The Real Food Challenge: A History

The mission of the Real Food Challenge (RFC) is to harness the power of youth and universities to build a healthy, fair, and green food economy. By 2020, we aim to shift $1 billion of annual college food purchases away from industrial agriculture towards local, sustainable, and fair sources. We do this by training and supporting students to lead ‘real food campaigns’ on their campuses.

 

The Real Food Challenge is an independent, self-funded program of The Food Project, Inc., a 501c3 nonprofit organization based in Boston, MA, founded 20 years ago with a mission to, “build a thoughtful and productive community of youth and adults who work together to build a sustainable food system.”  (The Food Project is a recipient of the nation’s highest honor for non-profit organizations, The President’s Volunteer Service Award, awarded by President George W. Bush in 2004.)

 

In Greater Boston, TFP increases the supply of healthy food while developing a new generation of leaders; each year, the organization hires 150 teens from different backgrounds as it grows over 200,000 of organic produce for the community.

 

Nationally, TFP has inspired and connected hundreds of young people involved in all aspects of the emerging food movement. From our vantage point as a convener, we saw the rising tide of interest in local food, fair trade, and student gardens on college campuses as a potent--albeit fragmented--trend. The Real Food Challenge was created to amplify that trend with common frameworks and goals.

 

2005: The Food Project’s Director of National Programs, Anim Steel, and author Anna Lappe host a discussion at the Kellogg Foundation’s Food and Society (FAS) Conference title, “Local Food, Fair Trade, and the Power of Procurement.”  Participants discovered they had a lot to learn from each other and that there was potential to do more together.

 

2006: At the next FAS Conference, a group from the California Student Sustainability Coalition, including Tim Galarneau, joins The Food Project’s youth delegation. Discussions begin in earnest about the benefits of a national network that would strengthen the voice of students in food purchasing decisions.

 

2007: In May, a Design Team is formed to pilot just such a network, which was soon named “Real Food Challenge.” The Design Team is composed of three students, two staff members of The Food Project and the California Student Sustainability Coalition, representatives from three national organizations, and two leaders of sustainability in higher education. (See List of Design Team below). We propose and receive our first two grants, from the Cedar Tree Foundation and the Zimmerman Foundation. (See full list of funders below). In November, we hold our first conference, the Real Food Summit, co-hosted by Yale University Sustainable Food Initiative. Over 150 students from 47 schools attend. We knew we were on to something!

 

2008: The Real Food Challenge officially launches with Month of Action in October, which grows the network to 300 schools. We assemble the first group of Regional Field Organizers, and the Real Food Calculator is ready for testing by students.

 

2009: The first Calculator pilots yield results, establishing benchmarks at University of California--Irvine, amongst other places. Hai Vo of UC Irvine wins the Brower Youth Award for his work with the Real Food Calculator there.

 

2010: The Real Food Challenge wins an Echoing Green award for social entrepreneurship, one of only 16 projects out of more than 1,000 applicants from around the world.

 

2011: In the winter, six regional Real Food Summits bring together 1,400 students and campus stakeholders. In August, RFC co-founder David Schwartz becomes a Do Something Award Finalist; the award ceremony is broadcast on VH1. By the end of the year, students trained and supported by the Real Food Challenge have won $45 million of commitments for real food purchasing, including a policy for the entire University of California system.

 

The Real Food Challenge is supported by charitable foundations, individual donors, and event-based revenue such as registration fees.

 

Foundations represent the majority of our funding. Below is a complete list of foundation supporters, past and present.

 

Cedar Tree Foundation

Claneil Foundation

Clif Bar Foundation

Compton Foundation

Do Something

Echoing Green

Farm Aid

High Meadows Foundation

John Merck Fund

Kendall Foundation

New World Foundation

Small Planet Fund