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Environmental Studies Department |
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Greening the Macalester Campus: The Food EditionBy Sarah Wisness and Margaret Woodward Food on any college campus is an integral issue, since it plays such a large role in residential life. It also comes into play when discussing a college's commitment to environmentally sound and sustainable production and waste disposal. There are several dimensions to consider when looking at the dining services on campus, from budget constraints to where the food is bought, under what circumstances it is produced, and what waste policies are in place to deal with excess and scraps. Our project goal was to make Macalester College's dining service more environmentally sound, in keeping with the recently passed Talloires Declaration. This declaration made explicit Macalester's commitment to consider the social and environmental implications and consequences of its actions and policies. We approached this project as a way to make the Macalester community more sustainable and socially responsible by integrating environmentally sound principles into the food aspect on our campus. We want to conserve our natural resources, buy organically and locally as much as possible, examine ways to reduce our waste, and incorporate environmental consciousness into every decision made regarding food service at the college. Macalester College uses the dining service Bon Apetit to satisfy student meal plans and catering needs. It is a contractual service we use and renew each year. Bon Apetit gets its food supply from the corporate food distribution giant, Alliant Foodservices, also known as Kraft. Right now, our food service is locked into a contract with Alliant to get at least ninety percent of our food and food service items from them, allowing a ten percent leeway that we use to purchase fresh bread from a local bakery, meat and some produce. We were denied access to the price lists, budgets, or contractual information between Bon Apetit and Alliant. We know that we get wholesale prices from Alliant by committing to purchasing at least ninety percent of our food from them, which makes student board costs significantly lower than if we were to use independent non-contractual resources. Our contract with Alliant is secretive, but could be cancelled within ninety days and is renewed every spring. Changes in the contract would be effective almost immediately. As it is now, people we talked to were unwilling to consider changing or canceling the contract, so we decided to work within its limitations for the time being. The state of food service at Macalester right now is not as bad as it could be, but leaves lots of room for improvement. Of the ten percent leeway we are allowed, a significant portion is bought from a Midwestern produce company called Bix Produce. They supply us with tofu, soy milk, herbs, lentils, and limited produce. We get our mixed salad greens and baby carrots from an organic company called Classic Provisions. Occasionally, in the fall, we get a few barrels of organic apples from a local orchard. Our waste is dealt with relatively well. Any fruit and vegetable peelings and wasted student food is sent to the Stratton Pig Farm and is collected daily. Right now, our average waste per day is two large pig buckets of fruit and vegetable peelings and six for student waste, which is considered anything that students have taken to eat but not finished. Any un-served food is generally reused until it is gone, and minimal waste comes from prepared, un-served food. The kitchen and dining hall regularly recycle paper, glass, and tin waste. They also compost the biodegradable packaging of some fruits and vegetables. BFI is the solid waste company in charge of disposal of these wastes. At semester breaks or long weekends, as well as over the summer, any food that will not stay good for the duration of the break is given to the Second Harvest company, which uses the food in soup kitchens and homeless shelters. This is the situation as it stands currently with Kagin and Bon Apetit. We took this information, compiled through interviews, and examined where our food purchasing and waste could be improved upon. We came up with several ideas and facts throughout the semester. First we met with the Food Committee of the CEIC who had done previous work on the issue. We were given price lists for organic food distribution companies, Roots and Fruits and Blooming Prairie Foods. They also gave us a list of contacts for people we might want to talk to. After researching information on what other schools have done to improve their dining services, we brainstormed ideas of how Kagin might feasibly become more environmentally friendly. These might include an increase in organic and/or locally-grown foods used, composting napkins and possibly food (with SKB Environmental, an industrial composting company), utilizing a food recovery program such as Second Harvest and 12 Baskets, and possibly growing a portion of produce used in the Macalester community garden, greenhouse, or even future "rooftop gardens." We called companies such as SKB Environmental, BFI, and 12 Baskets to inquire about their recycling, reusing, and composting services and asked them to send us information. We made plans to talk with the Head Chef at Kagin, Mark Dickenson at the physical plant, and Gary Lensing with Bon Appetit. Our initial calls to Kagin to see if we could have a price list for their current purchases were unsuccessful. We left many messages with them asking to set up an interview with Red, the head chef, but our calls were all unreturned. When we finally got a hold of them, they would give us no information over the phone and we were told that Alliant's price list was confidential. Margaret tried to get price lists from other large food distributors, like SYSCO, (to use as estimates) but it seems that these corporations are very protective of that information. Finally, we simply walked into the kitchen of Kagin to speak with the head chef, who told us all about how "environmentally friendly" Kagin already was. We talked with him for awhile about current policies and practices, and asked him about the possibilities of implementing some of the ideas we had come up with, as stated above. He told us if we could work with students (by spreading awareness) about end-waste issues, he would comply with what we asked regarding composting paper napkins, or even food waste. Red told us he would gladly accept any food grown in a Macalester Community Garden, the Mac greenhouse, or on rooftop gardens, and gave suggestions for foods he could readily use, especially tomatoes, cucumbers, and herbs such as basil, parsley, rosemary, oregano, mint, and chives. We explored this more thoroughly by later talking to physical plant about these possibilities. As for buying more organic and locally grown food, he said we absolutely had to talk to Gary Lansing, about granting Kagin a higher budget to accommodate. Right now, they have to buy all that they can from Alliant, according to Bon Appetit's contract with them. Although we were unable to meet with Gary Lensing, we spoke with John Schmeck (Gary Lensing's assistant) about our concerns. John informed us that the only way to raise Kagin's food budget was to raise the board charges, which would involve going to Macalester's main treasurer, Craig Aase. Consequently, it was too ate in the year to make changes for next year. This is an area that could be further pursued in the future by the Food Committee of CEIC. In our meeting with Mark Dickensen concerning spaces on campus that might be used to grow food for use in Kagin, he told us that both rooftop gardens or heating the current greenhouse might be feasible in the future, but that building more greenhouses would probably not be cost-efficient compared to simply buying organic food elsewhere. The problem, Mark pointed out, is that Macalester is in the middle of the city and space is clearly an issue regarding alternative garden plots. However, he seemed quite open to our suggestions and enthusiastic about helping Macalester become a greener campus, and will probably be a good ally for future propositions. Growing food for Kagin (even if only in small volume to begin with) could conceivably be implemented in the near future, but we would need to work with MULCH to coordinate plantings and tending of these gardens, or perhaps Student Employment might be able to help by employing student workers. Through taking on this project, we realized that there are several ways Macalester could improve its environmental consciousness through our food purchasing and waste disposal. We accomplished a lot of things over the semester, but there are many more to be done. This project should be a long term, long range planning project that is worked on and updated until Macalester has accomplished its goals stated in the Talloires Declaration. The following are follow up plans and recommendations to be considered for future movement on this project. One of the biggest issues as far as food and waste revolution is student awareness. This has several implications. If students realize that there is potential for Macalester to go organic, perhaps they will begin to create the demand for it to happen. They have to decide if they're willing to spend more money, at least at the offset, to have higher quality food in their dining hall and at catering functions. If the student voice is adamant, Macalester will listen. Students also need to consider their food waste. They are the main reason for so much food remaining uneaten and non-reusable. Perhaps a poster campaign urging students to examine how much food they are taking and how much they are eating would be successful. Waste also encompasses non-food discarded goods. We recommend that a composting bin for napkins and paper towels and other non-food compostables be established in Kagin. A meeting should be set up with Craig Aase, who is responsible for our budgeting and contracting with Alliant. He should be presented with a statement as to why we should be looking into organics, how much the cost difference might realistically be, and other important aspects of this project. It would be helpful to prepare a packet of propaganda and organic, local, and waste information to present him with. This packet could also be given to Gary Lensing and Sarah Griese, the director of the residential life office. More information should be assembled regarding the possibility and plausibility of greenhouses on buildings to help us produce more of our own food. Cost analyses and projections should be prepared, as well as an evaluation of the project potential. An appendix to the Talliores Declaration dealing explicitly with our food use and waste could be looked into. Drafts of such an appendix could be written, stating a mission to use sustainably and locally produced food and materials at Kagin and catering functions. It should be assessed whether this could be passed or included. Finally, perhaps it is time for a re-evaluation of Macalester's contracts, both with Alliant and Bon Appetit. Based on research done regarding other colleges that have been successful at becoming more sustainable in their food purchasing and waste, the best plan may be a non-contractual one. This would allow for more flexibility and organics to come into our dining plan. This is a worthwhile and important project to be considered as Macalester enters the twenty-first century. We should start practicing what we preach in terms of sustainability and environmental well-being. Food is not a small part of what makes a college environmentally sound, and it should be considered and examined in any plan geared towards sustainability and social and environmental change. Useful Resources Macalester College Campus
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