Food for US

So what do you do if you want to improve food on scale…say institution-wide…say at a University? The students Lydia Medland and Lauren Simpson last week released the investigative documentary Food for US, available on google videos and at the end of this article, because they wanted to open debate about the motorway-service station style food at Sussex University.

In response to the university’s own catering review they asked questions, and encouraged others to do the same. Do students need more ‘impulse food’ and meal deals? What will the university’s business plan review of catering mean for food itself? This, the crucial question, they felt was not answered in the review or the 15 minute question and answer sessions that followed the university’s presentation of its plans for the future of food on campus. The open presentations of the catering review had left the handful of students in attendance – mostly union officers - with questions, ideas and important contributions.

With a timely release, following a month of TV saturated with celebrity chefs, the film has struck a chord. It has prompted the interest of the local press and discussions with university management.

How does a community of highly aware individuals, staff and students alike, respond to the issue of food, which is increasingly not just fundamental to everyday life, but also to world politics. Seeking to join up the dots, the students started in the bins, with lists of ingredients, names of suppliers and stamps form the countries of origin. They presented the results to a nutritionist, interviewed catering managers and the last two students’ Union presidents, Dan Vockins and Dan Glass.

The film argues for seasonal menus, local procurement and affordable prices. It critiques the use of battery eggs and chicken. With the support of Eco-uni and the Trade Fair society, it asks the university to treat its new Fair Trade status as an impetus for change in the way it thinks about food.

For perspective on these requests it concludes with interviews from notable food writers, Felicity Lawrence, who helped initiate the school dinners reform and Green MEP Dr Caroline Lucas who has written extensively about the relationship between food and peak oil.

CDEC is kindly supporting this project. If you would like a copy of the film, to offer feed back, or get involved with Food for US, please e-mail foodforus@gmail.com