Get Real! UNH and the growing student food movement

by: Ann Steeves

     Young people have always clarified the morality of our times.  This sentiment was echoed throughout this past weekend as the student organization, Get Real! UNH, had the opportunity to attend the Second Annual Real Food Challenge “Breaking Ground” National Summit.   The Real Food Challenge is a growing student movement working toward changing institutional purchasing power to create a more just and sustainable food system. I’m sure at this point you are wondering what “real food” equates to.  Real food is food that truly nourishes producers, consumers, communities, and the earth.  The Real Food Challenge has more in-depth standards for evaluation comprising of four categories: local/community-based, fair, ecologically sound, and humane.  Get Real! and our peers across the nation are using these categories to evaluate the food served in Dining Halls and work with Dining Administrators to explore different options.
     I’m sure you may be wondering how college students could possibly change the food system?  Students have the power to make real change through their University’s institutional buying power.   Let me provide some perspective: nearly two-thirds of all universities outsource their Dining services (UNH is lucky to be self-operated!).  Of this 2/3, 93% are operated by one of the top three service providers: Compass Group, Sodexho, or Aramark.  All three of these corporations operate internationally and make billions of dollars of revenue annually. Compass Group makes $20 billion, Sodexho makes $19 billion, and Aramark makes $12 billion.  With these numbers in mind, you may be surprised to learn that McDonald’s only generates an annual revenue of $24 billion globally.  Most people generalize that McDonald’s purchasing power has immense control of the food system around the world.  When observed from this perspective, however, it astonishes that only the top three institutional providers generate over twice as much in revenue.  This realization indicates the incredible purchasing power and influence on supply chains that colleges and universities are part of.
     The University of New Hampshire is proud to be a self-operated school and a leader in sustainability.  We are proud to share our inspiring initiatives with our peers across the nation.  Many schools are unable to talk with their Dining Administration, do not have any locally sourced foods, and are completely foreign to the concept of composting food waste to use in University agriculture.  We are very proud of our University’s efforts and recognize how well we compare to other schools.  The Sustainability Institute has a large presence on campus and works with Dining to assess purchases.  Through the Sustainability Academy, UNH has evaluated our Dining purchases and assessed that we have 26% of our food locally sourced within a 250 mile radius.  Get Real! and the Real Food Challenge would like to do further analysis beyond what is local to find out where we stand with national standards.  It is exciting to have a national standard for institutions to be held to.  A standard is meant to be a benchmark of quality.  Too many schools and institutions claim to be “going green” or to have their own standard of sustainability.  The implication of following one’s own standard is completely contrary to the definition of a standard. UNH is proud to be part of the movement to hold institutions accountable to national standards.  
     Our generation will bear the brunt of the current food system.  Many groups on campus recognize this and are involved with food in some way; SlowFood works to preserve and revitalize food culture, Oxfam works to address poverty and women’s rights in agriculture, the Student Environmental Action Coalition works toward changing environmental policies that are often intertwined with food policy, the Organic Garden Club works to grow real food on campus, the Freedom Café works toward raising awareness of human trafficking through serving quality coffees and teas, the Student Nutrition Association works toward educating peers on healthy food choices, and many students are studying aspects of the food system every day through UNH’s academic programs such as EcoGastronomy, Nutrition, Sustainable Agriculture, Environmental Conservation, or Resource Economics.  Get Real! UNH is all-encompassing of these issues and works to spread awareness of the great complexities and intertwined values of the food system.  Our overarching message is that every aspect of society can be connected to the food system.
     Join the fight toward a more equitable world and check out one of our meetings on Mondays from 5:30- 6:30pm in MUB 114F. The food movement is here and gaining power every day.  As Carlo Petrini, Founder of the SlowFood movement states, “We are the fastest growing peaceful army in the world. The politicians don’t understand yet.”

First night helping with Cooking Matters

               On Monday I had the great pleasure and honor to help out for the local Cooking Matters program at Somersworth Middle School under coordinator Alexis Riffel. It was the second week of the six week program so things are just getting started up! During the after school program we had about a dozen middle school students join in on the fun and interactive cooking and nutrition class. We began the afternoon by sitting in a circle discussing what the group learned last week, knife skills and preparing Asian vegetables. Then we began with the lesson of the day: colorful fruits and vegetables! Before the lesson we prepped sampler platters of kale chips, snow peas, sugar snap peas, persimmon, cactus fruit, kumquats, kiwi, and star fruit. We then passed around the platters while the kids decided which new food they wanted to taste together. The nutritionist leading the lesson would let the kids openly describe this new food and to make guesses as to what it was, and then explain after what it is and why it is a healthy snack! It was a lot of fun to see the kids reactions to each of the foods, some received a sweeping appeal while others got somewhat snubbed. I really enjoyed how the majority of the kids made an effort to at least try each of the foods on their plate.

The next activity got the group jumping with excitement: the pizza challenge! We split the group up into two teams who were each responsible for crafting their own pizza with the end goal to be incorporating as many colorful veggies onto the pizza in a presentable manner. After reviewing knife skills we let the groups wander off into their masterpieces. It was great to see each team of five or more kids all working together and allowing everyone to have a say as for what was going to go on the pizzas. One of the boys came up to me and asked if he could put some of the extra fruit from the sampling on the pizza….I told him he could put whatever toppings he wanted! Because I mean…someone had to first come up with putting pineapple on pizza, so who knows…maybe kiwi and star fruit will soon be popular toppings!

While waiting for the pizzas to cook, Alexis shared with the kids a drink recipe to try at home: mixing a small amount of 100% grape juice with seltzer water. The kids went crazy over this and seemed to understand when the nutritionist explained to them that this can cut down on a lot of sugar per cup in comparison to having a full glass of grape juice. It is a really great soda alternative for both kids and families to adopt.

Excitement filled the air as the pizzas came out of the oven. You could see the pride each of them had in creating this delicious edible masterpiece! Each of them got to try a piece of their own as well as a piece from the other group’s pizza. After the lesson the kids all receive ingredient bags with all of the supplies as well as the recipe to bring home to prepare sometime that week with their families. This is great not only for helping to supply a family with food but to also encourage cooking together at home and for the kids to share an experience with the ones they love.

I am really happy to be working with this great organization for the next month or two and I hope that I can continue to help out in other ways in this organization.  

Cooking Matters is a branch of Share our Strength, a national organization with goals to end hunger in America. They have a wonderful website with loads more information as well as links for those looking to help out by donation or volunteering. Check it out! http://cookingmatters.org/

Michelle’s Trip to Zanzibar

By bryan

Michelle Wong in Zanzibar

Michelle Wong, an EcoGastronomy Major at UNH and a longtime friend of Island Creek is on assignment for us in Zanzibar.  She will be blogging about her time in Stonetown, the women she is meeting and her impressions of this far-away place.  Michelle’s mission is to visit chefs at local restaurants and resorts to promote the use of the shellfish that will someday be generated by the village hatcheries ICOF and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution are developing.

Zanzibar, January 16, 2013

It’s the kind of heat that you feel instantly; a heavy and humid heat that turns your sweat to candlewax and soaks through your clothes. It’s the kind of air so thick you have to fight your way through it; pushing particles aside as you walk, swimming in a jar of warm honey.
The sun is high and burns off the remaining clouds that welcomed our ferry into Zanzibar’s port with a sprinkling of rain. The harbor’s mouth is dappled with a collection of forever-fluctuating sandbars that gleam like golden brushstrokes in the water, and ancient dhows trail our wake with their tea-stained triangular sails.  Stone Town, a world heritage site and my new home for the next month is visible from the water as we approach. For the next four weeks, I will be involved with a project three years in the making. A collaborative effort between the University of Dar Es Salam (IMS), the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI), and Island Creek Oysters Foundation  (ICOF), aims to introduce shellfish hatchery and cultivation techniques to villages in Zanzibar, a small island off the coast of Tanzania that is about six-times the size of Nantucket.
Seafood is the primary source of protein on the island and can be found on practically every menu you come across. While the men traditionally catch fish, it is the women who harvest shellfish. In coastal villages along east Africa including those on Zanzibar, it is common to see women on the flats at low tide in search of wild clams, oysters, and cockles; their silhouettes bent over double, digging into the mud, still draped in their brightly-colored robes and scarves. The harvested shellfish is boiled, dried, and taken to local fish markets to be sold. In villages scattered along Menai Bay where the IMS-WHOI-ICOF team has been focusing most of their efforts, wild shellfish stocks are becoming increasingly harder to access. The women in some villages, who already are walking a mile to reach the product, are forced to walk even further, sometimes up to their necks in water.

For the past three years, the project has focused on establishing a shellfish hatchery that will eventually provide a controllable and steady supply of “seed” (baby shellfish) to be raised by the women in Menai Bay. Long term goals of the project will be to establish a strong customer base and to train locals how to cultivate, process, and sell the shellfish. The hope of the project is for the villagers to be able to produce an economically and environmentally sustainable source of protein and income. In a region where the average person lives off less than five dollars a day, the project’s success would have an incredible influence on the lives of these hardworking women and their families.

My task however, is to begin a dialogue with restaurants, study the local market’s demand for shellfish, and to establish a venue for growers to sell their products. Things are looking up already – just this morning we had a successful spawn in the hatchery, and are proud new parents of some microscopic blood cockles. It’s achievements like this that gives everyone confidence in the project that lies ahead – which still, isn’t a hard thing to believe in. Because after all, we do believe in aquaculture. 
For more information about Island Creek Oyster Foundation visit this link.

A taste of Italy at the Parks' household!

So happy to share my memories with everyone through food and wine..as Italian life should be! post courtesy of ... Amanda Parks, Nutrition and EcoGastronomy Dual Major at the University of New Hampshire.

Especially in Northern Italy, WWOOFing is not to be missed

Post courtesy of Annie Steeves, Health Management & Policy and EcoGastronomy Dual Major.

Before meeting up with my EcoG peers, I WWOOFed in Northern Italy for about 16 days at the end of summer. My cousin joined me on this adventure. What an experience we had! The farm was called “Oasi di biodiversita di Galbusara Bianca”, it’s a 20 hectare farm, 10 of which are cultivated, and 10 are woodland. It is situated in a beautiful Park, Parco di Montvecchia, in the Valley del Curone. So we were surrounded by beautiful hills and farms. It’s about one hour north of Milan. The farm prides themselves on their diversity of fruit, they have over 30 varieties of figs, which we picked almost every morning. I had never tried a fresh fig before… what a place to change that! The farm also had a relatively new restaurant, which they tried, to source completely from their land. While we were there, they hosted three weddings (in three straight days!!). It was a lot of work, but was cool to witness the celebrations and help prepare the foods.

WWOOFing  (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) is an amazing experience that everyone should take advantage of. It’s focused on learning methods of organic farming. First-hand experience is invaluable, and the best part is that it is free! The farmers need the help, there’s never nothing to do!  In exchange for help, farmers provide food and accommodation. There are WWOOF farms all around the world, and stays range from a few days to years!  Check out WWOOF’s website for more info: http://www.wwoof.org/

The many fig and apple trees on the property.

This was hung on every tree, as a bug repellent.

 It was a mixture of vinegar, sugar, and water 

to attract and kill bugs… it actually worked quite well!

 

One day’s worth of figs after being sorted.

Neighbor’s grapes

SO many interesting, crazy varieties of tomatoes

WOAH!!

We thought it was pretty comical that their tractor was a Lamborghini… we ARE in Italy!

One of the wedding cakes. 

They don’t have traditional wedding cakes, 

this was very delicious and rich chocolate cake. 

It was served one per table, no plates. 

Everyone at the table was given a fork, 

and it was shared among the guests. 

Think this would fly at a US wedding?

 

One of the weddings had fig tarts instead of cake. 

All the figs are from the farm and they are over an apple purée.

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We helped make sauce one day… step one MASH.

The farm also made sorbetti with all their fruit. We were somehow convinced to go to the market in Milan one evening, where we were left alone with the sorbetti cart. It was an interesting experience, as we barely knew a word of Italian!

We visited Bergamo on one of our day’s off. This is “lardo”. May not sound appetizing, but it is absolutely delicious! It’s very thinly sliced cured pork fat layered over a thin bread. The fat literally melts in your mouth. So good.

Burratta… perhaps the biggest burratta I will ever experience. It’s a fresh Italian cheese, with an outer layer of mozzerella. The inside is mozzarella curd which has been soaked in cream, it’s so rich and delicious!!

A neighbor’s horse farm.

The farm seen from the top of a neighbor’s vineyard.