Food and opportunities fill Penn's first health and wellness fair

In keeping with Penn’s Year of Health theme, the Penn Undergraduate Health Coalition hosted the University’s first Health and Wellness Fair Friday night.

The Houston Hall fair, sponsored by a $1,000 donation to PUHC from Penn’s Year of Health initiative, brought together a variety of health groups, including the Urban Nutrition Initiative, Minorities in Nursing Organization and the Health Food Truck Initiative, a relatively new student organization, to present to new students about opportunities on campus.

The goal of the fair, PUHC Chair and College junior Julie Bittar said, was to “increase [the] visibility” of health groups on campus.

The fair was “a showcase of information you get in different ways, like information on what to eat, on how to eat healthily and on what groups you can join to continue your health education,” Bittar explained.

The Penn Vegan Society, Penn in Medical Missions and the Wharton Undergraduate Health Club were among the clubs present at the fair, which doubled as a food showcase — there were falafel, hummus and grilled cheese stations, as well as a Schmear It bagel station.

Schmear It provided bagels and cream cheese for the event on behalf of the Healthy Food Trucks Initiative, a student organization founded only a year ago by College and Wharton senior Robert Hsu and Wharton junior Jessica Chen.

“Our goal is to work with food trucks to create a healthier food truck eating environment. We help the three trucks we’ve partnered with create healthy promotional material and help them host interactive events like this one to showcase their food to customers,” Hsu explained.

Penn’s chapter of Active Minds, a mental health awareness group, as well as representatives of Counseling and Psychological Services were also in attendance.

“We just want students to know that they are not alone and that’s the message we’re pushing for at this fair,” Amanda Martinez, a Wharton sophomore working the Active Minds booth, said. “We hope that they learn more about how serious mental health issues are and that it could happen to anyone, especially at an environment like Penn.”

Bittar hopes that last night’s fair will become an annual event at Penn.

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