Fed-Up with Standard School Food, College Kids Turn to Food Co-Ops

College students around the country are learning more about our food system and using this knowledge to get better food on campus.  The well-established pizza, French fries and burritos found in the dining hall aren’t always making the cut, as many student are shifting their preferences towards healthy, ethical and sustainably produced foods.  Unfortunately, it can be very difficult to change the food offered in the dining hall, as most colleges and universities have long-standing contracts with foodservice providers like Sodexo.  Yet, instead of waiting for those contracts to end, students at U.C. Berkeley took matters into their own hands with the creation of the Cooperative Food Empowerment Directive (Co-Fed).

Co-Fed began as students recognized their organizing power after the successful launch of the Berkeley Student Food Collective, a student-run co-op on the edge of campus.  Spurred by the success of the venture, the co-founder decided to take the idea national.  Now, only a couple years later, Co-Fed’s national volunteer staff is working with dozens of student organizations on the East and West coast to provide them with the skills needed for organizing an on-campus co-op.  This toolbox includes workshops, strategy sharing and week-long retreats to teach students how to write a business plan, do bookkeeping, organize other students and build a power map on their own campus. 

The on-campus co-op model is unique because it cuts out the middleman, using volunteer or member labor and uses college resources such as subsidized rent and student funds to reduce overhead costs.  This means that co-op prices can be comparable to other food on campus, illustrating good food doesn’t necessarily have to cost more.  Co-ops can also serve as working classrooms and event spaces to teach students about food preparation and food policy issues.  The idea behind the co-op is that most of the food will be sourced locally, furthering student knowledge about the production system and the need to support local agriculture. 

This growth of co-ops comes with a few challenges, however.  One of the biggest is that students are mostly a transient population, which can make maintaining a solid organizational structure year after year a difficult task.  Also, co-ops are designed not to make a profit, which can lower the incentive for new investment.  However, I think if students really begin to understand the choices they’re making every time they take bite of food, co-ops will become a fixture on college campuses.  Health and diet have become such strong influences on younger generations' lifestyle decisions, so the co-op model seems like a perfect way to get students involved with understanding the food system, but also learning the tools to be a successful entrepreneur.  Hopefully college administration begins to take notice and opts out of their food service contracts in favor of supporting local farmers and healthier options.