Food Day consumed Sacramento State on Monday with a daylong menu of events prepared to nourish the community with food for thought – and social change.

Food demonstrations at the Well, a film festival, speaker panel and open forum at the University Library’s Multi-Cultural Center were a few efforts aimed at promoting Food Day’s “national grassroots campaign for delicious, healthy and affordable food produced in a sustainable, humane way,” according to its program guide.

Shauna Schultz, dietician at the Well, said Food Day was wonderful as “Good Day Sacramento” filmed kids at the Well with her.

Schultz coordinated nutrition and taste education for preschool classes from the Children’s Center.

The demo kitchen, in The Cove, was a hands-on class for mini pizzas with all vegetable toppings on whole wheat bagels.

“They got to taste what they made and they loved it,” Schultz said. “Lots of colors were going on their mini pizzas and choices they may not have chosen in a restaurant.”

Schultz said the children learned where their food came from in California and the nutritional benefits of fruits and vegetables used.

The best way to market to youth about nutrition, Schultz said, is to get them to participate in it.

“From my own experience, if you can get your kids involved in knowing about their food and helping to prepare it,” Schultz said, “they are more likely to eat it and more open to trying it.”

Schultz said they may not like it the first time, but with more exposure and opportunity they eventually enjoy healthier food.

Schultz was recruited by Lynn Hanna and Kristin Kiesel to participate in the event.

“(Food Day) really was a campus collaboration, with everyone doing their part – it was awesome,” Schultz said.

Hanna, co-organizer of the event, is a Family and Consumer Sciences assistant professor.

Hanna said an advisory board created by the Center for Science in the Public Interest collaborated on resources for the event.

Awareness of food justice and healthy foods, from the workers to public access, was brought to the forefront at a five-speaker panel held in the University Union, Hanna said.

“I think Food Day will be as big as Earth Day eventually,” said panel speaker Jeff Guettler, chef at the University Center Restaurant.

Guettler said the campus Dining Commons serves 1,500 people three meals per day all week, and he tries to provide in season, local products. For instance, he said, 600 pounds of organic bananas are purchased every week.

“I love farmers markets and try to buy what I see there. I know it’s going to stay fresher longer and it will save money,” Guettler said. “If it’s been shipped from all over, it’s not going to last as long.”

Tom Welton, Sac State’s new director of Dining Services, was also on hand to speak on the panel. Welton has been at Sac State for almost a month, and said dining services covers a wide variety of dietary needs and menu offerings from fast food and high-end cuisine to everything in between.

“Our role here is to educate our staff, faculty and students about where our food comes from,” he said. “People gravitate to what they’re used to.”

Welton said burgers and fries will still be served, but fries can be baked and burgers made from turkey.

Welton said he wants to provide more than food by offering cooking classes and food preparation, but taking it on the road to show other schools what Sac State is doing.

“We do have a problem with local families unable to eat,” he said. “We have overproduction of food, and (problems) getting that back into the community safely, rather than into a wastebasket.”

Anthony Jones, president of the Environmental Studies Organization, questioned the panel about when a sustainable food policy might be formalized on campus.

“We’re on top of it,” Guettler said. “Five percent of purchases are local products. We’re trying to pick and choose our items carefully with a bottom line and operate a good business.”

Guettler said as more people get on board with sustainability, watching portions is the most important because people want value.

“One of the goals for next year is bringing the farmers market on campus and this requires a change in policies,” said panel facilitator Kristin Kiesel, assistant economics professor.

Kiesel has researched food consumption and helped organize Food Day.

“I think Food Day has been a huge success,” Kiesel said. “I’m going home very happy today.”

One of the big goals with Food Day is just raising awareness where we all just stop and think about what we eat, Kiesel said. It is supposed to be a lot like Earth Day.

“Big themes include healthy and sustainable food, but also affordability,” Kiesel said. “The easiest way to participate in Food Day is just sharing a meal with your friends and family and thinking about the food you eat and how many decisions and aspects go into our food choices.”

Panel speaker Craig McNamara, president of the California State Board for Food and Agriculture, is an organic farmer. He said there are still roadblocks to streamlining

sustainability in all of agricultural practice.

“The easiest definition of sustainability is it benefits the people, the planet and profit,” McNamara said. “So how do we move towards that goal? I am not a born-again organic – I am certified and have been for 15 years – but is it more nutritional?”

Judith Redmond, owner of Fully Belly Farms, spoke at the panel and advocates community-supported agriculture.

“There is something very transformative about knowing where your food comes from. People come to a farm and see how amazing it is to see how their food grows,” she said. “They see a sheep get sheered (and) a cow get milked. We’re taking real life experiences away from kids. We need not be scared of Mother Nature and being out there in the dirt.”

Poul Larsen can be reached at [email protected]