Oct. 5th-11th: RFC madness!
We have a colorful Food Day sheet banner that Reconnecters painted up in the student union.. check it out!
This week:
-- worked on the (very) rough draft for the letter. Rick says he will have something to add to it for next week. I post this last for you all to look at.
-- I also talked to Matt, my friend and the RFC coordinator for the southeast. He was an AWESOME help and picked the best time to call and check up on our progress while I was stressing out about everything.
I updated him on what all was going on, Food Day, creating a big buzz on campus about it and all the students getting interested, the kind of shaky relationship with Aramark and what happened to Rick, wanting to get direct contracts, and the letter I'm working on. He thinks our goal to get direct contracts & with a less friendly campus dining may be a bit too ambitious, but he was supportive.
He also linked me to the RFC Grassroots Leadership Project: http://realfoodchallenge.org/GLP where schools who are already deep into starting their RFC campaigns on their campuses can apply with what they're doing. It wouldn't be a lot of extra work to apply, but it would hook us up with a network of other schools who are also heavily campaigning for Real Food on their college campuses, which would provide a network of other schools where we can learn from each other and see each other's progress. I'm going to find two more Reconnecters to sign up for this!
-- I also called Ben Burkett and talked to Darnella too. They are both very excited and glad to hear that Food Day is still on. Ben Burkett assured me that there will be PLENTY of food. He also let me know there will be kale and turnips too, in addition to the other stuff (arugula lettuce, spinach, green onion, collard greens, turnip greens, sweet potatoes, and possibly pecans.. oh gods I hope so).
-- talked to Jim McHodgkins. He said that since the upstairs dining area where Career Counseling is is used by students for studying, we probably can't use that area. He did say we can close off part of the student union, the part towards the end where the ceiling is about 8 feet high.. anyone know what he's talking about?? Either way, he said we will have an area for watching food, and that we don't have to fill out paperwork for it. He said just to inform Johnathan Ambrose about it. I will talk to him soon to double-check on all of this.
-- also ran into a Computer Science/IT professor (maybe Sole knows him?) but he had a long complicated name and I don't remember it. I have his card. He said he is teaching Environmental Health. He said that Tim could speak to his class, but that we would have to figure out something to talk about with environmental laws because that's what they're learning in class.
I also need to talk to Chad Winters about getting Tim to speak to the larger theater classes, but I figure Tim has a lot of classes for now. Plus Chad's play is being put on this week so I figure I will talk to him next week when things are less stressful. I also want to see about getting some more biology classes.
"Data:" When I went to the student union to put up the glorious Food Day banner, I unfortunately went alone, and I've never put up a sheet banner so it was quite a hassle. (thank goodness for Donna and the SGA office for helping me with supplies) A student named Neva stopped by and helped me, and when she asked about what it was for I told her it was for Food Day, and she said that she heard of it from Tim coming to her 101 class with Hensley to speak about it. She was really nice and stayed to help me put up the troublesome banner, even though she had to get to class right after. I like to think she was interested in Food Day before and just happened to walk by at the most opportune time to help me with it, so she was doing her part for Food Day. But she was probably just nice even if she didn't care about Food Day. (:
I also ran into more random people I don't know but who recognized me from the school website as well as being "the purple-haired girl" and "oh god you cut your hair!" Next time this happens again I'll make sure to remind them about Food Day again.
Time for the letter rough draft. First of all, I had no idea what to write, so it may be completely off. Thankfully it's just the rough draft. I also wish I could find data on how getting more real food has helped universities with students buying more meal plans, retention rates, etc. I used data from all Aramark schools, and all information from their websites and not from private e-mail conversations (I'll double-check on this later though).
The letter is also pretty long - sorry. I know it is supposed to be brief, but I couldn't stop myself from explaining everything in-depth because to me it seems like all important information, but in class we can cut it down. I also need to make it more cheerful... Tim also suggested maybe that we quote Aramark's "sustainability mission," in there, but it might be too long already? Thoughts? I made sure to use Dr. Crain's mission statement for the university at least. Perhaps there is also some kind of quote we can include about the farming history of SELU itself?
Oh, and I also want to include the Food Day graphic Adam found somewhere near the end.
Okay, enough stalling. Here's what I have:
------------------------------------------
This week:
-- worked on the (very) rough draft for the letter. Rick says he will have something to add to it for next week. I post this last for you all to look at.
-- I also talked to Matt, my friend and the RFC coordinator for the southeast. He was an AWESOME help and picked the best time to call and check up on our progress while I was stressing out about everything.
I updated him on what all was going on, Food Day, creating a big buzz on campus about it and all the students getting interested, the kind of shaky relationship with Aramark and what happened to Rick, wanting to get direct contracts, and the letter I'm working on. He thinks our goal to get direct contracts & with a less friendly campus dining may be a bit too ambitious, but he was supportive.
He gave some great advice, or rather reminded me of something really important I over-looked. It's the Real Food Challenge commitment: http://realfoodchallenge.org/commitment This is something that we would give to Dr. Crain (or whoever) along with the letter we're writing up. It is basically something for our school to sign if they agree with the Real Food Challenge and agree to commit to it over a long period of time. Even if they don't agree to everything all at once (direct contracts, for example) getting them to sign the commitment would ensure that our school would at least be making progress to the RFC goal over time. I can't believe I forgot about this.
He also linked me to the RFC Grassroots Leadership Project: http://realfoodchallenge.org/GLP where schools who are already deep into starting their RFC campaigns on their campuses can apply with what they're doing. It wouldn't be a lot of extra work to apply, but it would hook us up with a network of other schools who are also heavily campaigning for Real Food on their college campuses, which would provide a network of other schools where we can learn from each other and see each other's progress. I'm going to find two more Reconnecters to sign up for this!
-- I also called Ben Burkett and talked to Darnella too. They are both very excited and glad to hear that Food Day is still on. Ben Burkett assured me that there will be PLENTY of food. He also let me know there will be kale and turnips too, in addition to the other stuff (arugula lettuce, spinach, green onion, collard greens, turnip greens, sweet potatoes, and possibly pecans.. oh gods I hope so).
-- talked to Jim McHodgkins. He said that since the upstairs dining area where Career Counseling is is used by students for studying, we probably can't use that area. He did say we can close off part of the student union, the part towards the end where the ceiling is about 8 feet high.. anyone know what he's talking about?? Either way, he said we will have an area for watching food, and that we don't have to fill out paperwork for it. He said just to inform Johnathan Ambrose about it. I will talk to him soon to double-check on all of this.
-- also ran into a Computer Science/IT professor (maybe Sole knows him?) but he had a long complicated name and I don't remember it. I have his card. He said he is teaching Environmental Health. He said that Tim could speak to his class, but that we would have to figure out something to talk about with environmental laws because that's what they're learning in class.
I also need to talk to Chad Winters about getting Tim to speak to the larger theater classes, but I figure Tim has a lot of classes for now. Plus Chad's play is being put on this week so I figure I will talk to him next week when things are less stressful. I also want to see about getting some more biology classes.
"Data:" When I went to the student union to put up the glorious Food Day banner, I unfortunately went alone, and I've never put up a sheet banner so it was quite a hassle. (thank goodness for Donna and the SGA office for helping me with supplies) A student named Neva stopped by and helped me, and when she asked about what it was for I told her it was for Food Day, and she said that she heard of it from Tim coming to her 101 class with Hensley to speak about it. She was really nice and stayed to help me put up the troublesome banner, even though she had to get to class right after. I like to think she was interested in Food Day before and just happened to walk by at the most opportune time to help me with it, so she was doing her part for Food Day. But she was probably just nice even if she didn't care about Food Day. (:
I also ran into more random people I don't know but who recognized me from the school website as well as being "the purple-haired girl" and "oh god you cut your hair!" Next time this happens again I'll make sure to remind them about Food Day again.
Time for the letter rough draft. First of all, I had no idea what to write, so it may be completely off. Thankfully it's just the rough draft. I also wish I could find data on how getting more real food has helped universities with students buying more meal plans, retention rates, etc. I used data from all Aramark schools, and all information from their websites and not from private e-mail conversations (I'll double-check on this later though).
The letter is also pretty long - sorry. I know it is supposed to be brief, but I couldn't stop myself from explaining everything in-depth because to me it seems like all important information, but in class we can cut it down. I also need to make it more cheerful... Tim also suggested maybe that we quote Aramark's "sustainability mission," in there, but it might be too long already? Thoughts? I made sure to use Dr. Crain's mission statement for the university at least. Perhaps there is also some kind of quote we can include about the farming history of SELU itself?
Oh, and I also want to include the Food Day graphic Adam found somewhere near the end.
Okay, enough stalling. Here's what I have:
------------------------------------------
Dear President John Crain,
My name is Bonnie May, and I’m a student at Southeastern Louisiana University and the president of Reconnect, our environmental and sustainability student group on campus.
I am writing to you to propose an exciting change for our school that will improve the image and community of the university as a whole, as well as fulfill our bold mission statement: “… to lead the educational, economic, and cultural development of southeast Louisiana.” This change combines all three of these elements, as well as others, and it is one simple change: Food.
The Real Food Challenge (realfoodchallenge.org) is a national campaign where students work together with their campus dining representatives, faculty, and small farmers to increase access to local, sustainable, and “real” food at their universities. This task has numerous economic, educational, social, health, and environmental benefits. Supporting small local farmers puts more money into the local economy than purchasing from industrial farmers from far away would, which would allow our university to support the local community it belongs to. Food that is driven shorter distances also maintains more of its nutrients, is fresher and tastier, and consumes fewer fossil fuels. Furthermore, allowing students to get to know where their food comes from and the farmers that grow the food allows students to gain a stronger sense of community and pride for their school. Creating this simple change would provide an applied, hands-on learning experience for students where they discover how food is connecting to all of these issues.
The Real Food Challenge’s overall goal is to shift one billion dollars of university food budget money to community-based, sustainable, fair, and humane food by the year 2020. As of now, over 300 colleges already have their own farms and other farm-to-cafeteria initiatives, and about $35 million dollars of annual university food budgets have already been shifted towards obtaining more local, sustainable, and fair food.
Aramark at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, for example, sources aproximately 25% of its food from farms in a 150-mile radius. They have won numerous awards for sustainability, earning an “A-“ in Food and Recycling on the College Sustainability Report Card. Pacific University in Oregon, another Aramark school, purchases local cage-free eggs, local grass-fed beef, fair trade products, and produce from local, sustainable farms. At Arizona State University, another Aramark school, 35% of their food purchases are local while 15% of it is from a 150-mile radius. They also receive much of their food directly from farmers through monthly farmers markets and CSA’s (Community-Supported Agriculture). There are many other examples of schools that have successfully shifted toward acquiring more real food and honor small farmers proudly. We would like Southeastern Louisiana University to be one of them.
So far, there haven’t been any universities in Louisiana have succeeded in the Real Food Challenge. Southeastern Louisiana University would be the first in the state, and a leader in the region. With Louisiana’s rich agricultural history and long growing seasons, it would only be logical for our school to reap the benefits of having fresher, healthier, and more sustainable local food that puts money back into our local economy.
We have many students on campus who think this is a great idea for Southeastern, and we hope that you do too and support it. Something as simple as changing food can have a big positive impact on our school and on our university as a whole.
Thank you for your time, consideration, and hopefully your support.
Sincerely,
Bonnie May, president of Reconnect
-----------------------------
the end! Thoughts?
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