By Alex Buchholz

Last Monday, April 18, 2016, students, faculty and staff gathered in Eisner & Lubin Auditorium for NYU’s annual Fair Food Fest. The event, hosted by Real Food Challenge at NYU, commenced at 7pm with a keynote panel, moderated by leader of Real Food Challenge at NYU, Natalie Petrulla, which included speakers Marion Nestle, of NYU Steinhardt’s Food Studies department; Nadia Johnson, Policy and Advocacy Director/Farmers’ Market Network Manager at Just Food; George Reis, Supervisor of Landscaping at NYU; and Mike Hollis, Urban Farms Manager at Services for the UnderServed — all experts in their fields. The discussion revolved around the subject of urban agriculture and its future. I was particularly intrigued by the interactivity that held the diverse panel together — it seemed as if the four panelists worked together to construct a vivid image of our current and future states of agriculture. Attendee sat quietly, their attentions captured. During the open Q&A session, hands shot up like May flowers with questions ranging in topics from nutrition to federal government funding for fair food and hunger relief programs.

After the panel discussion, students and panelists flooded the club-sponsored tables lining the edge of the room. Each table displayed an abundance of food; but not just any food–food with meaning and a purpose. The Community Agriculture Club presented a surplus of breads and baked goods– all of which had been “freeganed” the night before. (In case you’re not familiar with this movement, “freegans” dumpster-dive for perfectly good food that has been wasted and discarded and then retrieve it for consumption — for free!) The club shared some compelling arguments about lessening our food waste to alleviate hunger. Real Food Challenge at NYU offered freshly baked baguettes topped with local raw honey — a lesson in supporting local beekeeping. And EarthMatters displayed a platter of prepared food from Greenwich Village’s own Meskerem — a must-try Ethiopian restaurant for anyone seeking healthy, vegetarian options around campus. The club discussed the importance of eating healthy foods while supporting the local food economy. Many other clubs offered free food, literature, and information about food and more importantly: the power we all possess as consumers.

I spent the event enamored by the passion with which students and panelists expressed their takes on sustainable agriculture and the future of food. NYU’s Fair Food Fest was not just about free food; it was about the power we all hold to demand food-system change. This movement is growing exponentially. I would even argue that the fair-food movement is unstoppable. At the end of the day, change comes with passion and that’s one thing this event surely was not lacking.

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Check out the efforts of Real Food Challenge at NYU to see how you can get involved in the growing community of students pushing for better, fairer food. Stay tuned for information about next year’s Fair Food Fest.

Alex Buchholz is an undergraduate student at NYU studying English Literature and Environmental Studies. In his free time, he enjoys hiking, rock climbing, cooking, and collecting vinyl records of all genres. He is originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.