What is Real Food?

Real Food at NU (NURF) is part of a nation-wide campaign, the Real Food Challenge (RFC), that advocates for more Real Food in campus dining halls. The university food system is a 5 billion dollar industry. The goal is for the entire system to make this 20% shift, resulting in a 1 billion dollar reallocation of funds to more ethical sources, and permanently changing our food system.

 

Northwestern University signed on to the RFC Campus Commitment in June 2015, pledging to source at least 20% Real Food by 2020. Starting with a baseline of 3.12% Real Food in the 2014-15 academic year, we are excited to continue making significant strides toward our 20% goal this year!

“Real Food”  is local/community-based, fair, ecologically sound, or humane.  is the basis of a food system that uses a holistic approach to truly nourish producers, consumers, communities, and our Earth. Real Food respects values such as human dignity and health, animal welfare, social justice, and environmental sustainability. Real Food’s multifaceted values allow for NU students to join the movement for a diverse list of reasons.

​

How to determine whether or not food is “Real”?

 

For the purposes of the Real Food Calculator - a metric used to determine the percentage of Real Food a certain institute purchases - Real Food is food that meets at least one of four criteria: local, fair (to workers), sustainable, or humane (to animals). For a product to meet one of the criterion, the at least 50% of its ingredients must meet specific standards at all levels of the food chain, from farming to cooking to serving. The Real Food Calculator also has a few disqualifiers, including products that contain Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), food from producers that recently committed a severe violation of workers’ rights, and products from producers that operate Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs). Foods that are disqualified cannot count as Real Food even if they meet one of the criteria. 

 

For a complete listing of detailed criteria, please refer to the Real Food Guide.

 

Why do we care about Real Food?

 

Real Food has so many benefits - it connects you to other people, values, health, the Earth, and happiness! For instance, choosing to eat local gives you the opportunity to support the practice of small-scale farmers and cuts down on the environmental consequences of transporting the food long distances. Choosing to eat food from fair sources means you’re cutting ties to the food industry’s too-often exploitative work conditions, ensuring people are being paid for their work and treated to reasonable working conditions. Choosing to eat organically means you’re maintaining the Earth’s ability to provide nutrition for future generations by avoiding pesticides, herbicides, single-crop farming, and other practices that deplete the soil. Choosing to eat from humane sources means you’re providing animals with the appropriate space, food, and caregivers for a pleasant life.

​

And caring for all these other lives benefits you, too! Crops tended by small-scale farmers and healthy, happy workers get better care, producing healthier food for you to consume. Nearby producers can deliver food in a short enough time that the food on your plate retains more of its original nutrients. Organic practices mean you’re eating food filled with the health of the soil rather than food that’s barely surviving from weed spray and bug spray. When it comes to humane practices, the nutrition you get out of animals depends on the nutrition you put in. And ultimately these practices give food extra punch in its ability to bring people together. 

​

For more benefits check out the Real Food Wheel!