In light of this year’s Common Reading Selection “No Impact Man” by Colin Beavan, sustainability has become more than a buzzword at the University; it’s become part of our mission as a university.
Our food choices are the most important decisions we can make to preserve the environment.
Our demand for palm oil, which is used in processed foods, depletes rainforests across the globe.
Our need for meat at breakfast, lunch and dinner is the number one cause of global warming.
Taking control of what’s on our plates three meals a day will significantly reduce our carbon footprint, while honoring the life cycle of our planet.
In an effort to go green, University Dining Services work hard to serve eco-friendly food. Dining Services only serve seafood from the Monterey Bay Seafood Safe list and offer free-range poultry and pork as well as cage-free eggs. They’ve initiated Project Clean Plate, which according to Chartwells’ website, “provides awareness to international hunger and helps students focus globally and act locally to combat hunger, reduce waste, save energy and initiate real change.”
To create awareness regarding food waste, plates are monitored at the disposal areas in the all-you-can-eat dining halls, and the results are posted to show students how much food is wasted. The goal is to help students reduce their intake in order to make an impact. Also, Dining Services holds a campus Farmers Market once a semester to feature seasonal produce from local farmers. Clearly, the folks in Dining Services are working hard to show how food plays a significant role in the environment.
But even more can be done on our campus to encourage sustainability through food.
At Southeast Missouri State University, Chartwells partnered with local farmers to create awareness about the environmental, economical and health benefits of eating local foods. A program like this one would be a fantastic addition here at the University. Having the campus farmers market more often than once a semester would show the diversity of local foods throughout all of the seasons. Planting vegetables and herbs on the rooftop gardens at The Oaks and Carillon Place also could serve as great educational opportunities for students, staff and faculty who want to learn about growing their own food in limited or restricted places. Instituting Meatless Mondays in all of the dining halls could foster awareness of how Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) are destroying land and the ozone in addition to showing ways to cook creative and tasty vegetarian meals.
Dining Services alone can’t put sustainability into action, though. It’s up to us as students, staff and faculty to bring about change with our forks. We can pull resources and collaborate on ways to plot a campus community garden. We can work together to find connections between disciplines in order to develop food security for those in need. We can join forces to create even more programming like the Sustainability Film Fest, which cultivated awareness about the environment. I have no doubt that if we present Dining Services with attainable requests and helpful feedback, they will do all in their power to accommodate our needs and requests, and together we can work with Dining Services to plant and maintain those rooftop gardens. Each one of us is capable of making a difference, but as a team we really can transform our campus and maybe even our neck of the woods.
Next time you pick up your fork, think about the difference you can make with just one bite.