Students Take on Sustainable Food
Northwestern students are involved in promoting more environmentally sustainable practices both individually and through student organizations. Real Food at NU, or NURF, is working toward a more sustainable food system on campus. Student leader Miranda Cawley (pictured with Sustainability Director Rob Whittier) provided the following update on the group’s recent activities.
Real Food at NU is a student-led campaign aimed at shifting Northwestern’s food system toward more socially just and environmentally sustainable food, or “real food.” Real Food at NU administers the working group charged with helping Northwestern reach its 20 percent real food goal by 2020.
As a part of this effort, the University recently began to source all of our produce from the Midwest Foods co-op, increasing our percentage of locally produced food. This year we are also working to help students make informed choices by reading and understanding food labels.
We held an event with Spoon Magazine at which we prepared and served meals with food that was past the shelf life on the labels, but still safe to eat. We filmed students’ reactions as we told them the food was expired, and educated them about food waste and the true meaning of food labels. At the end of the quarter, we plan to host a panel to further educate students about food labels.