What Our Students Were Up to This Year at Plant Futures: Q2 Chapter Digest
This week, we get to hear from our Community Manager, Eric, on the state of the Plant Futures chapter network and what our amazing students have been up to this year!
Serving and supporting you all this past school year has been an absolute gift. From connecting with many of you in the Bay Area, Chicago, DC, and Boston, I’m constantly amazed by the energy and creativity you bring to make the world a better place.
A question I’m often asked is: Who are your students, and what do they do? Plant-centric food systems transformation might seem niche at first. However, food touches every aspect of life and society, and I have learned there is a true entrepreneurial and social spirit among students across the nation. They want to build community and career pathways to seize this critical opportunity to transform the paradigm, organization, and flow of our food system.
Who Our Students Are:
At their core, Plant Futurists are ecosystem builders around food. Our students fundamentally understand and lean into the challenges of food serving as a commodity, which has led to immense centralization, inefficiencies, waste, and loss of nutrient density. Agriculture has greatly transformed modern civilization, but prior paradigms are no longer serving us. From topsoil loss and the rise of chronic diet-related diseases to rising agriculture-related emissions, food is a massive lever, and we need the next wave of leaders equipped and empowered to address this.
Understanding the role of culture, community, and the need for a novel food economy and design is essential. Technology and markets are important levers, but understanding the social positioning of information, food culture, and framing is crucial for our students and society to enroll in a transformation that benefits all. That’s why we have listened to our students and helped support them in shaping socially engaged environments that relate plant-centric food transformation to campus, culture, community, and career pathways.
From Coast to Coast and in between, the 2023-2024 school year has truly been a celebration of community around plant-centric food. Coming off the core pandemic years, our students recognize the dire need for connection and meeting people where they are to invite others in the excitement of creating a more sustainable food system. Here are just a few of the amazing food systems transformation projects and community-building elements our chapter students have undertaken as of late:
Research and Special Projects:
🌱 Sarah (CU Boulder) & Sofia (Temple): Conducting critical research on agrivoltaics.
🥕 Berkeley & Kayla (Wake Forest): Building a farmers’ market on campus.
🌿 Maddie (UW): Researching seaweed as a fertilizer replacement.
🛠️ Kate & CO (Michigan): Hosting a food systems design workshop.
🌾 Mahina & Olivia (NYU): Researching food sovereignty in the Marshall Islands.
♻️ Calla (Rice): Redesigning food packaging for justice and environmental impact.
🥗 Madison (UC Berkeley): Transforming Cal Dining to 50% plant-based entrees by 2027.
🌳 Shaunak & Keerthana (Rutgers) and Alanna (UMass Lowell): Scoping out food forest projects.
🌍 Zoey (UT): Building a strong environmental coalition.
Celebrating the power of community around food:
🎉 UCLA: Hosting a plant-forward food celebration with over 800 students.
🍴 Sam R. & Eden (Northwestern): Making food fun at Spoonfest with Nature’s Fynd.
🧠 Navin & Shawn (Harvard): Bringing together 500+ students for the Food 4 Thought festival.
🌿 Rebecca & Co (American University): Hosting hikes, trivia, and more to connect others with food.
🌱 Cal Poly, UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz, Indiana, Santa Clara: Engaging in Earth Month activities.
Thank you to our amazing leaders! We are so proud of how they are creatively and inclusively forging lifelong relationships, positively impacting their respective campus communities, and growing an ecosystem of food systems leadership that is transforming relationships to food, professional networks, and the future of what is possible.
We are so excited for what will unfold and grow this fall!
Wishing you all a healthy, relaxing, and happy summer with your friends and family!
Thank you so much,
Eric
