Anim Steel

Director of National Programs, The Food Project
Movement: Food Justice

The youngest generation of Americans is the first in history with a lower life expectancy than that of their parents, partly as a result of the obesity and diabetes epidemics brought about by our industrial food system. Anim Steel is dedicated to working with young people across the country to turn this trend around: “From Philadelphia to Honolulu, there are urban teens planting gardens, suburban kids becoming farmers, and students demanding local food, fairly traded products, and dignity for farm workers.” This commitment to social justice led Anim to his work as director of national programs for The Food Project, a nonprofit organization that grows, sells, and donates 250,000 pounds of organic produce annually. Anim and a group of college students coined the term real food to describe food that is good for consumers, producers, the earth, and communities. The concept of real food has helped unite young people in the food justice movement who were previously focused on specific issues, such as fair trade or local food. It has helped them realize that they share a common vision. Anim is a co-founder and leader of the Real Food Challenge, a national campaign to commit colleges to purchasing $1 billion worth of local, fair trade, sustainable, and humanely sourced food. Led by The Food Project and the California Student Sustainability Coalition, the Real Food Challenge reflects the collaborative efforts of nine organizations, including United Students for Fair Trade and Slow Food USA. “In effect,” says Anim, “we’re divesting our institutions from the industrial food system and making a significant investment in a real food economy.”

To date, the Real Food Challenge includes more than 3,000 students at over 340 schools, impacting over 1 million college students nationwide. Congress is likely to consider a new national food and farm bill in the next few years, and Anim is preparing the food justice movement by investing in young people who can spread the message. Before joining The Food Project, Anim was an associate at the Economic Development Assistance Consortium. He previously worked with students as the assistant director of admissions at Williams College, helping to increase the college’s minority enrollment. Anim has a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and a bachelor’s degree in astrophysics and history from Williams College.

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