Beginning on April 3, Bucknell Alternative Delegation (B.A.D.) hosted a week of action regarding food insecurity on campus. The week of action included teach-ins, chalking the quad, a community dinner, and a “Be Your B.A.D.DEST  Party.” Donations of food and toiletry supplies were accepted all week at the events.

Panel Discussion on Campus Food Insecurity started April 3 at 10 a.m. in Academic West, and included Professor of French Philippe Dubois, Farm and Garden Coordinator Jen Partica, Assistant Director for Community Service Lynn C. Pierson, Associate Professor of Anthropology Clare Sammells, and Professor of Chemical Engineering Margot Vigeant.

Various teachers opened their classrooms and hosted teach-ins for the campus community including Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies Dr. Nikki Young, Assistant Professor of Latin American Studies David Rojas, Professor of International Relations Emma Gaalaas Mullaney, and Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Andrew Stuhl. The teach-ins taught were titled “Food Justice, Bodily Freedoms, and Erotic Love – Lecture and Discussion,” “Food Insecurity and How to Fight It: Lessons from Latin America,” “Starved: How the Global Economy is Designed to Produce Food Insecurity Far Away and Close to Home” and “Discussion of Food Insecurity.” Dylan Lopez ’18 also hosted a teach-in titled “Discussion of Food Insecurity.”

In response to Professor Young’s teach-in, Liv Cabrera ’21 said, “I think that she did a good job with the incorporation of B.A.D.’s theme of food insecurity and the class’ subjects. There were different classes all together in one room, and she was able to relate the topic back to dialogues from each class.”

Professor Mullaney said on the topic, “We waste more than 45% of all food in the United States, from farm to store to table. Serious food insecurity among students, staff, and precariously-employed faculty is a reality at colleges and universities across the country. Wealthy institutions are not exempt. Even the most celebrated star athletes, who earn millions in revenue and donations for their school, yet aren’t paid for their labor, are coming out in growing numbers as food insecure. In many places, food insecurity is getting worse. If we are surprised by this, if we can look at the cafeteria food left uneaten and the bountiful catering thrown in the trash and not think about the people on campus and in nearby towns who are hungry, then we need to ask ourselves some tough questions. How is this possible? Who benefits from organizing our food system this way? How might we organize it differently?”

The purpose of the community dinner on April 4 was to “educate about the institutional factors and barriers that put our students at risk of experiencing food insecurity. We will also be discussing what it means to be food insecure and its implications,” an email drafted by B.A.D. said.

The email encourages all to “show up, continue to bring donation items and come be your B.A.D.dest with us” at the “Be Your B.A.D.DEST  Party” on April 6 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. in the ELC Center Room.