The Aquinas College SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise) team will host Earth Day activities on April 22 on the Aquinas campus. Organizations, including Slow Food and the Fulton Street Farmers' Market, have been invited to provide information on the benefits of buying locally-grown food. Events are free and open to the public.

Slow Food, founded in 1989, is a non-profit, eco-gastronomic member-supported organization developed to counteract fast food and fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions, people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat and how our food choices affect the rest of the world. Slow Food has over 100,000 members in 132 countries.

The special Earth Day Farmers' Market at Aquinas will be located on the Wege Mall in front of the Wege Student Center. The Farmer's Market has provided fresh, locally grown produce to West Michigan residents for over eighty years. The Market offers an opportunity for urban dwellers to connect with local food producers.

SIFE is also unveiling the Nature Trails Project which is designed to promote health awareness and allow community members to discover the ecological beauty of the Aquinas campus. The opening ceremony is at 2 p.m. by the Bukowski Chapel, a short walk from the Fulton Street parking lot on the Aquinas campus. The Aquinas Nature Trails are available for walking, running and bicycling.

The Sustainable Living Team, sponsoring the Earth Day events, has 52 members. Their purpose is to build cooperation with Aquinas and the local community, make a difference by promoting healthy sustainable lifestyles and helping everyone in the community to be aware of and utilize our campus' natural abundance.

SIFE is an international organization that mobilizes university students around the world to make a difference in their communities while developing the skills to become socially responsible business leaders. The Aquinas SIFE team draws from this solid educational foundation to offer students enriched opportunities to make a difference, develop leadership, teamwork and communication skills through learning, practicing and teaching the principles of free enterprise. SIFE is active on more than 1,500 college and university campuses in 40 countries. For further information contact Professor Masato Yamazaki at (616) 632-2063 or yamazmas@aquinas.edu.