Awareness

My Anthropology of Food class recently composed a very gripping presentation for the Discovery Seminar symposium in University of Washington’s Kane Hall. There is so much ignorance about the food we eat each day. Some commonly unknown information is where the food comes from, how it is processed, and it’s nutritional information. Our class touched on the specific topics of food available in the Lander dorms from “The 1101,” food one can find in convenient stores around campus and the newly developed UW garden. It was meant to show students an overview of the choices they are faced with in terms of food, and alternatives to what they commonly eat. This one half hour presentation was packed with interesting, eye-opening information that many students and faculty were previously unaware of. The response was incredibly positive and left many people wanting to know and learn more. For this reason I think it would be a great idea to create a whole week dedicated to food awareness on the UW campus.
This awareness week is precisely what a group of students organized at the University of Alberta. The director of ECOS (Environmental Coordinating Office of Students) commented that “Food Week is our way of combining issues of food and the environment, so we’re trying to present options on a variety of concerns and bring more awareness to them.” Another student involved said, “We’re going to talk about trying to help people make the connections between the food they eat, where it comes from and the people who produce it, and then the international policies that dictate that relationship.” I believe for the sake of the environment and nutrition it is very important that students do make the connection that the student at University of Alberta speaks of. Some other topics that could be mentioned throughout this awareness week through means of booths, tastings, movie clips, flyer and hands on activities are:
-fast food
-slow food
-raw foods
-organic
-local farming/shopping
-industry
-processing
-dumpster diving
-factory farms
-sustainability
-politics of food
-p-patches
-GMO (genetically modified foods)
-community gardening
-national food

All it takes for a week like this to happen is a group of dedicated, passionate individuals with a point, or in this case various points, to prove. It is very possible that something like this could occur in the future, especially in such a supportive area with such driven, intelligent individuals (UW students of course).