Project Winterfood

Project Winterfood

Apples, spinach, and sweet potatoes. That was the theme for the first year of Project Winterfood. A group of VCU Graphic Design students set up this event to create a service for the community, by providing a local food resource, and with this event having an art exhibition, and funraising opportunities and live music on Wednesday, December 2^nd.

Project Winterfood partnered up with local organizations, including the Farm to Family Veggie Bus, Dominion Harvest, Savor Café, Ipanema, Rostov’s Coffee and Tea, Ukrops, and Ellwood Thompson’s. Project Winterfood’s mission is to provide an outlet for the people of Richmond to experience the food culture by making the most of all the local food options assessable to Richmond.

They wish to introduce different options for seasonal winter local produce by creating a unique experience. With their different art events, live music, tasting booths, and coffee and tea provided by Rostov’s Coffee and Tea, Project Winterfood, brought the community together, with fun, food, and art.

Noah Scalin, the teacher of the Design Rebels class at VCU has been teaching the class since 2002. With his class he provides an outlet for all design students to take a glimpse into what he does for a living and describes it as social conscious design.

His class is designed to get his students out of the classroom and work with the community using their design skills to create something practical in the real world.

“What I’m interested in is for them to learn some practical skills and then applying them to community projects and understanding how they can have a positive affect with their art,” said Scalin.

Mim Scalin, a former teacher at VCU, who now produces art, loves the idea of promoting local food. She also said that it’s interesting to see how students are promoting local activity that saw little to no recognition years ago.

“I love the idea of promoting food, I think this is great!” said Mim Scalin. “And winter food, most people think you can’t get food in the winter.”

The concept of Project Winterfood was the brainchild of Christina Gleixner, a senior graphic design student at VCU. She enrolled in Noah Scalin’s Design Rebels class, and the entire class voted on her idea. The problem with the winter months is that most people don’t know what types of local produce can be found, and that was one of the main goals that Gleixner had with her project.

“The project ended up being this Project Winterfood and it came out of something I felt very passionate about and drawn to,” said Gleixner. “Supporting the local economy, supporting endangered family farms, and strengthening the food culture in Richmond.”

Johnny Utterback, a senior graphic design student at VCU is also enrolled in Scalin’s Design Rebel’s class. He says the Project Winterfood is designed to promote local food and show all the benefits that it brings to the community.

“It is important for people to buy locally grown food because it helps support the local economy and farmers,” said Utterback. “It definitely keeps the money in the same areas. It leaves no room for questioning where does my food come from, not many people question that today.”

Although the actual event occurred last week, the art exhibit that was held can be seen still at Gallery 5 from December 4^th- 31^st. All funds that are raised from Project Winterfood will benefit the Central Virginia Food Bank and Gallery 5.

-Laura Peters