Food & Friends with NU Real Food

WHO ARE WE?

Real Food at NU (NURF) is bringing food that is local, sustainable, just, or humane to Northwestern’s dining halls and C-stores. We promote the use of this “real food” on campus, education about food systems, and community building through addressing the issues affected by food. Last year we successfully campaigned for the university to sign on to the Campus Commitment, which pledges NU to source 20 percent of its food budget as real food by 2020, according to the standards set by the national Real Food Challenge.

Now we’re making good on that commitment! We’ve established the Food Systems Working Group (FSWG), a collection of the many stakeholders in our food system, to implement shifts from non-real products to real food products in Northwestern’s dining halls and reach our 20 percent by 2020 goal. The FSWG includes (but is not limited to) stakeholders like students, faculty and staff, NU Dining employees, administration, community members, and food suppliers.

We are working to implement shifts to real food and engage the community in order to gain support and build awareness about these shifts and their impact on students, workers, animals, and ecosystems around the world. As part of our community-building efforts, we are launching a project to foster discussion in the Northwestern community about the food system and its far-reaching impacts. We proudly present: the Food & Friends Project!

OUR PROJECT

The Food & Friends project will bring Northwestern students together for a real food Thanksgiving meal and meaningful dialogue about the impact of food on their lives as well as its larger implications.

Students will choose from conversation topics based on the four pillars of real food and the issues associated with them, like the environment, human rights, animal rights, and community empowerment. After a brief discussion of what the meal is and what it represents, we will break into small group discussions facilitated by Real Food at NU members.

Through fostering conversation among the Northwestern community we hope to raise awareness, get people thinking about the food system, and gain support for the real food model to create a food system that nourishes consumers, producers, communities, and our earth.

This is where we need your help to bring the Northwestern community to the table. Your support will provide Northwestern students with real food and a chance to learn more about it. Make this event a reality by making your gift today!