Our Story
If you love food, you'll care about sustainability.
Eating and education coalesce as we bring you both great-tasting, sustainable foods, and some important facts that will allow you to feel good about eating them!
Come join us to celebrate Atlanta’s vibrant sustainable food movement, and better yet, to learn how to be a part of it!
Our event features:
-
Farmers from all over Georgia selling delicious, organic/local produce
-
Food samples from Atlanta’s best restaurants with a dedication to sustainability
-
Student-run educational tables there to help you become a more mindful consumer
-
Tasty and sustainably made treats– that means desserts, sweets, snacks, and products you can buy locally when you crave for more!
-
Campus organizations to let you know what’s the next step on getting more involved
A student-led tradition, the fair is held every fall and students in a one-credit class will learn the backstage skills and strategies to put on the event. We have been sponsored by Emory Dining, the Office of Sustainability Initiatives, and the Center for Faculty Development & Excellence.
In preparation, students read Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food, attend lectures by leaders in the Slow Food movement and sustainability, and become specialists in a topic related to sustainable food in Atlanta.
Throughout the course, students work with farmers, chefs, and local organizations to put on the event with music, costumes, and educational tables. They are responsible for the t-shirt and promotional design, organizational layout, feedback analysis, and creative experiential education opportunities.
However, the Sustainable Food Fair is just one part of Emory's journey to infuse sustainability with academics.
1980s
Creation of the Emory College Human & Natural Ecology co-major, linking the natural and social sciences with an experiential learning component.
1999
Creation of the Emory College Environmental Studies department.
May 2001
The Piedmont Project holds first session to help faculty develop interdisciplinary classes incorporating sustainability.
Fall 2006
Peggy Barlett becomes the first faculty liaison to the Office of Sustainability Initiatives, founded the same year.
April 2007
Students in the Fast Food/Slow Food course taught by Dr. Barlett organize the first Sustainable Food Fair.
2008
The Sustainable Food Fair is offered as a standalone course.
Fall 2010
Student interest and faculty support lead to the offering of the Sustainability minor.
2011
STARS survey reports 12% of undergrad classes at Emory feature a sustainability component.
Fall 2013
The Environmental Sciences department creates the Sustainability Sciences minor and the Goizueta Business School offers the Environment and Sustainability Management concentration for undergrads.
Fall 2014
Oxford Farm near Oxford campus opens, which provides academics opportunities for hands-on learning.
November 2015
A delegation of Emory students and professors attend the 21st Conference of the Parties, where the Paris Climate Agreement is established.
2015
Office of Sustainability Initiatives releases 10-year strategic vision across academic, operational, and healthcare units.
2016
Professor Simona Muratore begins to teach the Sustainable Food Fair course, and brings the food fair online through the introduction of social media.
2017
The Sustainable Food Fair class keeps a blog. Angela Jiang serves her second year as fair assistant.
2018
Gabriel Murdoch-Morales serves as fair assistant.
2019
Stella Davis serves as fair assistant. Following the tradition of previous years, students post their sustainable (or unsustainable) actions or recipes to the class Facebook to encourage and reflect on their individual impact.
2020
Taylor Spicer from the Office of Sustainability Initiatives co-teaches the course, with Charlie Gosnell serving as fair assistant. The Sustainable Food Fair gets a website!
Adapted from “Teaching the Future: Academic Infusion of Sustainability at Emory” by Meggie Stewart written in spring of 2017.