We Are What We Eat

    
     My father is approaching his 40th year as the owner and operator of his own small business.
   
    One of the most important lesson he taught me was to not buy from someone who does not display the price of what they are selling.  It's dishonest and shameful but effective.  If you don't realize you are being overcharged until you are at the register, with a long line waiting behind you, it's hard to turn back.
   
      Anyone who has been to the South Campus Market or the Hilltop Market will notice that nothing (save the brands that print the price on the packaging) has a price on it.  Perhaps our on campus dining services are in dire straits and need to make money any way possible.
    
    I would offer a different solution to this problem.  Stop throwing away gratuitous amounts of food every single day.  Today I witnessed Depot Employees throw away at least a dozen pizzas, fill the empty slots with new ones, and then return to making more. Upon seeing this I began asking employees if they could estimate how much food was thrown away every day.  The same response came again and again - a lot.
   
      I find it unlikely that the Depot is the only on-campus dining location guilty of this disgusting practice. Considering that there are people who are wondering where their next meal will come from right here in Arcata, this act becomes criminal. So what can we do?
 
    
             Well rather than throw away food perhaps we could donate it to homeless shelters, give it to poor students, or if nothing else at least compost it. Or, and keep in mind I’m just spit-balling here, maybe we could not make more food than sells in a given day.

    In a time when entire programs are on the brink of being cut, this waste is a slap in the face of every student at this university and a far, far cry from the graduation pledge that we are supposed to take.
    
     I have worked in restaurants for years, many of which are far busier than the Depot, and I know that making food to order is harder work than making a bunch at one time, but is our complacency worth the cost? Should we as a university support a policy of "waste not want not" or continue on the path of dishonest, wasteful use of resources?
  
     Given the nature of university policy of late I fear the latter, but hope for the best.

Brett Calhoon
HSU Junior Mathematics Major

 
    
  

• Facebook Comments
• Site Comments

1 comments

Anonymous

Mon Mar 22 2010 21:40

You tell 'em!

Add comment


I am not posting spam. I understand posting spam or other comments that are unrelated to this article will cause my comment to be flagged for deletion and possibly cause my IP address to be permanently banned from this server.

Enter the characters in the image above:

log out