Get to know Real Food Challenge OU’s mission for local food and sustainability at panel and potluck.
With an abundance of local farmers and producers in the Athens area, Real Food Challenge OU is initiating a reason for Ohio University to begin utilizing its resources.
“Athens is an incredible community doing a lot of stuff with local food,” Tess Hickey, a freshman studying environmental geography, said. “The fact that we’re not supporting that as much as we can is just unfortunate.”
On Thursday, Real Food Challenge will host Panel & Potluck: Keepin’ It Real in the Athens Food System at 8 p.m. at United Campus Ministry.
The group hopes to increase OU’s purchase of locally grown, organic food through the national campaign.
Real Food Challenge’s goal is to convince OU President Roderick McDavis to sign a petition to join the Real Food Campus Commitment. The petition's objective is to purchase at least 20 percent of real food by 2020.
The Real Food Challenge describes real food using four main categories: local/community-based, fair, ecologically sound and humane.
“I think it’s a good idea because local and organic food is better,” Leland Scherl, a freshman studying business and economics, said. “It’s just the issue of being able to support the mass amount of students at Ohio University.”
Businesses that want to fit the Real Food Challenge criteria must practice producing with a minimal impact on the environment through production. Animals should be raised in a low-stress environment.
“That’s why Real Food Challenge is so important because it allows us to support our community more and promote sustainability,” Hickey, a coordinator of Real Food Challenge OU, said.
Panelists at the potluck will discuss their thoughts on sustainability and how to increase the use of real food on campus, Hickey said.
According to the group’s Facebook page, the list of panelists for Thursday includes Bob Fedyski, a local foods specialist with Rural Action; Larry Cowdery with the Athens Farmers Market and Cowdery Farms; and Art Trese, a plant biology professor at OU and the manager of the student gardens.
Natalie Colarossi, a coordinator of Real Food Challenge and a speaker from Green Edge Gardens, also will be on the panel.
Athens has a year-round farmers market and the 30 Mile Meal, a “super-local” food economy based within a 30-mile radius.
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OU buys the majority of its food products from Ohio producers or neighboring states, according to Culinary Services' website.
“Realistically, the only way the movement could work is by working with local growers to increase production, and there would have to be some kind of subsidizing by the state or the university to help the farmers,” Scherl said.
The panel and potluck will give students the opportunity to hear interesting perspectives on sustainability and locally grown food, all while enjoying food brought to the event, Hickey said.
“There’s a lot of stuff left that OU could be doing,” Hickey said. “You can always still do more, and there’s just no excuse for OU to stop where it is now.”
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