Food Day was a resounding success- with soups from the Retreat and challah from Challah for Hunger, we were well fed as we talked about the food issues in and around Vassar. We heard from Susan Grove with the Poughkeepsie Farm Project, which has recently completed a survey on food security in the City of Poughkeepsie. The results are sobering- today, one in four households in Poughkeepsie are food insecure. So how do we go about effecting change in our own neighbourhood? Volunteering with the PFP is an excellent way to get involved- Vassar students have the potential to be a powerful force for good in our community!
We also heard from Ken Oldehoff, the Director of Marketing and Sustainability for Campus Dining. He’s been with the College for 32 years, and gave us a history of sustainability at campus dining through the years. We’re lucky to have someone as experienced and knowledgeable as him working for better food at Vassar!
We then broke into focus groups to talk about what students can do- we talked about creating a CSA integrated into senior housing, making Poughkeepsie Farm Project information more accessible to students, and advocating for healthier foodservice options through our foodservice provider, Aramark.
Hopefully this won’t be the end of the discussion- we at Slow Food are looking to make sure that these collaborative efforts will continue throughout the semester and the year. After all, it’s better when you work together- and our fellow sustainability orgs are formidable allies!
*Thanks to the Office of Sustainability for the photo
