Institutionalizing Sustainable Food: Creation and Implementation of the UM Sustainable Food Program and Campus Farm

Abstract

Although the University of Michigan was committed to providing sustainable and healthy food on campus, and interest in food sustainability was evident in many parts of university life, until 2011 we lagged behind our peer schools, especially with the lack of a larger-scale farm on campus. The aim of our project was to help U of M go above and beyond the stated goals from the 2011 Sustainability Integrated Assessment to become leaders in the field of sustainable food. With extensive research into programs at peer institutions and local farms, and through conversations with people and groups across campus and our community, we created the U of M Sustainable Food Program (UMSFP) and the Campus Farm (on the grounds of the Botanical Gardens.) Our mission is to foster collaborative leadership that empowers students to create a sustainable food system at the University of Michigan, while becoming change agents for a vibrant planet. This work is done through three focus areas: education, community, and food production. UMSFP, now with ten student member groups, is a program that brings together the work of students who are already working to build a more sustainable food system on campus. Using the momentum of those groups and students who came before us, the UMSFP was founded to bring everyone together to magnify the voices of individual groups. UM is in a unique position to train future leaders in food systems in diverse disciplines, since food cuts across academic silos and into everyone’s lives. Formal and informal education paired with the on-the-ground work of students is moved forward through the collective efforts of everyone involved in UMSFP, with the campus farm and on-campus gardens serving as a central hub of that learning. Our masters project team has grown and nurtured these projects from the ground up, creating a leadership structure, writing grant proposals and a business plan, developing academic collaborations, reaching out to diverse groups of students, working side-by-side with our member groups, and laying the groundwork for many, many more years of progress in food sustainability on campus.