The Real Food Challenge is an organization focused on shifting the food at universities from conventional, industrially farmed food to locally based, fair, ecologically sound, and humane food. Universities across the United States have made pledges to have a certain percentage of food served qualify as “real,” and University of Vermont is one of them.
We’ve pledged 20% Real Food by 2020. So, I decided to eat only food that qualified as “real” for four days.
You might be wondering, “What qualifies as Real Food, and what have I been eating?!” Food that qualifies as Real Food must fall under at least one of the following criteria: local and community based (which stimulates the local economy and provide fresher food to consumers), fair trade (which ensures just practices for everyone involved in the food system), ecologically sound (which protects the environment by employing sustainable farming techniques and reducing the amount of toxic substances released into the atmosphere), and humane (which provides meat and animal products to consumers that aren’t treated with hormones or unnecessary medications).
When I started this challenge, I thought, “it can’t be that hard!” because the school has signs advertising it all over campus. Boy, was I wrong. I intended to start on Monday, but there were only two food items in the Marketplace—a meal points location—labeled as “real food,” Vermont apples and Green Mountain Creamery yogurt.
I thought maybe it was best to start my challenge the following day, so I got a plum hoping maybe it counted and it just wasn’t labeled and yogurt to save for breakfast the next day. Little did I know, this was only the beginning of Real Food items 1) not being labeled and 2) nowhere to be found.
Day 1
Breakfast
For breakfast I had the aforementioned plum and yogurt in addition to my daily gummy vitamins. So far, so good.
Lunch
I decided to see what a dining hall had to offer in terms of real food versus the meal points location I tried yesterday. Turns out, not much. The only food items labeled were apples, maple syrup, and the vegan black bean cookies on my plate.
However, I was quite hungry by lunchtime and chose items labeled as “mindful.” I ended up enjoying a “mindful” meal of herbed chicken, sweet potatoes, green beans, a biscuit, and falafel and took four apples to go for future breakfasts. I left feeling defeated about the challenge, but looking forward to dinner at a different location.
Dinner
I went to a different meal points location, The Marché, and to my delight, they were collaborating with The Intervale Food Hub and had some great local food offerings. I chose BBQ chicken quarters with homemade Vermont BBQ sauce, River Berry Farm corn, and potato salad.
This was the first place I took notice of the lack of labeling, because the local yogurt that I knew qualified was not labeled at this location. Neither were the cheddar cheese curds from Maplebrook Farm in Bennington, VT nor the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream pints which are local, sustainable, humane, and fair trade!
Day 2
Breakfast
My breakfast for day two was two Vermont apples from the dining hall. I quickly learned that two apples alone is not enough to keep your stomach from aggressively growling throughout the day.
Lunch
By 3:10 my classes ended for the day and I could finally eat lunch. I went to the dining hall that was downstairs from the classroom because I simply could not wait. There were always posters about the challenge and I’d seen things with the label before. They had a grand total of four food items that qualified. A Vermont Bean Crafters black bean burger, a grilled cheese on Vermont Bread Company Bread, Cabot yogurt, and granola.
I got a kale salad as well and hoped it was local because again, there was no label to be found. Normally I’m not a huge fan of the grilled cheeses, but after only two apples at 9 am, it practically tasted like heaven. I consider this meal to be when my morale hit an all time low.
I thought to myself, “There can’t possibly be enough items on campus to make up 19% of all food served. Maybe 5% at best. But what I found more disturbing was how many things didn’t qualify. The food only needs to match one criterion to qualify—so where is the food normally eat coming from? Animals treated inhumanely? Farms that release toxic waste into the environment? It seems as if 99% of what I’ve eaten this week has only qualified because it’s local. Here’s hope for a better dinner.
Dinner
I returned to the Marché for dinner on night two, hoping they were still serving food from the Intervale Food Hub, and they were! I thoroughly enjoyed my salmon, rice, zucchini, and tomatoes.
After dinner, I decided I wanted some Ben & Jerry’s so I googled “Is Ben and Jerry’s Fair Trade?” and found out it is, in addition to being sustainable, local, and humane! I immediately went back down to the Marché and picked up a half-cup container of Cookie Dough and briefly considered only eating Ben and Jerry’s for the rest of the week.
Day 3
Breakfast
Day three began with the other two apples I picked up from the dining hall, but thanks to my Thursday class schedule, I could eat before hanger set in.
Lunch
For lunch I went to the Marketplace in the student center, hoping they had more substantial options than the ones they had on day one. I asked the lady at Green Roof Café if everything was local like the sign seemed to suggest, and she said it was.
Local food has really come through for me and my stomach this week, and I’d like to thank not only God but Jesus, and all the farms within a 250 mile radius of Burlington, Vermont.
Dinner
For dinner, I decided to treat myself to some Skinny Pancake. Skinny Pancake doesn’t have any labels for the challenge, but they strive to use local, sustainable ingredients and create a “safer, healthier, and more delicious food shed.” I ordered my favorite savory crêpe, The Cheesy Pesto, made with local cheese and house-made pesto.
Day 4
Breakfast
I celebrated the final day of my challenge with some fair trade Numi Moroccan Mint tea and local Koffee Kup Bakery Apple Cider Donuts. These donuts became my breakfast staple even after the week ended, because they’re convenient, inexpensive, local, and delicious.
Lunch
For lunch, I went to the third dining hall on campus to see what selection they had. Turns out, they had nothing labeled as real food. However, they had food labeled with an approval from UVM’s Wellness Environment, so I went for that.
Dinner
I went to Brennan’s for my final meal, which is a fairly expensive meal points location, so I don’t go there often. This quesadilla was around $10. When I saw the menu, it had a sign stating that everything was made with real food ingredients. If only I had gone here on the first day. I brought it back to my dorm and chowed down, making a note to go here again.
After the Challenge
After the week was over, I did some more research into real food at UVM. I found an article announcing that the university was set to beat the original pledge of 20% Real Food by 2020. I was incredibly surprised, because due to the lack of labeling, it seemed like 20% was a distant percentage.
Turns out, we’re already at 19%. This is because, unbeknownst to most students and me, all of the granola, maple syrup, tofu, and most fish on campus meet the ecologically sound criteria. All of the coffee, tea, and bananas are fair trade, and the cage-free eggs at the dining halls and retail locations are certified humane.
The Real Food Challenge is a great way to bring attention to where our food comes from and the method in which it got to our plates. However, it can’t get students’ attention if nothing is labeled and no one is talking about it. Most students I spoke to about had never heard about the challenge, despite all the posters and banners around campus.
Schools all over the U.S. are participating in The Real Food Challenge, and I can’t help but wonder, have students at those schools heard of it? There’s certainly a larger conversation to be had about where our food comes from. The question is, who will have it, and who will take action?