WHILE THE LONG-TERM QUEST TO MAKE CAMPUS operations environmentally sound focuses largely on buildings, fixtures and fuel, food choices and eating habits have a major impact as well. Carbon-based fuels used to transport food from one spot to another produce — you guessed it — carbon dioxide emissions, so it's important to consider whether your lunch was grown locally, like an apple from the orchard down the road, or shipped across several countries, like a banana.
Bon Appétit, Hamilton's food service provider, is aware of the role sustenance plays in sustainability. "Being carbon neutral [is] something that's very important to us," says Patrick Raynard, Bon Appétit's general manager. Each year the company takes steps both to reduce its carbon footprint and to teach students about the consequences of their decisions.
"We have always been advocates of using local food, supporting local farmers," Raynard says. Bon Appétit purchases many of its menu items from local farmers and will sponsor its fifth annual Eat Local Challenge on campus this fall. On Eat Local days, all food served comes from local farmers. Last spring, Bon Appétit also led a Low-Carbon Diet Day. Brochures for the event asked students, "Is your cheeseburger causing global warming?" and "Does your sushi get more frequent flier miles than you?" Food items that produced fewer carbon emissions were selected for the day's lunch menu. Since cattle are the biggest source of greenhouse-gas methane, beef and dairy were avoided as well as food that required much shipping. Students learned firsthand about dietary options from a planetary perspective.
Next on the table is a plan to reduce waste created by the dining hall. Plans for regular trayless days are under discussion, the hope being that students would pile on less food — and thus throw less food away — if they were carrying one plate at a time rather than several plates on a tray.
Such decisions not only have immediate impact, Raynard believes; they also reinforce the Sustainability Committee's goal of making Hamilton students full partners in the development of a sustainable campus. "We help students with the decisions they will have to make when they get out in the real world, when they will have to choose what they want to eat," he says. "They have to think about their decisions."
