April 15, 2005. High school senior, Hai Vo, watched as his image was projected onscreen during a school event. Although he laughed and smiled in the photo, what he saw was an 18-year-old that tipped the scales at 250 pounds and suffered from high blood pressure and high cholesterol. The truth was that Hai felt unwell. “My ‘youth,’” he admits, “was masked by physical illness and emotional instability. I wasn't doing well socially, academically, or personally.”

The image Hai saw that day was a vision of his future and he didn’t like it. So for the first time in years, Hai started exercising and taking an active interest in the type of food he consumed. He drank more water, less soda, and chose a variety of fresh whole foods over processed, high fructose fare. The results weren’t just physical. “While pounds were shedding, I was gaining stronger social relationships, better grades, and clearer and more creative thinking.” He was beginning to “recognize real food as nourishment, a "medicine" of sorts, for my mind, body, and soul.”

Hai brought his new thinking to University of California Irvine (UCI) campus where he applied his personal journey academically by majoring in social ecology. After viewing his studies through a “food-centric lens” Hai went on to co-found the Irvine chapter of the “Real Food Challenge” (RFC), an organization of young people or “change agents,” who “act on entrepreneurial and innovative concepts” related to sustainable food systems. Introducing RFC on campus gave Hai (and other concerned students) the opportunity to work toward social change in a collaborative, visionary environment. “I understood that the collective was far more creative and powerful than the individual.”

"That collective power revealed itself when the University of California system (campuses, hospitals, and vendor affiliates) adopted the Real Food Challenge's model to purchase 20% “real” food – food that is ecologically-sound, community-based, local, humane, and fair – by 2020.  “I could feel the impact that the decision would make for future food service operations. By educating and advocating for more sustained food alternatives and behavior modifications,” Hai says, “the University of California can invest ecologically, economically, and equitably."

Hai has since graduated from UCI but his passion to facilitate change among food systems has not ceased. He continues to study different forms of farm practices and plans to unite youth voices for future local and national food policies such as the 2012 Farm Bill. His vision for the future includes “a system in which environmental stewardship, community food security, humane treatment of animals, and dignity to food producers are honored.”And how does Hai suggest developing these concepts into reality? “A combination of political and social will, sound economic structures, and environmental stewardship will reignite these visions.”

Hai’s tips for facilitating change in your community’s local food system:

• Think about your own food history. Reflect on what you're putting in your body and its health, social, economic, and environmental implications.
• Listen to your community. Bring people together around a table for a cooked meal, conversation, and discuss the local food system. Additionally, experience farmers markets, farm stands, and local food businesses.
• Consider what it will take to achieve solutions (people, ideas, natural resources, financial resources).
• Take action. Join organizations advocating for sustainable food systems - local, national, and/or global.
  

Learn more about the “Real Food Challenge” at UC Irvine.