Food Activists Win Brower Youth Awards

The Brower Youth Awards is an annual national award recognizing six young people for their outstanding activism and achievements in the field of environmental advocacy. This year, it was truly inspiring to hear about two remarkable young people who have made sustainable food a priority in their work.

Hai Vo co-founded the Real Food Challenge (RFC) at the University of California at Irvine (UCI) after he radically transformed his health by eating nutritious food. RFC is a national organization with representatives from more than 300 colleges in the United States dedicated to reallocating the four billion dollars spent annually on food at universities to real food: food that is ecologically-sound, community-based, humane and fair. Hai and the RFC worked with the University of California to develop a system-wide, institutional commitment to 20-percent real food procurement by the year 2020.

Diana Lopez co-launched the Roots of Change community garden in the Eastside of San Antonio, TX, an area lacking large grocery stores and sources of fresh, organic, or local produce. The new garden provides healthy organic food at no cost to community members, serves as an educational center, and creates a positive space for community involvement.

Congratulations to Hai and Diana - we hope other young people will be encouraged by your dedication to making healthy, sustainable food available to your communities.

-Dorothee