“Good Clean Fair Food,” is the motto for the very successful UW-Madison student organization, Slow Food UW, that urges UW students to get in on the “food” conversation.
“I think there is a high need for people to connect to their food, connect to their communities, eat together and share something that’s tasty,” said Jen Bloesch, co-director for Slow Food UW and CALS senior majoring in Community and Environmental Sociology .
Creating an atmosphere where people can sit down and have a good meal together is exactly what Slow Food UW is doing right here on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. In five main programs, Slow Food UW feeds over 400 people each week.
All of this food is sourced locally and prepared by volunteers and the 21 interns the program supports.
“Interns are really the ones who are doing everything,” said Bloesch. “They are the ones who are in the kitchen cooking, that are at the Boys and Girls Club intermingling with the kids.”
The interns devote 10 to 12 hours a week to the organization, gaining important leadership and organizational skills. Each intern works on one of five projects throughout the year.
The two most important Slow Food UW projects are Family Dinner Night and the Café. At the Family Dinner Night, 120 to 130 guests enjoy a locally sourced meal planned and prepared by a local guest chef for only five dollars.
The Café is the business side of Slow Food UW, providing locally sourced lunchtime meals for students and faculty at UW-Madison one day a week. Café attendees can choose any combination of sandwich, salad and dessert to eat in the basement of The Crossing, a church located on the corner of University Avenue and Charter Street.
Interns prepare and purchase food and promote each project event. During the summer, interns work to freeze needed produce to use at meals during the winter.
Slow Food UW also participates in local outreach projects, bringing local food to the Boys and Girls Club and feeding low-income families breakfast on Saturday morning.
“We are also working on the south side of Madison to bring more local, fresh food into the community,” said Bloesch.
Slow Food UW has become a very popular student organization with over 80 active members and 800 people on it’s email list, all looking for one simple thing, “Good Clean Fair Food.” All members are encouraged to volunteer, making this organization a great resource for food and leadership.
Bloesch knows it is a “constant process of thinking about how we can reach more students, getting more students interested and excited about local food.”
