2022 Alternative Spring Break: Focus on Local Food Systems & Food Justice in the Greater Portland Area

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Passionate about food justice and food systems? Get involved in an Alternative Spring Break team this March!

The Student Community Engagement Center is returning to an in-person, locally-based Alternative Spring Break program in 2022! This year, we’ll be offering two local immersions -- one focused food justice and food systems, and the other on houselessness. Through education, hands-on experience, critical reflection, and transformative action, we aim to provide students with lifelong skills they can use to continue to support our local community. If you’re looking to make new connections, gain applicable knowledge and skills, and have fun, all while making a significant community impact, join us for our 2022 Alternative Spring Break!

Focus On: Local Food Systems & Food Justice in the Greater Portland Area

This year, we will root ourselves in the Portland food system, and explore the ways that small-scale farms, cooperatives, and gardens are acting to remedy the issues of food injustice and food insecurity close to home. 

Food insecurity, defined as the state of being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food, is a pervasive issue within the PSU Campus Community. According to a 2019 report from the Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative at PSU, 47% of the students surveyed experienced food insecurity in the 30 days prior to completing the survey, with that number jumping to 55.4% having experienced food insecurity since the onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic. When looking further into these numbers, it is clear that food insecurity impacts people differently based on their identities- BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and disabled students experience higher rates of food insecurity. In this way and many others, food is politicized. 

Why Focus on Food? Food is often a culturally significant basic need, and an important symbol of our lives and identities. However, in an increasingly disconnected world, many of us have forgotten ourselves as an important member in our local food systems. This Alternative Spring Break trip will guide participants through an exploration of food systems, starting with the basics of what a food system is and where our food comes from, and move into larger themes of food as community, food security, and the future of food sovereignty. 

Through pre-trip orientation meetings and hands-on service projects with various farms, community gardens, and agricultural cooperatives in the Greater Portland and Willamette Valley area focusing on small-scale food systems solutions. We’ll learn more about  our local food system here in Portland, and how local people are taking action to address these insecurities. With the experience and education gained from this trip, we will be coming back together for two post-trip meetings to develop an action plan to utilize the skills we have gained to continue the work of building a more just food system for all. Join us for four days of service, connection, and learning about food justice in Oregon, and reconsider your role in our food system. 

Note: Due to vaccination requirements of the nonprofits we will be working with, all participants will be required to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination in order to participate. Also, please note this trip will be outside in locations that may require weatherproof, mudproof, and slip-resistant garments, and may require extended periods of physical outdoor work. Please reach out to psussc@pdx.edu with any accessibility questions or concerns.

Trip Dates

  • 2 pre-trip meetings in early March: Friday, March 4 and Friday, March 11: 4:00 - 5:30pm
  • Spring Break Immersion:  (March 20-23, Sunday-Wednesday of Spring Break)
  • 2 post-trip meetings in April: Friday, April 8 and Friday, April 15: 4:00 - 5:30pm
This year's trips will be offered *free of charge* to participants, due to the shifting challenges of COVID.

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Click on the green "Register" button in the upper righthand corner of this page to begin your application! Applications are due by Friday, February 18th at 11:59PM. There are only 10 slots available. Early applications encouraged!


Alternative Spring Break (ASB) is program of the Student Community Engagement Center in collaboration with the Student Sustainability Center. ASB dedicated to bringing together diverse groups of people with the common goal of service and education. ASB strives to promote critical thinking, social action, continued community involvement, and civic engagement in the global community.

The Student Community Engagement Center's mission is to provide robust and varied co-curricular opportunities for all students at Portland State to engage with the community and become catalysts for change. 
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Opens Jan 5, 2022 12:00am
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18 and up
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