Saturday, February 2

Spectator Article on Food and Nutrition in Harlem

Scott Levi's succint account of the poor distribution of nutritious food in Harlem and consequent impacts on residents' health, from the Columbia Spectator:

http://www.columbiaspectator.com/node/28974

Wednesday, January 30

CUFSP First Official Meeting 1/27

CUFSP Meeting 1.27.08

Thanks so much everyone for coming. It is so encouraging to find a group with such enthusiasm to improve the current state of food on campus. I’ve received a number of emails from people unable to come to the last meeting who hope to become involved so our ranks will be growing…

On to a detailed recap, for those unable to make it, plus some new info for those who were there on Sunday:

Meetings will continue to be held at 8pm Sunday nights in Math 520. I have been told this Sunday is the Super Bowl, hence if you are a dedicated fan and unable to make the meeting you can check the blog for a recap of what you missed.

We decided in the future to convene as one group at the start of the meeting then split into three groups: Awareness/Outreach, Food Purchasing, and Garden/Compost. At Sunday’s meeting each group can discuss what issues they’d like to tackle and how they will do so.

Project ideas that came up included developing a relationship with the Greenmarket either for outreach work or provisions for campus groups and events (vouchers possibly); increasing nutrition awareness, such as through labeling food in the cafeterias and addressing unhealthy vending machine provisions; and the potential for a year-round garden with interns tending the plot in the summer. We can discuss these further within the three groups.

EarthCo meeting: Christina Dittmann and I attended the EarthCo meeting on Monday and learned that they have members interested in working with us to develop a garden. They briefly mentioned their sustainable seafood campaign, which they will consider further at their next meeting Monday at 8pm in Hamilton 413.

Rebecca Gerome brought up the composting workshop to be held by Eco-Reps on Feb. 9th. My following email will contain more information on that for people interested in setting up a composting bin in their rooms.

Briana Markoff kindly offered to be the group secretary! We may want additional note-takers when we divide into groups.

Andrew Kim was our sole volunteer to be treasurer so let’s all thank him for taking on the CUFSP finances, which will eventually be more than an empty bank account. Note: We have the option of co-sponsorship, applying for funding from the SGB (student government board), and looking for money from other organizations this semester.

We discussed the Real Food Challenge and our participation in the campaign led by The Food Project in Boston, which aims to direct 20% of food purchasing dollars on college campuses to local, sustainable food by 2010. Learn more at www.realfoodchallenge.org, and check out the developing New York chapter: www.realfoodnewyork.org.

Also, I am in touch with other college students in the NYC area working on college students’ involvement with the international agricultural forums descending on New York in May, to continue for two years. If you are interested in being involved, please let me know and I will connect you with that group.

Attached is the flier I posted for last Sunday’s meeting, which has been modified for this Sunday. Feel free to post it!

If you’d like to help me draft a CUFSP mission statement please let me know/send me your ideas.

Until Sunday,
Becky

Sunday, January 27

Mark Bittman Article on Meat Consumption

A fitting article from Mark Bittman of The New York Times in advance of the first official Columbia Food Sustainability Project meeting this evening (see previous post for details):

"Rethinking the Meat-Guzzler"
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/weekinreview/27bittman.html?ex=1202101200&en=ae87f466b2f0f394&ei=5070