Resources | Real Food Challenge

Don’t reinvent the wheel!

If you’d like to suggest a resource, a link, or a topic area, let us know! Contact mgrossman@thefoodproject.org

Check out our 10-step Guide to Launch and Action Ideas for events on campus!

CAMPUS FOOD

Guides on how to get local sustainable food into institutional food service operations

A Guide to Developing a Sustainable Food Purchasing Policy – AASHE and Food Alliance
This guide provides a general overview for institutions of all types – universities, hospitals, municipalities, and others – on how to develop, implement and promote a practical sustainable food purchasing policy.

Bringing Local Food to Local Institutions – ATTRA National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service
Focusing on Farm-to-School and Farm-to-Institution programs, this guide runs through the many benefits as well as constraints and challenges of initiating and maintaining such a program. It also discusses topics such as purchasing contracts, government programs, and implementation steps.

A Guide to Serving Local Food on Your Menu – Glynwood
A comprehensive step-by-step guide for Chefs and Food Service Professionals on how to integrate local food into their operations. Provides great advice and insider tips – including industry case studies – on how to get it done.

Yale Sustainable Food Project’s Purchasing Guidelines

Buy Local Food and Farm Toolkit: A Guide for Student Organizers
This report by Oxfam America offers provides strategies on getting sustainable food into schools and offers resources to help you on your campus.

Farm to School Toolkit for the Northeast
Cornell’s Farm-to-School program has put together a toolkit which includes a section on understanding the basics, food service and college dining realities, building relationships, and further resources.

Other Farm to College and Farm to School Resources

The Community Food Security Coalition’s National Farm-to-College Program
Look here for a wealth of information on Farm-to-College programs around the country. Make sure to check out the extensive list of links and publications on the topic. Also, the site provides a number of graphs and charts for some concrete numbers.

Food Routes’ Farm-to-College Resources for Students
Includes promotional sheets for students interested in starting Farm to College programs at their educational institution. Use them as campaign fliers to get other students, faculty and food service personnel working for your cause. Other tools for food and farming advocates.

Farm to School Resources
Includes publications, news & events, funding opportunities, groups and organizations, and policy/legislation.

Sustainable Food Policy Resources
Includes policy profiles of select universities and companies, reports from programs, and purchasing guides.

Sustainable Food Systems
In response to the growing demand for locally-grown and sustainable foods, Sustainable Food Systems, a unique consulting and technical assistance service, helps organizations and institutions consider and implement social, ecological and delicious modifications to their current food service delivery.

Organic on the Green
This blog is to create a space for students to discuss the initiatives at their colleges and universities to increase the presence of organic/real food. It will be a forum to ask questions, give advice, and share stories.

STUDENT ACTIVISM

All good activism starts with good planning

Sierra Student Coalition Campaign Planning Guide
This super-helpful document will walk you, step by step, through planning a successful campaign on campus. The guide offers questions to help you frame your issue, determine organizational and campaign goals, identify targets and allies, set your strategy and tactics, and more!

Midwest Academy – GROW Strategy Chart
Another, simpler, chart with helpful questions to assist you in planning any initiative on campus.

Framing the issue: how to talk about food and food systems change

Framing: An Introduction for Sustainable Agriculture Advocates
A tool for affirming and expanding people’s viewpoint.

Structural Racism in the Food Systems
Learn more about The Center for Inclusion’s highly sophisticated framework for understanding modern oppression and the connection between racism and the Food System. Offers a powerful history lesson on the development and maintenance of the US food system as seen through the lens of race and class. Audio lecture with power point (83mins).

Framing Food as a Public Issue
This interactive slideshow and accompanying talking points explain how Americans’ understand food, agriculture, and “food systems;” it also explores the themes of individual consumerism and collective change. Based on extensive focus group testing and interviews.

More activism, organizing strategies, and tactics

Student/Farmworker Alliance Resources: Organizing to Win
Basic primers for getting started, developing campaign strategy, building effective organizations, doing press work, planning direct actions, and more.

The Student PIRGs’ Activist Toolkit: A Crash Course in Effective Citizenship
Information on recruitment, leadership development, grassroots organizing, and working with the media.

United Students for Fair Trade Organizing Guide
Advice on: Developing a Non-Hierarchical Structure in your group, Leadership, Recruitment, How to run a meeting, Financing your organization, Media, Food Service Providers, Campaigning, Actions, and More!

Sierra Student Coalition’s Activism Toolkit
Focused on environmental and climate change campaigns, this site offers a variety of documents on organizing as well as skills-training power points for student activists and leaders of all types.

LOCAL FOOD

Eat Well Guide
An online directory of local and sustainably produced food.

LocalHarvest
Will help you find farmers’ markets, family farms, and other sources of sustainably grown food in your area, where you can buy produce, grass-fed meats, and many other goodies.

Farm Finder
List of great resources from the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group.

ATTRA’s Local Food Directory
Listings for local food directories and promotional programs, searchable by state.

COLLEGE FARMS

The New Farm’s Directory of Student Farms
Most guides to colleges don’t index schools by farming opportunities, so here’s The New Farm’s preliminary guide to farms on campus. The list is arranged regionally; each entry includes the name of the farm, year founded, acres in cultivation, primary markets, and web address if available. We’ve focused here on campus farms that provide substantial, hands-on, small-scale farming experience to undergraduate and graduate students; many also offer programs for children and the general public.

FAIR TRADE

Just add Justice – Oxfam America
A great guide all about why to support Fair Trade and how to support Fair Trade in you home and community. It explains the social and environmental justifications as well as offers information on how to best organize to get Fair Trade products.

Guide to Fair Trade – Coop America
Another colorful and comprehensive guide on the power of Fair Trade and the many products available around the world. Includes producer profiles.

United Students for Fair Trade
Check out this page for great essays on Fair Trade, including theses written by politically savvy Fair Trade student activists. Also download USFT’s Organizing Guide for advice on developing a non-hierarchical structure in your group, leadership, recruitment, how to run a meeting, financing your organization, media, food service providers, campaigning, and actions.

Fair Trade Certified
Check this site out for all the basics on Fair Trade in the US, including a brief history, advanced FAQ on growth and change in the Fair Trade movement, as well as information on certification and specific product programs. Brought to you by Transfair, the only third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in the US.

Fair Trade Resource Center
An information hub designed to grow the Fair Trade Movement. The site offers a great library of recommended books and films as well as resources for teaching elementary and high school students about Fair Trade.

Fair Trade Labeling Organization (FLO) Standards
Simply put, this site provides information on the international standards that define what “fair trade” officially means.

Catholic Relief Services Downloadable Fair Trade Resources
A list of Fair Trade information including downloadable fliers and other documents on specific products as well as a highly detailed and interactive 8-module curriculum for teaching the core principles behind Fair Trade.

FARM WORKERS’ RIGHTS

Coalition of Immokalee Workers
The CIW is a community-based worker organization who fights for, among other things: a fair wage, more respect on the part of their bosses and the industries where they work, better and cheaper housing, stronger laws and stronger enforcement against those who would violate workers’ rights, the right to organize on the job without fear of retaliation, and an end to indentured servitude in the fields.

Student/Farmworker Alliance
SFA is a national network of students, youth and other community members organizing with farmworkers to eliminate sweatshop conditions and modern-day slavery in the fields. Check out their site for action ideas, organizing tools, and other information on their campaigns.

Alliance for Fair Food
The Alliance for Fair Food is a network of human rights, religious, student, labor, and grassroots organizations who work in partnership with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW).

FOOD POLICY

Ag Observatory
A monitor of U.S. and world agriculture from the Institute of Agriculture and Trade Policy.

Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
Tons of up-to-date information on the US [Food and] Farm Bill, including farm bill basics, legislative tracking, and action alerts, as well as links and resources for budding electoral activists.

The Trade Observatory
From the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.