Fort Lewis College Real Food Challenge 2017
Story by Becca Day Photo by Richie Scheuer
On Tuesday the Real Food Challenge at Fort Lewis College will announce the winner of the February Vote Real poll. Students have the option to choose between apples, carrots or zucchini as the next item that Sodexo will serve in its organic form.
The RFC is a national organization that encourages colleges and universities across the nation to serve real foods to their students, Rachel Landis, coordinator of the Environmental Center at FLC, said.
Every few months FLC students will have the opportunity to Vote Real. Students will have two weeks to vote on which of three different items they would prefer to see in their dining hall. After ballots are totaled Sodexo will order that item in its RFC version, Alison Scheig, an environmental studies major and member of the RFC at FLC, said.
“The RFC is a national campaign and its end goal is two fold,” Landis said. “So, on one hand its end goal is to revolutionize the food system.”
The food system includes the production, delivery and consumption of food, Landis said.
The current food system works, but the concern is whether or not people are getting healthy, sustainable, and economical food that pays those involved in the food system fair wage, she said.
“The second part of the RFC mission is to empower students,” Landis said.
Across the nation, RFCs driven by student voices in partnership with food service providers are held, she said.
FLC and Sodexo signed a commitment in 2012 to the RFC saying that they would strive to achieve these goals, Cindy Walz, director of food services for Sodexo, said.
“We just started the Vote Real this year,” Walz said. “It's something that doesn't really have anything to do with the RFC. It was just an idea that Rachel Landis had.”
Each Vote Real has increased FLC’s campus Real Food percentage by 1.6 percent.
Real food as defined by the RFC national campaign is “food which truly nourishes producers, consumers, communities and the earth.”
To achieve these goals, real food is defined into four categories: organic, local, humane and fair trade, Landis said.
Sodexo decides what the options for the votes are and they do this based on price, feasibility, and accessibility, Scheig said.
“People have to understand that we're making commitments that cost money, but it's better for the environment it's better for the students and were happy to try to do it,” Walz said.
The goal of the RFC is to shift 20 percent of our food purchasing power to organic, local, humane and fair trade sources by 2020, Landis said.
“The overall goal is to make our campus and many others more sustainable and support small farmers with practices our school can stand by,” Scheig said. “The RFC raises awareness to the community about the importance of food and our human impact on the Earth.”