Student groups bring food justice to Boulder campus

With restaurants and coffee shops at every corner, access to food is easy for students in Boulder. But this week, student groups across campus are raising awareness for those who don't have it so simple during Food and Environmental Justice week.

It will feature events such as film screenings and canned food drives. All of the activities aim to educate people about why people from low income environments don't always have access to food resources.

This is the first year that the CU Environmental Center has partnered with the Volunteer Resource Center and Colorado Public Interest Research Group Student Chapters (CO-PIRG) to make the awareness campaign a week long. In the past, the only food justice event was the Buffalo Can Challenge, where people made structures out of donated canned food.

Ali Shoemate of the Volunteer Resource Center hopes that by the end of the week, students will have more appreciation for the simple things they have.

"Basically, there’s enough food in the world to feed each person, but the problem is not everyone has equal access to it," Shoemate said. "Food justice urges people to find out where their food is coming from, and just to know more about how it’s impacting the global food security problem we’re currently facing."

The Food and Environmental Justice Week events are free of charge, but organizers suggest participants bring a canned food donation.