Food is critical to people across the world. Our food systems have become increasingly complex and intertwined with concerns such as climate change and extreme weather, public policy, and social traditions and emerging trends.[1] Researchers, educators, and activists at the University of Michigan (and elsewhere) have highlighted the ways in which food production impacts climate change. [2] They have linked food systems to racial justice and raised concerns about how nutritional guidelines may not actually be in the service of health.[3] They’ve looked at how technology can impact agriculture and the role of our legal system in creating equitable food systems.[4] They’ve created resources to support students who don’t have adequate access to healthy, affordable food.[5]

Challenge for Student Teams

Using a fictional $100,000 of seed money, your challenge is to create an action plan for the University of Michigan to explore and effectively address a challenge within modern food systems. Assume this fictional money is for a pilot program that could be institutionalized. The action plan should address topics both on an individual, micro level and at a systemic, macro level. Teams are free to address the specific issues listed below OR a topic/issue of their choosing. The questions below are meant to encourage thought and brainstorming. Participants are not expected to answer all of the questions below, but they may be used as a starting point.

• It is imperative that food is accessible to everyone. Despite the existence of established food assistance programs (e.g., Maize and Blue Cupboard and the Planet Blue Farm Stand), the challenge of ensuring widespread food accessibility persists. What can we do to capitalize on the successes of such programs and strengthen their weaknesses? How can we reduce the disproportionate impact on certain groups? How should dining halls, food costs, and monopolies be managed to allow for accessibility and reduce waste? 

• Technology allows us to order food immediately at our fingertips and social media has been a prime platform in popularizing food trends and diets. What relationships exist between food and technology/social media? Has technology and social media contributed to food waste? How can technology and social media be used to address issues surrounding food in an intentional, inclusive, and effective way?

• Food can range from being naturally grown to lab grown/processed. Along the same lines, food can take several months to grow or be produced immediately. How can we use lab growth tools to our advantage? How do we address safety, environmental, ethical, and generational concerns?

• All of us depend on the work of farm laborers who grow and harvest food. What can be done to protect the rights and dignity of farm laborers and others who grow, harvest, prepare, and sell food?

[1] What is the Food System?, Oxford Martin Programme on the Future of Food, accessed January 2, 2024.

[2] Lesli Hoey,“Eating our way out of Climate Change: The Role of University Dining", Fast Food for Thought Videos, Sustainable Food Systems Initiative at the University of Michigan, Accessed January 2, 2024.

[3] Shakara Tyler, “The Story of the Detroit Black Farmer Land Fund: Decolonization and Abolition in Practice”, Fast Food for Thought Videos, Sustainable Food Systems Initiative at the University of Michigan, Accessed January 2, 2024; Kendrin Sonneville, “The new AAP Childhood “Obesity” Guidelines: What are they Recommending and at What Cost?”, Fast Food for Thought Videos, Sustainable Food Systems Initiative at the University of Michigan, Accessed January 2, 2024.

[4]  Meha Jain,“Satellites for Sustainable Agriculture”, Fast Food for Thought Videos, Sustainable Food Systems Initiative at the University of Michigan, Accessed January 2, 2024; Alicia Alvarez, "Legal Support for an Equitable Food System”, Fast Food for Thought Videos, Sustainable Food Systems Initiative at the University of Michigan, Accessed January 2, 2024.

[5]  Maize and Blue Cupboard and the Planet Blue Farm Stand