Campus Health Service’s second Food Day Fair aims to promote healthy, affordable and sustainably produced food.
The event is on Oct. 24 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the UA Mall, and spectators will be able to enjoy free taste tests, food demonstrations and live music in the UA’s participation of a nationwide celebration.
Hana Feeney, the event coordinator and a nutrition counselor for Campus Health, said that her goal is to get students, staff, faculty and the community excited and engaged with healthy and sustainable foods on and off campus.
“Students are the future,” Feeney said. “There is already an interest on campus from students. Students, being young people, are really the next chapter of the food movement. Students are consumers and will have an effect on our environment.”
Feeney’s mission is to increase access to healthy, sustainable and affordable food on campus. Feeney works together with Student Union Memorial Center retail dining manager Jon Levengood to improve access to healthy foods on campus. Levengood works to procure healthy and sustainable foods for UA dining outlets. He said college is the place to start when it comes to shaping a healthy diet.
“This is the first time that most 18-year-olds have been away from home,” Levengood said. “It is the first time they are making choices about diets and exploring options.”
Tucson’s Iron Chef Ryan Clark will host a food demonstration and provide samples at the fair.
“I have come to believe, as simple as it sounds, you are what you eat,” said Gale Welter, a Campus Health nutritionist. “We are just a bag of chemistry and the food you eat are the chemicals. The more whole foods I put in my body, the less chance I have of developing a chronic disease. I think better, I feel better and I will be healthier and sexier longer.”
More than 20 campus and community groups will gather to host interactive exhibit tables under a large tent on the Mall, Feeney said.
“It is very important we give students choices and information about what they are putting in their body,” Levengood said. “By doing this, we hope we connect the lines of where food comes from and we hope students make good choices.”
