By Jason Koole
Western Herald
Western Michigan University’s annual Health and Wellness Expo took place this past Tuesday.
The expo, which lasted from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., was designed to show students a healthier lifestyle than what they might have. The expo was located in the tennis courts of the WMU Recreational Center, and attendees had the chance to sample different aspects of ways to improve health.
“The health and wellness expo allows people to come to one general area to get information on wellness,” said Chris Voss, Associate Director of Facilities & Programming at the SRC.
“Whether it is everything that encompasses health and wellness, body, spirit, mind, food, everything it provides one central opportunity for faculty staff and students to come and learn about it.”
There were over 40 booths set up at the expo. Each area had different things to sample and learn about improving general health, including massages, food, coffee, and fitness. This was the first year that there was a Fresh & Local Market for producers who have grown organic food.
Organizations like Fair Food Matters, Peoples Food Co-Op, and other farm grown or homegrown items. Aaron Bauchan, one of the interns running the Fair Food Matters Booth stressed the importance of selling homegrown food.
“It’s important because it uses less resources less pesticides, it keeps money in your community and basically helps revitalize your community,” said Bauchen.
Fair Food Matters is an organization the stresses the importance of home grown food. The group also wants to share knowledge about why eating homegrown food is important and safer than mass produced products.
Another booth was People’s Food Co-op, who was represented by Elizabeth Forest, who is the Staff of People’s Food Co-op.
“The People’s Food Co-op is a community owned grocery store that has been in downtown Kalamazoo for more than 40 years,” said Forest. “What I bring is locally produced items, like things that are made in Michigan, or close to it.”
Forest also notes that the store is primarily an ingredients store, that sells anything from herbs and spices to shampoos.
The Health and Wellness Expo can also provide opportunities for students to get involved in things like volunteering or making the recreational center a better place. Amy Seth, the director of University Recreation, believes that the expo is important to students because it introduces them to new things and it is an opportunity for people to get involved.
“They are introduced to something that they’ve maybe never had before, some people have never had massages, here is an opportunity for a hand massage,” said Seth.
“We’ve gotten student groups involved, student groups are actually learning things in the nursing area, or health and human services or health and physical education are actually doing some type of assessment with it.”
The Health and Wellness Expo is generally a success in the eyes of Voss and Seth. Students come to the Expo because it is a fun opportunity, according to Seth there are many reasons to attend the expo.
“I think [one of the draws to the expo is] the fact that people are interacting with them [the people attending], certainly you pick up free things, there is usually walkaway, there is contests, that’s what I think the draw is, and certainly the free food.”
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