Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Introducing the Trent Food Service Review Committee

Each week a new member of the committee will introduce themselves in their own words.  This is the seventh introduction of eight.



My name is Ashley Robinson, I am a fourth year Honours Arts student majoring in Business Administration and French Studies.  

I am the Prime Minister on Lady Eaton College Cabinet and I am a part of this committee in order to express the student voice and make sure that students have a say in what they want to see in their food service, on and off campus. 

I think it is important that students have access to a balanced, healthy lifestyle in University, especially in their first year if they are living on rez and relying on a meal plan.  I am excited to see change come from this committee, in particular more affordable meal plans and a meal plan that could potentially include food providers off-campus. 

Finally, my favourite food would have to be a toss-up between a nice steak, eggs benedict and anything with pesto!

Friday, March 8, 2013

Our Next Open Forum: Sustainability



The Trent Food Service Review Committee's next open forum will be Tuesday, March 12th at 2pm within The Ceilie.  The topic of this open forum will be sustainability.

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Environmental Sustainability and Food Services


By Nona Robinson



                More and more people are justifiably concerned about how our food choices can impact the environment, and there are many, many aspects to food production and consumption that have environmental implications. How Trent’s food services evolve can really reflect our university’s commitment to environmental issues … and it’s important to know what the challenges are.

How food is produced

                Where does that burger come from? Tracing back the origins of the different foods we eat, especially processed food, can be a huge challenge.

                How the food is grown and produced in the first place is also environmentally significant. Agricultural practices have huge environmental impacts, including greenhouse gas production (not just CO2, but also methane from cow farts). Manufactured fertilizers are made from petroleum products. Pesticides can have an impact on biodiversity, as can mono-culture, soil erosion, and conversion of ecologically sensitive areas such as rainforests to agricultural production. 

                How high up we’re eating on the food chain makes a huge difference. Producing meat requires either significant amounts of pasture or grain (and sometimes other meat products, unfortunately).  Michael Pollan, who’s the go-to guy for information about food, health and the environment, says to eat real food, not too much, mostly plants.* If you’re eating for sustainability, meat should be a treat, and look for meat that’s produced as part of an ecological farm system (so the manure is gold, not waste).  There’s also been great work done on increasing people’s awareness of sustainable fishing practices.

                The distance traveled to bring food to each of us is an important consideration. Generally speaking, the more ingredients and the more processed the food choice, the more kilometers its components have racked up. Single-ingredient food (e.g. fresh produce) is less travel-intensive than multiple-ingredient foods. Packaging, too, is something to consider. Is organic spinach grown in California on a huge farm, picked and refrigerated, and then shipped in a plastic clamshell container good for the environment? Yes, organic growing practices are so much better for the environment, but those clamshells suck.

                On the other hand, given that we have winter – and hands up who’s tired of the snow? – unlike California we can’t produce fresh produce all year long. Eating seasonally is also a good choice for the environment, although only having beets, potatoes and turnips at this time of year could get tired. It’s worth keeping in mind that storing produce, or using greenhouses to provide fresh leafy greens, also requires energy.

                There is no choice that is perfect, but some are better than others.

Food services management

                Okay, let’s say we’ve got a bunch of ingredients that have a lower environmental impact, now how can the food services operation further contribute to sustainable practices?

n       Sourcing food that’s sustainably produced
n       Prioritizing in-house cooking over pre-prepared or processed food
n       Minimizing food waste in terms of leftovers and spoilage, and composting what does occur
n       Tracking utilities in terms of cooking, refrigeration, heating/cooling and lighting
n       Reduce packaging and also create incentives to stop takeout container use
n       Providing information and education around sustainable food choices.

                So why isn’t everyone doing this? There’s always a balance. Not everyone wants to eat kale and quinoa every day, or wants to prioritize sustainability over being able to choose foods they want to eat. Sustainable food is more labour-intensive to produce and costs more. Similarly, in-house cooking requires more labour. People want convenience, so they want to be able to put their coffee in a takeout cup and their salad in a disposable container; having a reusable container program would again be more labour-intensive. The answer to “why not?” usually comes down to cost and demand.

                It’s one of the ironies of the past 50 years that processed food has gotten cheaper and cheaper, so “real” food is more expensive to provide. One piece of the food review committee’s will be trying to strike the balance between sustainability, demand, and affordability, and we want to hear from you about how to do it.

__________________
* Michael Pollan’s seven rules for healthy eating:
  1. Don't eat anything your great grandmother wouldn't recognize as food.
  2. Don’t eat anything with more than five ingredients, or ingredients you can't pronounce.
  3. Stay out of the middle of the supermarket; shop on the perimeter of the store.
  4. Don't eat anything that won't eventually rot.
  5. It is not just what you eat but how you eat.
  6. Eat meals at the table and enjoy meals with the people you love.
  7. Don't buy food where you buy your gasoline.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Introducing the Trent Food Service Review Committee

Each week a new member of the committee will introduce themselves in their own words.  This is the sixth introduction of eight.



Hello!  My name is Jamie McDonald.

I am the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) representative on the Trent University Food Service Review Committee.  There are over 350 OPSEU members employed at Trent University taking care of the details in support roles ranging from secretarial to carpentry, from information technology to animal care.  To try to represent such a broad group is humbling and to try to do so accurately is a challenge.  The task is made easier in the understanding that every OPSEU member comes to work each day wanting to make the university better in whatever way they can and it is this spirit of communal improvement that guides me on this committee.

I am excited to be on this committee as I believe that if you look after the details, the details will look after you.  Trent University is known as a place that cares deeply about social and environmental justice.  Trent did not get that reputation by clever marketing, but by the cumulative effect of conscious daily individual choices of those within our university community over the last 50 years. As food is a basic building block of life, and our need for it constant, our choices concerning it ripple far and wide, within our bodies, across campus, in our local community and environment, and across the globe.  In the business of life, food often becomes an overlooked detail, but it may be the most tangible place of choice any of us have to put our desires for social and environmental justice into action.  I believe that is why so many people at Trent are passionate about food; why we banned water bottles on campus, why we attend fundraisers for root cellars (and dance for joy at them), why we are in the last push to make our campus a fair trade campus, why we are now offering a bachelor of arts or science in sustainable agriculture and food systems.  Food is a linchpin detail.  I am excited to be on this committee as if we can get this detail right, the true river that flows through Trent, social and environmental justice, gains strength and runs deeper.

All this typing has made me hungry, time for my favourite, time for an apple.

OC Cafeteria Information Table Tomorrow



Questions, concerns, suggestions?

If you want more information about the Trent University Food Service Review Committee and the work we are doing, please stop by our information table.  We will be at the OC Cafeteria tomorrow between 11am and 3pm.

Hope to see you there!



Friday, March 1, 2013

Moving Forward with an RFP (Request for Proposals)



In the near future we will be drafting an RFP for a new food service contract at Trent.   Before we can do this we need to create different scenarios that provide a range of financial and operational models for food services.  These scenarios will include a cost/benefit analysis of different types of operations, proposals on the possible re-purposing of existing food service locations, alternative management structures and the strengths and weakness of outsourced, in-house or blended approaches.   Addressing the various concerns over food service is not an easy process and compromises will have to be made.  The creation of these scenarios will help us see what is possible for the future of food services at Trent.   

Please keep sending us your thoughts.  Your input is very important and will help us to determine this future together.