When students think about Macalester’s sustainability goals, they are quick to point out the Zero Waste by 2020 and Carbon Neutral by 2025 campaigns. However, there are more sustainability initiatives on campus that students should be aware of, one of which is Real Food by 2020.

Macalester signed onto the Real Food Campus Commitment in 2012, a move which, according to the Sustainability Office, represents a “commitment to local and sustainable agriculture.”

Students in the Sustainability Office have partnered with Bon Appétit to pursue this challenge, which calls for at least 30 percent “real food” by 2020. According to the Sustainability Office’s website, “real food” is “food that is local, organic, humane or fair trade.”

The Real Food Campus Commitment is an initiative through the Real Food Challenge (RFC). RFC is a national campaign that began in 2007 and has since attracted numerous other colleges and universities throughout the United States.

While Macalester has been committed to RFC for the past five years, it has been challenging to get the actual data which is needed to measure progress. According to an email from Rae Hushion ’20, who is working with Macalester’s Catering Director Amy Jackson on RFC, they were able to document their first month of data during January of 2017.

“We’re trying to keep this going by setting up a volunteer group to progress and achieve our goal for 30 percent real food,” Hushion wrote.

Although the influx of “real food” has been and will continue to be present in Café Mac, students in the Class of 2020 should keep an eye out for the potential completion of this challenge by the time they graduate.

In other news, the coffee cart in the Janet Wallace Fine Arts building has a new name! After a competition amongst students on Bon Appétit’s Facebook page, Java Wall emerged as the winner. The winning name was submitted by Maddie Coy-Bjork ’19. The coffee cart will soon receive all-new branding that incorporates its new name and a new logo.