“Free food!” is a phrase that will always pique the attention of college students. This week, there will be plenty of it available at Penn.
Bon Appetit Management Company, Penn’s food-service provider, and various student groups have brought the second annual Food Week to campus. The series of food-themed activities began last night with a four-course dinner and conversation called “Mind the Food Gap.”
Philadelphia natives, professors, high-school students and Penn students joined the Urban Nutrition Initiative to discuss different issues concerning food justice in the surrounding area while enjoying a meal provided by Bon Appetit.
“Students are coming in for free food but they’re leaving and they’re learning a lot more,” Lan Dinh, a College senior and student intern for Urban Nutrition Initiative, said. She added that the idea of Food Week is to unearth different food-related issues students are interested in with each of these events.
“Each day this whole week we have a wide range of different themes, different events and a variety of topics to be discussed,” College senior Christina DiStefano said. DiStefano is enrolled in professor Mary Summers’ “Politics of Food” class and played a large role in the organization of the event.
Last night’s dinner focused on food justice related concerns, but nutrition, obesity and hunger in Philadelphia are just a few of the issues that will take the spotlight during this week’s events. On Thursday evening there will be a film screening sponsored by Moral Voices called “How to Get Fat Without Really Trying — Secrets of Obesity Revealed.” Students helped organize and will help run all Food Week events.
“It’s all about these students who are very active and passionate,” Bon Appetit East Coast Fellow Carolina Fojo said about the event.
“Students are very engaged and interested in food and … then they go out and do amazing things about these issues,” Summers concurred.
As an added bonus, each event will offer a free meal catered by Bon Appetit with a huge emphasis on local foods, according to Fojo.
Summers had one last detail to point out about the upcoming event’s featured food: “It’s really delicious.”
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