive slideshow and accompanying talking points explain how Americans' understand food, agriculture, and food systems; it also explores the themes of individual consumerism and collective change. Based on extensive focus group testing and interviews.
Basic primers for getting started, developing campaign strategy, building effective organizations, doing press work, planning direct actions, and more.
Information on recruitment, leadership development, grassroots organizing, and working with the media.
Advice on: Developing a Non-Hierarchical Structure in your group, Leadership, Recruitment, How to run a meeting, Financing your organization, Media, Food Service Providers, Campaigning, Actions, and More!
Focused on environmental and climate change campaigns, this site offers a variety of documents on organizing as well as skills-training power points for student activists and leaders of all types.
LOCAL FOOD
An online directory of local and sustainably produced food.
Will help you find farmers' markets, family farms, and other sources of sustainably grown food in your area, where you can buy produce, grass-fed meats, and many other goodies.
Listings for local food directories and promotional programs, searchable by state.
COLLEGE FARMS
This comprehensive guide will help you start a garden on your campus. It was written by a student, for students, so be sure to check it out. A huge thank you to Louisa Denison from Harvard for writing this great resource.
Most guides to colleges don't index schools by farming opportunities, so here's The New Farm's preliminary guide to farms on campus. The list is arranged regionally; each entry includes the name of the farm, year founded, acres in cultivation, primary markets, and web address if available. They've focused here on campus farms that provide substantial, hands-on, small-scale farming experience to undergraduate and graduate students; many also offer programs for children and the general public.
Sustainable Agriculture Education Association's Student Farm Database
A great list of student farms by region. This organization also has a great list of formal sustainable agriculture degree and certificate programs for those wishing to take their learning to the next level!
FAIR TRADE
A great guide all about why to support Fair Trade and how to support Fair Trade in you home and community. It explains the social and environmental justifications as well as offers information on how to best organize to get Fair Trade products.
Another colorful and comprehensive guide on the power of Fair Trade and the many products available around the world. Includes producer profiles.
Check out this page for great essays on Fair Trade, including theses written by politically savvy Fair Trade student activists. Also download USFT's Organizing Guide for advice on developing a non-hierarchical structure in your group, leadership, recruitment, how to run a meeting, financing your organization, media, food service providers, campaigning, and actions.
Check this site out for all the basics on Fair Trade in the US, including a brief history, advanced FAQ on growth and change in the Fair Trade movement, as well as information on certification and specific product programs. Brought to you by Transfair, the only third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in the US.
An information hub designed to grow the Fair Trade Movement. The site offers a great library of recommended books and films as well as resources for teaching elementary and high school students about Fair Trade.
Simply put, this site provides information on the international standards that define what "fair trade" officially means.
A list of Fair Trade information including downloadable fliers and other documents on specific products as well as a highly detailed and interactive 8-module curriculum for teaching the core principles behind Fair Trade.
FARM WORKERS' RIGHTS
The CIW is a community-based worker organization who fights for, among other things: a fair wage, more respect on the part of their bosses and the industries where they work, better and cheaper housing, stronger laws and stronger enforcement against those who would violate workers' rights, the right to organize on the job without fear of retaliation, and an end to indentured servitude in the fields.
SFA is a national network of students, youth and other community members organizing with farmworkers to eliminate sweatshop conditions and modern-day slavery in the fields. Check out their site for action ideas, organizing tools, and other information on their campaigns.
SAF brings students and farmworkers together to learn about each other’s lives, share resources and skills, improve conditions for farmworkers, and build diverse coalitions working for social change.
The Alliance for Fair Food is a network of human rights, religious, student, labor, and grassroots organizations who work in partnership with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW).
FOOD POLICY
A monitor of U.S. and world agriculture from the Institute of Agriculture and Trade Policy.
Tons of up-to-date information on the US [Food and] Farm Bill, including farm bill basics, legislative tracking, and action alerts, as well as links and resources for budding electoral activists.
From the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.
ANTI-OPPRESSION
From their Food Security Learning Center, a great set of online resources, plus profiles of prominent anti-racist food system leaders including Maya Wiley of the Center for Social Inclusion and Hank Herrera from Oakland's HOPE Collaborative.
VISIONS
VISIONS Inc. is a nonprofit enterprise that provides training and consultation to organizations, communities and individuals seeking to achieve greater effectiveness in a multicultural setting. The Food Project (Real Food Challenge's founding lead sponsor) has used their services for program development over many years.
Growing Food and Justice Initiative
The Growing Food and Justice for All Initiative (GFJI), hosted by Growing Power, Inc. is a new comprehensive network that views dismantling racism as a core principal that brings together social change agents from diverse sectors working to bring about new, healthy and sustainable food systems and supporting and building multicultural leadership in impoverished communities throughout the world.
DEFINITIONS
Overview of many issues including workers, irradiation, waste, the environment, animal welfare, etc.
Food Films
Films are a great organizing tool--they are a fun and informative way to gather students on campus to get the message across. Here's a great list of films you might want to use on your campus.
FRESH celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system. The film is an activist tool, available to anyone who wants to galvanize and educate their community. To learn how to get FRESH on your campus, please visit the FRESH Student Activism site. Running time: 72 min.
FRESH discussion guide. pdf.
FRESH fact sheet made by National Family Farm Coalition. pdf.
More FRESH resources here.
Real Food Now. This is a short video that explains RFC and aims to get students involved in taking the challenge. Running time: 5:30 min.
Food, Inc. This blockbuster is aimed at engaging the general public, and exposing what our food system really is about. Running time: 94 min.
The Garden. A documentary about a community fighting to save their 14 acre garden in South Central LA. Running time: 80 min.
The Greenhorns. A documentary about young farmers in the food movement. Still in post production.
Media that Matters: Good Food. A collection of short films on food and sustainability. Running time: varies.
Two Angry Moms. Amy Kalafa, a concerned mom and filmaker, and Susan Rubin, a school food activist, team up to fight for better school food. Running time: 86 min full length; 60 min conference length.
King Corn. A documentary about two friends that decide to grow their own corn in Iowa and discover shocking things about our food system. Running time: 90 min.
Grow! This film documents a new generation of farmers choosing an agrarian life over the urban ecology so many young, educated 20- and 30-somethings choose.
- RFC Webisodes: What is Real Food? | What Can We Change? | The Future.
- Hai Vo on the Real Food Calculator - Brower Youth Award
- Tim Galarneau - "Empowering College Students to Control What They Eat," TEDx Fruitville
- Anim Steel - "Three Doors," Bioneers Conference, 2011
**Want to show these videos at your group's meeting? Check out our Guide to Viewing Parties to get you started!**
What is the Real Food Challenge? How can you make change on your campus? Watch these 3 episodes to see who we are, what we believe and how we make real change!
Episode 2: What can we change?
Is your school looking to pilot the calculator? Watch this video that showcases Hai Vo, who ran the calculator at UC Irvine and won the Brower Youth Award in 2009!
Hai Vo - Brower Youth Award Video 2009
Watch Tim Galarneau give a TEDtalk about his journey in the food justice movement and the inspiration that led to the creation of RFC!
Tim Galarneau - Empowering College Students to Control What They Eat - TEDx Fruitville
Anim Steel gives an insightful and poignant talk on the importance of RFC, how far we've come already, and the work still left to accomplish. He spoke at the 2011 Bioneers conference in San Rafael, CA.
"Three Doors" Part 1: