Senior Carter Fortman represented St. Louis U. High at the U.S. Green Building Council’s State of the Chapter (USGBC) event on Tuesday, Jan. 12. Fortman gave a presentation on behalf of the Sustainability Club as a “Green Building Advocate of the Future.” 

The event’s purpose was to review the status of sustainability in St. Louis, which is one of the chapters, or regions, of the USGBC. 

“In addition to them talking about the state of what the chapter was doing, the event focused on future leaders of sustainability,” said Fortman.

Fortman was one of the two student leaders to speak; the other was UMSL student Divine D. Akinjiyan. 

“(Akinjiyan) did a lot with energy, whereas my presentation was a little bit more food-focused,” said Fortman. 

Fortman has grown to be a leader in the Sustainability Club through his efforts to grow and expand the food team, a facet of the club. Along with senior Albert Harrold and club moderator Anne Marie Lodholz, Fortman developed the farm-to-school cycle used in the food team. 

“I talked about food and sustainability as sort of like a cycle,” said Fortman. “This was an idea that we came up with last year for a presentation we were supposed to be doing at a conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico.” 

While that conference was canceled, Fortman repurposed the discussion of the food cycle at his talk on Tuesday. The five step cycle he describes goes from gardening, to harvesting, to processing, to service, to composting. In other words, the process integrates farm-grown food, service to the community, and composting to conserve as much as possible. 

“I think food is such a great introduction to sustainability for a lot of people because it kind of gets you interested in the subject in a tasty way,” said Fortman. 

During his talk, Fortman discussed the food cycle in the context of educating others on sustainability. Food is easier for newcomers to grasp than more complex concepts like waste and energy. 

The structure for Fortman’s presentation was separated into three overarching questions: Why did he get interested in sustainability? What actions has he taken to advocate for sustainability? And what does he want to see in the future? The overall framework was to provide insight into how young leaders are approaching the future in their advocacy for sustainability. 

“I've served for a long time in leadership roles in the sustainability club, but in particular, the food team of the sustainability club,” said Fortman, “So I discussed my experience there.”

In addition to the food cycle, Fortman discussed his own personal climate advocacy, bridging it with his food sustainability work and his political beliefs. 

One of the specific things Fortman and Harrold did with the Sustainability Club was a trip to Cincinnati to discuss food-to-table, where they learned about the food cycle. They lobbied for healthier options in the cafeteria as well. 

“Sustainability helps to look out for our planet and, in turn, look out for our bodies,” said Fortman. “Sustainability kind of blends the two together.”