FLOF and Sustainability

     Words can't express how happy I am about the recent success of the UC student group Leaders for Environmental Awareness and Protection (LEAP); which as of late, has the feel of the little group that could.

     Last Tuesday the group held an event to raise awareness about food sustainability. Why? Most importantly; food is number two on the list of global ambient carbon contributor at 18%, behind energy supply. This is more than transportation (15%). Eating locally can cut this number by much more than one half. The pesticides used for non-organic farming heavily reduce soil carbon retention rates. The pesticides themselves create contaminant plumes that pollute watertables, our drinking water, our rivers, our oceans.

     Beyond eco-impact, FLOF supports local economy and culture. Keeping your dollar local keeps the money in our schoolyards and the hands of small local business owners. Again, this is an issue of sustainability (see: Tale of Three S's), which encompasses much more than simply the environment.

     Above: students check out the UC Sustainability student group booths at the flof event.

     What excited me most about this? The momentum of the UC Sustainability community. Seven (!!!) UC sustainability groups were represented with tables at this event. Students found out about great things happening on campus, and the groups have undoubtedly seen a spike of interest from the student community. Not only that, but the list of groups involved in the Student Sustainability Coalition (SSC; collaborative of the groups) has since grown. Props to Students for Ecological Design (SED), Environmental Legacy Foundation (ELF), Engineers Without Borders (EWB), the Office of Sustainability, the Student Sustainability Coalition (SSC), and UC Historical Building Preservation (formerly ReUC) for the epic booths and help with the event. Welcome: Sustainable Transportation Organization, Planning Student Organization, and UC Garden Club to UC Sustainability!

     The epicness continues... The launch of the "UC food petition" at the event was a huge success. In challenging Aramark and President Williams to shift food supply chains at UC to be more sustainabile, the kickoff at the event saw 80 signatures; all in a day. Since then, the petition has over 800 signatures. It's only been just over a week. A working group for meeting with Aramark to establish working models and an open discussion on the implementation of FLOF at UC is thus underway. The plan is to have this meeting, hopefully, in March.