Through annual challenge, Fels honors nutrition initiative

This year’s winners of the Fels Institute of Government Public Policy Challenge on March 28 are four young women, fighting to feed Philadelphia.

Since January, Jennifer Ralston of the School of Social Policy and Practice, Natalie Robles of the City & Regional Planning Program at PennDesign, Rachel Cahill of Fels and Lise Wagnac of Bryn Mawr College had been developing a plan, called Virtual Market Philly, to bring nutritious sustenance to Philadelphia’s “food deserts” — areas in which there are no supermarkets within walking distance.

The team was inspired by the “virtual supermarkets” in Baltimore and hopes to emulate them in Philadelphia by transforming public libraries into temporary locales where nearby residents can order their groceries online and then pick them up weekly.

Cahill was especially attracted to this project, as she works part-time in the “hunger world” with Witnesses to Hunger and has always been interested in addressing the problem of food affordability.

Ralston and Cahill agreed that, when judged with four other projects, their project’s feasibility and relevance were partly responsible for their win. Their project, Cahill said, was a “shovel -eady project....rooted in a lot of feedback from local partners.” Moreover, it involved low startup costs, Cahill said.

The winning team has not yet decided who will receive the $2,500 prize but hopes to give it to an organization that can help bring their proposal to life.

To future participants, Cahill extoled the need to determine “what people are talking about on the street, to see what problems they want solved” and how you can apply your interests to that context.

Cahill explained that this project allowed her to actively incorporate the skills shelearned as a Fels student.

Executive director of the Fels Institute David Thornburgh explained that the Fels Institute is “oriented toward people who are interested in taking on leadership roles in the public sector, government and nonprofit organizations.” Of the 130 graduate students and fewer than 10 undergraduates enrolled, most will pursue careers on Capitol Hill, in local city or state government or in consulting and nonprofit work, Thornburgh said.

He explained that students entering the program come equipped with experience from organizations like Teach for America and with a “learn-and-practice approach.” Most maintain a part time job in the public sector throughout their study at Fels.

The second annual Public Policy Challenge is modeled after a business plan competition where teams of students create proposals to improve a specific, significant feature of life in Philadelphia and vie for a $5,000 prize. Of that, $2,500 is destined to benefit the team’s cause of choice.

The challenge is not limited to Fels students, but draws from students represented in virtually all of Penn’s schools to create a cohesive group with an interdisciplinary skill set, Thornburgh said.

Not only do participating teams have to invent a proposal, but they also calculate the costs, project the outcomes and seek out the capital and political persuasion necessary to achieve their goal, Thornburgh said. He added that Fels hopes to extend the opportunity to compete to a number of other graduate programs next year, as a sort of invitational.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.