What We Do

Our Vision • Our Work • Our Guiding Principles

OUR VISION

The Real Food Challenge leverages the power of youth and universities to create a healthy, fair and green food system.

Our primary campaign is to shift $1 billion of existing university food budgets away from industrial farms and junk food and towards local/community-based, fair, ecologically sound and humane food sources—what we call “real food”—by 2020.

The Real Food Challenge also maintains a national network of student food activists—providing opportunities for networking, learning, and leadership development for thousands of emerging leaders.

Why?

OUR CURRENT FOOD SYSTEM IS FALLING APART.

• From mounting food crises abroad, to rising rates of diabetes and obesity at home; from the carbon emitted by agriculture to the human rights abuses in the fields; it's clear our food system is in need of major change.

• While great strides in productivity have been made in years past, this business-as-usual will not save us from our 21st century challenges.

THE CHALLENGE IS CLEAR

• Despite the rapid growth of farmers markets, CSAs and mainstream organic food, a recent Kellogg Foundation study found that ‘real food’ still occupies less than 2% of our national food economy.

• Not only do we simply need more real food, we also need a new generation of leaders—future CEOs, parents, educators, politicians and farmers (us!)—to lead the way.

WE CAN MAKE REAL CHANGE TODAY

• Colleges and universities spend almost $5 billion each year on food. Because of concentration in the industry, even small changes in institutional food procurement can have powerful effects on farmers and the entire food chain.

• Students are making a difference! There is a growing movement of college students working to address food issues on campus. Over 300 institutions already have college farms, fair trade initiatives, or farm-to-cafeteria programs, and the number is growing every day.

• If we act together we can amplify our voice and our power. Real change will come from the grassroots and students can lead the way.

RFC HAS DEVELOPED THE TOOLS TO MAKE THIS CHANGE POSSIBLE.

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OUR WORK

1. Collective Goals and Framework

• Real Food Challenge’s GET REAL! Campaign provides a platform to expand and amplify existing real food efforts in higher education and push new schools to join in. The target is to redirect 20% of all food purchased by colleges and universities (currently almost $5 billion) towards real food by 2020.

• The term "real food" represents a commitment to the multifaceted nature of this movement. Whether you are working on farmworkers' rights, advocating for more fair trade products, going organic, or forming relationships with local farmers, we all care about one thing: a just and sustainable food system. The Real Food Challenge aims to connect all these different parts.

2. Support and Training

• Summits: Real Food Challenge organizers plan regional local gatherings to build the movement through information sharing and networking.

• Trainings: RFC supports new campus and national leaders in the food movement through a variety of leadership development opportunities.

• Campus Visits: RFC organizers lead regional road trips to bring the RFC training experience to individual schools.

• Days of Action: RFC collaborates with partner organizations to participate in national and international days of action, such as Food Day and 350’s 10/10/10 Day of Action.

• Regional Field Organizers: Regional and local organizers support the network and facilitate skills-sharing, campaign planning, and collaboration between schools.

• Grassroots Leaders Project: Across the country, students who are leading the way on their campuses receive individualized support and mentorship from members of the RFC regional and national teams.

3. Resources

• The Network: This is perhaps the strongest resource that RFC has to offer. It provides access to hundreds of students and student-allies across the country who are already a part of the movement.

• The Campus Commitment: The Real Food Campus Commitment allows university presidents to exercise leadership by committing their institution to purchase 20% real food by 2020, track their progress, and share their successes.

• The Calculator: This is a tool for assessing and tracking institutional food purchasing over time, which gives schools a clear picture of how much they are actually investing in real food.

• Campaign Materials: RFC offers a range of additional tools (including posters, press releases and letters to university presidents) for campus use, as well as online resources compiled from partner organizations.

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CORE PRINCIPLES

1. The Real Food Principle: Real food encompasses a concern for producers, consumers, communities, and the earth. We use this term to recognize that both the food system and the food movement must encompass and embrace a diversity of foci; "real food" represents a common ground where all relevant issues from human rights to environmental sustainability can converge.

 2. The Movement Principle: RFC is part of a larger food movement, which itself is one facet of a global movement towards a just and sustainable world. We understand that true, lasting social change (a change in both people and structures) happens through social movements.

 3. The Youth Principle: Young people in general (and students in particular) are, and will be, a driving force in this movement because of our collective ability to demand and achieve widespread structural and social change. A focus on students has further benefits and ripple effects due to our: economic power (directly and through their institutions), energy and creativity, high standards, influence on dominant culture, and eventual roles as decision-makers in the family and society.

4. The Partnership Principle: While students are vital to the movement, they should not go it alone. Collaboration with administration, dining services, producers, community groups, and other allies will be critical to this movement and important for reaching our goals.

5. The Multi-Cultural Principle: Many of the problems of our food system are problems of oppression, historical and current. The path of progress, therefore, involves dismantling oppression at all levels (personal, interpersonal, structural, and cultural) and building a multi-cultural movement which actually thrives on and utilizes difference.

6. The Participatory Principle: We seek to balance a drive for results with attention to how we get them. Believing the ends reflect the means, we seek a means that maximizes participatory planning, decision-making, and leadership structures. As a unique place for the different grassroots networks to meet and strategize together, central to RFC is creating an intentional space where all voices are heard and respected.

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