January 26, 2011

Alumna makes cross-country trek to advise student advocates on issues of food justice

Katelyn Hale BA ’09, a food-justice advocate, is inspiring student leaders across the Midwest with a Real Food Road Trip. Read her blog.

Katelyn Hale BA ’09, a food-justice advocate, is inspiring student leaders across the Midwest with a Real Food Road Trip, part of the Real Food Challenge (RFC), a national campaign and network empowering college students to work for more just and sustainable food on campus.

With stops at eight Midwest college campuses in January and February, Hale and her travel partner, fellow liberal arts alumna Katie Blanchard (Carleton College ’10), are leading workshops to strengthen student campaigns for food justice on their campuses. Learn about their experiences and their next stops on the Real Food Road Trip blog.

Hale began to focus on food justice while at Lewis & Clark; she spent much of the past three years focusing on food systems education and student empowerment. After graduating in 2009, Hale worked on campus with a yearlong AmeriCorps VISTA position, creating and facilitating service-learning projects. In the following video, learn about a new student orientation trip that Hale led, which introduced first-year students to issues of community food security and justice for farm workers:

The Real Food Challenge is a student-led, nationwide campaign and network, uniting students for a more sustainable and just food economy. The Challenge is for colleges and universities nationwide to purchase 20 percent real food by 2020. The Real Food Challenge supports and develops student-led campaigns and projects for real food, focusing on youth empowerment and social justice through grassroots organizing to create a new food system.