Marco Centanaro Garcia, a fourth -year computer development student and the graduating president of U.Va. FoodAssist, and three -year -old Garreth Bartholomew College student recently proposed the establishment of a food union at the University to represent students who enjoy food and sustainability. Including CIO student leaders on individual foods, the union will meet several times during the semester to coordinate dietary goals. for the University.
These groups include CIOs, academic groups and Charlottesville -based organizations – such as the Sustainable Food Collaborative, Food Assist, Global Problems, Local Solutions, Food Insecurity Resource Group, Community Food Pantry, A Taste of Home at U.Va., Growing for Change, FeelGood and Challah for Hunger.
During the annual Fighting for Food Justice conference in March, CIO student leaders called on food -focused, professionals and community members for unity in discussions about food – especially equality. continuity in how food is produced and consumed.
“I’ve always seen a problem of confusion among all CIOs when it comes to food,” Centanaro said. “When we make a hope, no other organization knows this hope. Sometimes we’re cluttering our jobs, and we don’t know where other organizations are working. It’s so useless. ”
There is the support of the training staff in the ministries, especially those involved in Environmental Research and Sustainability. Assoc. Politics Professor Paul Freedman worked as a consultant for students interested in food courtesy and was a waitress at the food courtroom.
“There are so many different groups of students doing the most interesting, important and creative work about food and nutrition that the idea of an effort to coordinate and allow the groups to work together is just a great idea, “Freedman said.
Centanaro and Bartholomew sent an application in early March to the University management outlining their goals, and the group’s first formal meeting was held in April. The planned nutrition union will be student -led and will consist of one or two representatives from each CIO. Centanaro cited nine school organizations that are now keen to have professional members involved.
“According to the U.Va. traditions of self -management of students, and students are at the forefront of this, ”Freedman said.“ What I love is that teachers will be able to support it. in more effective ways – as consultants or consultants or researchers. ”
Centanaro and Bartholomew’s proposal for the food union involves working with Greek living communities and representatives of the Office for Sustainability to coordinate goals. In addition, they hope to educate the university on food judgment and integrate their work with the Charlottesville community.
Most CIOs like the food union working directly with the Charlottesville community. Erica Szymanski, is in her Business Year and the president of U.Va. FoodAssist, oversees the food court and emphasizes the importance of student efforts beyond the University.
“There’s a divide going on in Charlottesville where we have food improvement visions and, on the ground, there doesn’t seem to be any food safety,” Szymanski said. “But if you look a little deeper, there’s a second system that’s not distributing food properly.”
By 2020, 10.5 percent of households in the country will consider food unsafe, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. However, in Charlottesville 12 percent of households considered food unsafe, a decrease from 17 percent in 2017. Despite this decline in food insecurity households, Charlottesville still has a trend. estimates are higher than the national percentage by 2020. Szymanski said about these. high rates of food insecurity in Charlottesville could also be more similar to the organization.
Szymanski explained that Feeding America reports one in 12 whites, non-Hispanics are food insecure but one in six Latinos, one in five Black people and one from four African Americans are food insecure in America.
“There’s definitely a symbolic perspective, so the fight for food justice is also fighting for fair justice,” Szymanski said. Problems such as fences for smallholder farmers affect Charlottesville.
Students are hoping that initiatives, such as the food court and food development union, will lead to Universities in these fights for justice through the coordination of efforts within the University.
