Food becomes just

Potlucks are popular events at Macalester. On the weekends, it is easy to find a potluck to share food and fun with other students. For on campus events, food is a crucial part of making the event a success. It seems to me that Mac students enjoy eating good food. and lots of it.

While Mac students tend to love food , this does not translate into huge support for organic and sustainable agriculture. Food is about consuming, often done quickly in Cafe Mac, or about cooking, a hobby to do with friends.

There is food activism on campus though! MULCH, which stands for Macalester Urban Land and Community Health, runs a small organic garden on campus. Bon Appetit, the food service, strives to be as sustainable as possible and frequently buys from organic and local vendors. Students are pursuing getting compost bins all over campus. Sustainable food activism is centered around food consumed on campus.

Macalester College is in an urban setting. We are located in St. Paul, MN and occupy a few city blocks. This means space is limited. With the construction of a new athletic center, we were given a significantly smaller plot of land that is not easily seen by the public.

And while there are setbacks, we in MULCH are excited for new possibilities with the new growing season. Our garden is now in winter mode, but that doesn’t mean that we stop thinking of ways to address sustainable food and agriculture on our campus and in our larger community. Within MULCH, we have realized the importance of pursuing a greater food justice activism.

Access to organic foods is often a sign of privilege. Access to food is a right. That right should be extended to good, fair, sustainable foods. Attending a college campus that is proud of its activism and stresses internationalism and citizenship, food needs to be addressed as something that is not just for us who can afford it. Food is a human right and plays a critical role in how we interact with our surroundings and other people.

MULCH and other like-minded folks are excited and eager to take the next step towards a sustainable food system, not just for our campus and our bellies, but for the larger community: the Twin Cities, the Midwest Region, and even the US. Let’s include those who cannot easily buy that organic tomato.