The Future of Plant-Based Eating at Northwestern and Beyond
When it was started last April, Plant Futures’ Northwestern chapter joined a list of over 20 sustainability groups on campus. But founder and president Sam Rappin wanted his club to go beyond mere advocacy, with the goal of accelerating the transition toward a sustainable and plant-based food system by preparing the next generation of leaders.
The Plant Futures Initiative is a nonprofit organization that aims to create sustainability-minded communities at colleges and universities and connect young people with industry professionals. Eric Sirvinskas, the organization’s Community Relations Manager, works directly with its several dozen chapters at institutions nationwide.
Sirvinskas introduces Plant Futures to the Northwestern students attending its recent speaker event. (Jonathan Zhao/ION)
“You've got a lot of students on campus that are really understanding social injustice and the problems facing us with the climate crisis, but they might not have a really clear channel to connect with community groups and older adults to really see what they can do in their career,” he said. “This work is attainable and can happen in our lifetimes.”
Two years ago, Sam Rappin was one of those students. He had long been interested in sustainability but noted a lack of emphasis on food within the field. As such, Rappin decided to take a class on sustainable food systems while studying abroad in Copenhagen. There, he met Sirvinskas, who reached out to him on LinkedIn about starting a chapter at Northwestern. Rappin jumped at the opportunity and has headed the club ever since.
Even though it wasn’t a registered student organization at the time, Plant Futures certainly made itself known this past quarter. On November 13th, Rappin invited Meredith Madden, CEO of The Kraft Heinz Not Company, to speak about her company and career. The Kraft Heinz Not Company is a joint venture between Kraft Heinz and NotCo, a company that manufactures plant-based alternatives to meat and dairy products and uses AI to formulate recipes.
NotCo’s plant-based “chicken” nuggets paired with exotic ketchup flavors from Heinz, served at the event. (Jonathan Zhao/ION)
While the attendees enjoyed samples of NotCo’s NotChicken Nuggets™, Madden described her journey in the food industry, going from a small company manager to the CMO of Chobani. After a decade of working in category management there, she made the switch to NotCo. Madden recalled that one of her colleagues got a job with the company by simply approaching its leaders after a presentation and encouraged students to do the same in their desired fields.
Over 20 people attended the event, which Rappin considered a great success.
“It shows that there’s a true interest and a lack of anything like this on campus,” he said.
Since the NotCo speaker event, Rappin has been keeping the club busy. Shortly afterward, the executive board of Plant Futures Northwestern toured a factory owned by Nature’s Fynd, another manufacturer of animal product substitutes, in a collaboration with Plant Futures’ University of Illinois-Chicago branch. In the long term, Rappin wants to petition Northwestern dining halls to offer better vegetarian options as well as introduce a course on plant-based eating at Northwestern to address the need for education in that space.
Rappin (left) and executive board of Plant Futures Northwestern at the Nature’s Fynd facility in Chicago. (Jonathan Zhao/ION)
Even though Plant Futures Northwestern is still developing, Sirvinskas is proud of the vibrant and ambitious group that Rappin has built so far.
“I firmly believe we need to build a sense of joy with other people if we're going to reimagine our world through food,” Sirvinskas said.
To find out more about Plant Futures Northwestern, please visit their Wildcat Connection page, follow them on Instagram at @plantfutures_nu and/or email them at plant-futures@u.northwestern.edu. You can also subscribe to their newsletter for updates on events, opportunities and leadership roles via this form.