Finding Real Food in Auburn

When someone puts the words 'green' and 'food' together, vegetables such as broccoli and cucumbers normally jump to mind. But that’s not what Rosco Davis, junior in hotel and restaurant management and president of the Auburn Real Food Challenge thinks of.

“The Auburn Real Food Challenge is part of a national movement,” Davis said. “Students across the nation are signing on to this real food challenge which is to get 20 percent of food that is local, ecologically sound, fair and humane into their school system by the year 2020.”

The idea for the group was conceived last spring, but the organization wasn’t officially chartered until this past fall by the Student Government Association. It began with a few members traveling to a sustainable food conference and being inspired to learn about new ways of using local food in their diets. The group began having potlucks and trying new recipes using local food.

Davis said that “the potlucks are just a really great way to meet people, to share your food passions with people, to learn from other people and just have great community time with people with common interests.”
The group’s goals for the Auburn campus are not on a small scale. Davis has big plans for what he wants to see unfold in the area.

“The Auburn Real Food Challenge is uniquely designed to work in our community,” Davis said. “We basically have four different interest groups that you can join…Every member that joins Auburn Real Food Challenge chooses a committee which has specific projects set out for the semester.”

The committees include the co-op committee, aimed at starting a cooperatively run student café; the farmer’s market committee, which works to make the local farmer’s market more accessible and publicized to the campus; the dining services committee, which works to build relationships with the people in charge of the food system on campus; the public relations committee, which plans events and advertises the group on campus; and a growing and gardening committee.

“We’re getting ready to plant our first community garden on campus,” Davis said. “It’s a really direct way we can bring local and ecologically sound food to our campus, and it’s also going to be a great outdoor classroom and educational tool for people that are in the organization as well as (those who are not).”

Davis also hopes to include local, younger students in the project to educate them on gardening and the benefits of locally-grown food.

For more information, be sure to visit the group’s Facebook page and visit their website from there. Also, attendance at their monthly potlucks is encouraged for those who want to taste more. The potlucks are on the last Sunday evening of every month.