At a glance
Cultural Harvest is a student-led project celebrating UW Seattle’s cultural diversity through food and storytelling. The… Read full summary
- Funding received
- 2024-2025
- Mini
- Awarded
- $3,929
- Funding partners
-
- Services and Activities Fee (SAF)
Cultural Harvest is a student-led project celebrating UW Seattle’s cultural diversity through food and storytelling. The initiative will culminate on May 21, 2026, UNESCO’s World Day for Cultural Diversity, with “UW Cultural Harvest Day,” featuring student food stories expressed through art, writing, video, music, and more, alongside workshops on food justice and storytelling. An online platform will extend the project’s reach by curating submissions, sharing cultural food resources, and publishing student-led content, fostering a deeper appreciation of cultural identity and diversity within the UW community.
Cultural Harvest is a project aimed at celebrating and spreading awareness of culturally relevant food through the narratives of the UW Seattle community's lived experiences. The project derives from the fact that UW Seattle benefits from its diverse community, but its food culture does not always reflect this richness. Cultural Harvest seeks to expand the discussion of cultural food by involving students who will share their cultural food lived experiences, accompanied by an educational workshop with panelists focusing on food justice and storytelling. The event will culminate on May 21, 2026, celebrating UNESCO's World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development as "UW Cultural Harvest Day," during which selected food stories will be celebrated, presented, exhibited, and voted on. The CSF grant will contribute to the success of this event by supporting the dissemination of information, event planning, rewards and benefits, and student leadership development.
Cultural Harvest will primarily serve as a physical and virtual space for students to express their identities and cultures, especially through food, via open submissions. Participating students will be encouraged to explore their creativity by using different forms to communicate their cultural food stories, such as drawings, short stories, short videos, poetry, music, etc. These works will be submitted online through the website, which then will be curated, promoted, voted on by the workshop’s panelists and the broader UW community, with selected works receiving awards.
To ensure that students feel confident using different communication tools for their storytelling projects and create impactful and engaging stories, workshops with themes like nutritious foods and creative communication strategies will be held with guest panelists from faculty or practitioners that acknowledge the importance of storytelling, culture, and food.
Finally, the project will use online platform to broaden engagement and share students' work. The website will feature blog-like content, run by students, covering cultural foods, food justice projects, and UW community perspectives on cultural food. A page listing affordable cultural food resources in the Seattle area will also be hosted. The platform will be inclusive, with accessibility options such as multilingual support, screen reader compatibility, and other features to enhance usability for all users.
Cultural Harvest aims to build a deeper mutual understanding on culturally diverse identity in relation to food, fostering lasting cultural appreciation between UW community.
Ruyan Li
Project lead
- ruyanl@uw.edu
- Affiliation
- Student
- Years
- 2 year(s) remaining at UW
- Affiliated groups
- CIRCLE Student Advisory Board
Ziyan Bai
Team member
- baiziyan@uw.edu
- Affiliation
- Staff
- Affiliated groups
- CIRCLE
Christine Stevens
Speaker at Workshop
- cstevens@uw.edu
- Affiliation and department
- University of Washington Tacoma Associate Professor Nursing and Healthcare Leadership Program
- Stakeholder approval form
Request amount and budget
Plans for financial longevity
After CSF funding concludes, the project will continue through the permanent migration of its website content to the official CIRCLE webpage, where it will be maintained by CIRCLE SAB members. This ensures ongoing accessibility and integration into existing university infrastructure at no additional financial cost.
The platform will function as a lasting resource hub for students, faculty, and staff to engage with topics around cultural food, sustainability, and community partnerships. Content will include educational blog posts, updates on food justice events, and highlights of new CIRCLE SAB initiatives. By embedding the project within an active, student-led advisory board, we ensure that Cultural Harvest remains a living initiative—continuously updated, student-driven, and institutionally supported. This model fosters long-term engagement and sustained collaboration across food equity efforts at UW.
The project timeline spans from the beginning of September 2025 to May 2026, with each quarter focused on different goals.
In the Fall quarter(September-November 2025), we will focus on disseminating information about Cultural Harvest’s food culture storytelling open submission and building partnerships and community engagement. Additionally, the website will be developed to help achieve sustainability goals and spread information more broadly. In October and November, the food culture storytelling submission interest form will be open to UW students. The interest form will include a short description of the cultural food students want to share and how they want to explore it through storytelling. Upon receiving interest submissions, CIRCLE Student Advisory Board (SAB) members will categorize the communication tools and begin selecting faculty or practitioners to partner with as panelists for Winter quarter educational workshops. All students interested in participating will be required to attend the educational workshops.
In the Winter quarter(January-March 2026), we plan to host the educational workshops. At least two workshops will be held, starting with a focus on food, nutrition, and cultures, followed by a session on exploring creative communication strategies using different tools and media. Due to the short duration of the Winter quarter, preparations for these workshops—such as reserving space and contacting panelists—will take place during the Fall quarter through Winter break, ensuring that the events do not occur too close to the final weeks of the quarter, which would affect attendance. After the second workshop, submissions will open.
In the Spring quarter(April-May 2026), we plan to set the submission deadline as the first week of April 2026, and submissions will be promoted and circulated through CIRCLE and other campus partners' social media channels and newsletters. We also plan to spread the word via cultural RSOs to increase participation and engagement. After the submission closes, we plan to highlight submissions on the website we created and send out information regarding voting guidelines. The creators of the top 10 most popular submissions will be invited to attend the UW Cultural Harvest Day and showcase their work to the UW community and have a chance to win one of the three cash prices. Audience at the event will be eligible to vote.
To ensure sustainability beyond the initial year, content from the project website will be transferred to the CIRCLE homepage after the 1-year premium hosting period ends, maintaining public access and student visibility long-term.
Plans for long-term project management
To ensure the project’s continuity, CIRCLE SAB will uphold its annual recruitment and leadership transition process. Each year, new student leaders and volunteers will be onboarded through active outreach and assigned specific roles within the project. These members will receive mentorship and training from current SAB members and CIRCLE staff to ensure a smooth transition of responsibilities.
This annual cycle not only preserves institutional knowledge but also integrates new voices and fresh ideas into the project. Our structure emphasizes peer mentorship, sustainable leadership, and long-term planning. Regular team reflections and role-based evaluations help identify and nurture emerging leaders well before graduation cycles. With these systems in place, the project is built to evolve and thrive each year—regardless of individual turnover.
Problem statement
Cultural food is a significant need, not only to reflect individual identities but also to address various dietary needs related to health, religion, and allergies. These needs are vital to ensure the well-being of communities, both physically and mentally, yet culturally relevant foods are often not accessible to many, particularly marginalized communities. Prior research has highlighted a knowledge gap that views cultural food as a luxury item, often sold at high prices and accessible only to certain groups, leading to disparities in food access. This disproportionately impacts culturally diverse communities, who may have to conform to Western dietary norms.
Through discussions with the UW Food Pantry, we learned that 80% of their visitors are graduate international students. However, both visual observations and interviews with their student directors revealed that the pantry lacks sufficient stocks of cultural foods, despite many requests for them in their quarterly surveys and direct communications. This alarmed us as international student organizations that often relay on cultural food for diversity that brought us the idea on promoting understanding to the importance of cultural food through storytelling approaches.
Problem context
Our project aligns with and complements existing initiatives at the University of Washington focused on food access, sustainability, and community support. UW Seattle has long been involved in food justice efforts, resulting in numerous campus-wide initiatives aimed at helping students access nutritious food. Some of these include the UW Food Pantry, Any Hungry Husky, and The Bean Basket. Additionally, many UW faculty members are engaged in research and work related to food disparities, both across the tri-campuses and throughout the greater Seattle area and Washington State.
We are seeking to partner with these well-established resources that address student food insecurity and build upon their efforts by bringing culturally relevant foods into the conversation. This ensures that food justice reflects the diverse needs of the UW community. Through these partnerships, our project will strengthen collective action across UW’s existing resources, fostering a more inclusive and sustainable food system that supports both the physical health and cultural well-being of the campus. By working together, we aim to increase access to culturally relevant foods and create a more equitable and interconnected environment at UW.
Measure the impacts
| Impact / goal | Metric(s) of success | UW stakeholders impacted |
|---|---|---|
| Students will explore creative ways to share their cultural identities through food-centered storytelling, deepening awareness of food justice and cultural sustainability. | At least 30 students will express interest through the submission form, attend the educational workshops, and participate in the storytelling project by submitting a creative piece. | Undergraduate, Graduate |
| Foster knowledge-sharing and mutual understanding through students’ personal food stories, highlighting culture, identity, and food justice. | Engage at least 50 students, faculty, and staff during Cultural Harvest Day through attendance, voting, or exhibition participation. | Undergraduate, Graduate, Alumni, Academic staff, Admin staff |
| Strengthen partnerships between students, faculty, and practitioners to promote shared knowledge on food, identity, and creative storytelling. | Engage at least 3 faculty or community practitioners to lead storytelling and food justice workshops. | Undergraduate, Graduate, Alumni |
Communication tactics and tools
To communicate about the project and engage the UW community, we will use a mix of digital and in-person strategies. Our website will serve as a central hub for project updates, success stories, and resources related to cultural food initiatives, workshops, and events. Social media platforms like Instagram will be used to share visual content and success stories, engage with followers, and promote events. We will also host workshops focused on food sovereignty, sustainability, and the cultural significance of food, allowing participants to directly engage with the project. Tabling at key events and festivals on campus will help raise awareness and invite participation. Printed flyers and posters will be distributed across bulletin boards in high-traffic areas to ensure accessibility for students, faculty, and staff. Additionally, we aim to partners with RSOs the beginning of the project to help spread the word through their established networks. Regular e-newsletters will be sent out to keep the community informed of upcoming events, volunteer opportunities, and new developments.
Outreach communication plan
We will share the impact of our project with the UW community through mainly our website and doubling with CIRCLE’s established channels such as the website, social media, newsletters, and campus events. Additionally, we will use limited printed media, and if needed will utilized environmentally friendly design, for targeted outreach through bulletin boards. The project will primarily benefit international students, marginalized communities, and faculty/staff who have cultural dietary needs.
Student involvement
Student involvement in Cultural Harvest includes both the broader UW student community and those within the CIRCLE organization. UW students will be invited to share cultural food stories through creative submissions such as writing, art, or video. CIRCLE SAB members will lead project planning, outreach, and workshop coordination, while also managing the website and supporting submission reviews. This collaboration allows students to participate as both storytellers and organizers, fostering cultural expression, leadership, and dialogue around food justice. The project empowers diverse student voices while strengthening community connections across campus through shared experiences and meaningful engagement.