Food Day promotes sustainability at VCU

Alix Hines
Contributing Writer

Students, experts and activists gathered to promote healthy, sustainable dining and to learn how to eat well on a budget during three days’ worth of events for National Food Day.

Representatives from VCU, the Fulton Hill area and other organizations working across the city met on Oct. 22 to discuss access to healthy food in Richmond in a “Food Justice in Our Community” panel discussion.

Cameron Carter, instructor of field education for VCU’s School of Social Work, said that the panel offered information about the areas of need in Richmond.

“Some people call those food deserts, where there’s a lack of healthy, fresh, affordable food. There will be opportunities for students to learn what’s currently going on to address need in those particular areas and how they can get involved with that,” Carter said.

Students who attended the panel discussion were encouraged to come out to the Byrd House Market on Oct. 23 for a $10 student produce box. The box included carrots, radishes, peppers, salad and apples, all locally grown by Origins Farm. Origins Farm also sponsored the documentary screening of “Ingredients,” a film aimed at highlighting locally grown, sustainable food, after the farmers market. VCU student Rachel Roche said she decided to come to the Byrd House Market because locally grown food is difficult to find at grocery stores.

“I hope that a lot of people will actually see how good this (is) and enjoy it,” Roche said. She said she hopes more people will ask for another food day to promote farmers markets and organic food.

“(Buying locally-grown food) helps support the local market and gets the local people’s name out so we can help support the local economy more than big companies like Kroger,” said Jamison Ryder, a spokesperson for The VCU Wellness Resource Center.

VCU Dining Services focused on promoting sustainability and eating locally-grown, healthy meals by changing its menu on Oct. 24. Bryan Zingmark, the environmental sustainability intern for VCU Dining Services, said that Shafer, Market 810 and Jonah’s all featured menus with food grown locally. The menu ranged from kale salad with tahini to seafood paella.

“VCU Dining really recognizes the importance of sourcing locally, sourcing local food and providing that service to the students here. It’s just important to us to find farmers that grow in this area and bring their products and vegetables here to campus,” Zingmark said. According to the Dining Services website, VCU buys 28 percent of the food used by dining services from farms within 200 miles of campus.

Dining services also threw a “Plant Party” in front of Shafer Court Dining Center and Jonah’s. Zingmark said recyclable containers were given to students to plant their own herbs, along with growing instructions. He explained that the goal is to communicate the benefits of growing one’s own food.

After attending several of the Food Day events at VCU, senior Yuni Jang said she hopes that this isn’t just a one-day celebration. She explained that her favorite part about the Food Day celebration was that she was able to purchase fresh vegetables and bread that she couldn’t get at a normal grocery store.

Mary Carter, a spokesperson for The Wellness Resource Center, said although sometimes it’s easier to eat out or pick up something just as unhealthy at Shafer, it’s important for students to learn how to eat healthy during school.

Jang said she would be more likely to eat at Shafer if the normal selection was as healthy as it was on Food Day. She reasoned that if VCU Dining treated every day as a “food day” on campus, students could “think more about what we are
actually eating.”