One of the reasons I moved to this remarkable city was for the food. Not just the incredible restaurants, but for the local, organic and sustainable farms and markets.  I choose to buy organic and local knowing that it is healthy for me and my family.  Santa Cruz leads the revolution away from the old agriculture system, to a system in which people and resources are not exploited and last perpetually!  The passion from the students at the sustainable food conference was contagious and inspiring.  After listening to the students and faculty at UCSC, I craved more understanding of their goals on improving agriculture not just here in Santa Cruz, but everywhere.

From the moment we arrived at the conference you could feel the excited energy from the students and faculty. You could smell the delectable food being served from various local restaurants, as well as from the student cooking contest where organic carrots sourced from Happy Boy Farms were the secret ingredient.  Victoria Salas, the Green Chef intern for the Student Environmental Center’s for Organic solutions Campaign, coordinated the Green Chef Sustainable Student Cooking competition. The competition was funded by Measure 43 funds (The sustainable Food, Health, and Wellness initiative funded by a contribution from student fees at UCSC).  Salas said, “It was amazing to be able to have all of the student Chefs successfully create such creative and delicious dishes for the judges and tasters while having sustainable fun!”

Dr. Patricia Allen, the program director, made it quite clear that “enough is enough and it’s our turn now to say ‘NO’ to corporations and time to say ‘YES’ to social equity and social justice!”  George Blumenthal, UCSC Chancellor said, “UCSC is breaking barriers.  Social Justice is our DNA!”  There is no doubt that Santa Cruz is at the forefront the Sustainable Food Revolution.

So why is sustainability so critical?  Living in a socially responsible society is important.  We want to know whether or not our food is grown locally is and healthy for us.  Sustainable food serves as a profound present change, and a foundation for future generations as well.  It is everything we need to be self-reliant.  Social and ecological health are the building blocks to a healthy society and UCSC is striving to create a bridge to that desirable destination.  The Sustainable Living Center has a clear mission: “to develop a model Action Education Center at UC Santa Cruz where a diversity of students engages meaningfully with food systems, sustainability and justice through experiential learning.”  Students are participating in ecological design, organic gardening, and being proactive in alternative energy, and green building.

The University of California, Santa Cruz is offering the opportunity to gain awareness about sustainable food systems and spreading knowledge from farm to table through research, education, conferences, programs, and campus sustainable living.  The enthusiasm of the students was tangible, and you could truly taste the difference. Santa Cruz is absolutely a leader in sustainable living. It is easy to buy local and organic here, but we don’t want it stop at our city limits. The Earth-friendly approach to gardening that began here decades ago is having a ripple effect, scattering to campuses across the country.  The efforts made by the University now will surely last for generations to come. Getting rid of chemicals, big corporations, unethical treatments of workers, and ecological disregard is simple, practical, logical, and the only answer if we want our soils to stay rich and our communities to stay healthy. Through their hard work, our children will grow up in a clean, safe, and sustainable world.

Thank you UCSC for continuing to fight for social and ecological justice. We applaud you (and thank you for all of the awesome goodies we tasted!)

T