4 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, January 6, 2006 OPINION ibe rl~diigau t tiu*g JASON Z. PESICK Editor in Chief SUHAEL MOMIN SAM SINGER Editorial Page Editors ALISON Go Managing Editor EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN SINCE 1890 420 MAYNARD STREET ANN ARBOR, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com NOTABLE QUOTABLE The notes said they weren't suffering, they were just going to sleep." - Peggy Cohen, whose father was one of 12 West Virginia coal miners who died after being trapped by an explosion, on notes the miners left for their families, as reported yesterday by the Associated Press. r1 a 1. r. 7 10 Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily's editorial board. All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their author. KIM LEUNG THE TAKB-OUT Box 0 M AP T <', V Simply delicious EMILY BEAM LOoKIN'.. FOR AMERICA 01 he Washington apples in the University's dining halls - those Red Delicious ones k that are a little too red and way too shiny - always disturbed me. One encounter with their mushy texture and bland flavor left me oddly thirsty and dissatisfied, wondering if perhaps they were the University's way of teaching students that appearances can be deceiving. As far as I'm concerned, Washington Red Delicious apples are not food, much less apples. Maybe they're okay in Washington. Maybe they were once edible, even tasty - before they were picked, washed and waxed some 2,500 miles ago. I couldn't say; I've never been to Washington. I do know that Michigan apples, when purchased in Michigan, are quite tasty. Even typically bland Red Delicious apples aren't that bad when they have been spared the up to eight-month-long wait in a temperature- controlled warehouse that Washington's exports endure. Beginning a few years ago, the Univer- sity started serving Michigan apples in the residence halls during the fall. It's not part of a campus-wide movement to satiate stu- dents' appetites - or maybe just my appe- tite - for Michigan McIntosh and Empire apples. Rather, it's just one aspect of efforts to include more locally grown foods in cam- pus dining hall offerings. Why care? Buying more local foods will increase menu variety, cut down on the air and water pollution inherent in shipping foods across the country and help out the local economy. Besides making the hippies happy, using locally grown foods increases the quality of cafeteria fare, perhaps leaving students a little less tired of dorm food come spring. University dining halls serve roughly 10,000 meals a day. Following the lead of tiny, private liberal arts colleges like Ster- ling College of Virginia - where students produce most of their own food, or at least purchase it locally - would be an outright bad idea. I can't see University students rais- ing enough cattle, making enough maple syrup or pickling enough beans and beets - as Sterling students do - to feed any sig- nificant number of their classmates. But what the University can realistically do is significantly expand its offering of locally grown foods. It's doing a better job than just a few years ago - all the tofu and dairy served in University dining halls now is from Michigan - but we could be doing a lot more. Even working within the often cumbersome framework of vendor contracts and standardized menus, University Din- ing Services can work with farmers in the county and the state to expand its cafeteria offerings. Asking the University to shell out food prices comparable to the "Yuppie tax" that Whole Foods shoppers pay is unneces- sary. Buying more local foods may often be slightly more expensive - students at Northland College in Wisconsin agreed to a six-cent per-meal price increase to pay for local potatoes and onions - but that is not always the case. Switching from packaged California tofu to bulk organic Michigan tofu has saved the University thousands of dollars annually. Although these tofu savings don't even make a dent in the University's nearly $6-million annual food budget, the switch demonstrates that using locally grown produce is not nec- essarily a luxury. There are certainly obstacles. According to nutrition specialist Ruth Blackburn of University Dining Services, the University requires that food vendors possess expen- sive liability insurance which most small produce farmers lack, and individual farms often cannot produce large quantities on their own. Working with individual farmers and local groups to create distribution coop- eratives can help resolve these challenges and bridge the gap between local farms and students' cafeteria trays. But any major new effort - whether trying to get the University to serve more Washt- enaw County-grown squash or converting an entire dining hall to serve locally grown produce, as Blackburn hopes could one day be accomplished - will take pressure from students. It's not that hard of a fight - if activism on campus is strong enough to wear down the University's reluctance to take action against the Coca-Cola Company, it's certainly capable of giving the University the shove necessary to make locally grown foods a larger part of cafeteria menus. What could seem like a marginal cause to some is quickly spreading nationwide - even The New York Times last week declared the terms "local" and "sustainable" the latest "culinary buzzwords." That settles it: Everybody's doing it. As more students become aware of the benefits of locally grown food and the real- istic measures the University can take, it will likely require little more than a dedi- cated student organization and a whole lot of dining room comment cards to get things moving. The University has already made limited progress, and students would benefit from the efforts already underway to forge partnerships between University chefs and local groups like the Food System Economic Partnership. By the time students-finally take notice, they may be jumping on the student activist bandwagon, but there's no harm in reaping these delicious and socially respon- sible rewards. Beam can be reached at ebeam@umich.edu. VIEWPOINT Coke killers miss the mark BY MARK KUEHN seems more of a diatribe against corporate ly held idealism. figures for their wealth than evidence against Unfortunately for Michigan's unskilled Congratulations, student activists, on your Coca-Cola for its alleged abuses. For example, laborers, ignorant student activism has spread victory against the evil, unethical soda-pop the article inappropriately titled "Getting Away faster than the facts could. Instead of targeting corporation. I'm sure the alleged victims of with Murder" condescendingly points out how the University's contract, the student coalition the Coca-Cola Company's tyrannical reign extremely wealthy the leaders of Coke and its should have pressured the bottlers alleged to in famished third-world countries will rejoice associates are. In that article and others on the be responsible for human rights abuses into in knowing that the idealistic do-gooders at "Killer Coke" website alleging crimes against changing their practices. some far-away university have boycotted the workers, the writers fail to point out factual I also find it quite convenient that the Univer- megalo-corporation that wronged them. They evidence that links the abuses to Coke. sity decided to make this decision over winter will be forever grateful that the University has In reality, the only people the University's break. Did it think making such a rash deci- cut its contract with such a corrupt, malevolent contract cuts will affect are the local bottlers sion during a time when most students were corporate entity. who are already deeply burdened by the lan- at home with their families would soften the There's just one problem: The vile Coca- guishing Michigan economy. backlash? Did it foresee that the direct effect Cola Company has very little, if anything, to Coke will hardly see a dent in its massive, of the contract cut would be further damage do with the alleged abuses. sugary profits. In fact, the $1.4-million loss to the state's economy? The University should Unlike Nike and other corporations accused due to the contract cut will most likely be taken have made this decision during the fall or win- of offshore labor abuse, Coke does not directly up by the local Michigan bottlers in the form ter semesters. That way, it could incur proper import a finished product ready for consump- of layoffs and benefit reductions. I thought the criticism for its actions right away, rather than tion - the Coca-Cola Company does not bottle University was in favor of jobs and benefits for being able'to let things settle down. I surely Coke. They simply advertise and sell the syrup unskilled workers. I guess I was mistaken. hope this does not set the precedent for future used to make its products to local, privately The anti-Coke coalition is just one of the decision-making about touchy matters. owned bottling plants. Even Colombian bot- many examples of University student groups Don't get me wrong - the coalition should tling plants - where the alleged worker abuse putting so-called "idealism" before facts. be applauded for directly pressuring the Uni- and murder is taking place - are not owned by Their intentions may be righteous but their versity instead of using the government to push Coke. If the allegations against Coke are found actions do more harm than good. While the forth costly regulation. However, the Univer- to be accurate, there's little the Coca-Cola activists didn't flip over any tables at meet- sity should not make decisions that will harm Company can do, aside from refusing outright ings a la BAMN, their idealism blinds them the local economy without first getting all the to sell syrup to the local bottlers and thus hurt- from the consequences of their actions. They facts straight. Idealism is not a valid excuse ing their already starved local economies. can pat themselves on the back thinking they for lost jobs, especially when nothing else will At www.killercoke.org - the website of the have accomplished something meaningful, but come from it. Campaign to Stop Killer Coke, an interna- they fail to see the aftermath of their idealis- tional campaign with which the campus group tic endeavors. The Michigan economy cannot Kuehn is an LSA sophomore and a member is affiliated - the section on "Coke's crimes" afford to be gambled with in the name of false- of the Daily's editorial board. LETTER TO THE EDITOR Editorial Board Members: Amy Anspach, Andrew Bielak, Reggie Brown, Gabrielle D'Angelo, John Davis, Whitney Dibo, Milly Dick, Sara Eber, Jesse Forester, Mara Gay, Jared Goldberg, Ashwin Jagannathan, Theresa Kennelly, Mark Kuehn, Will Kerridge, Frank Man- ley, Kirsty McNamara, Rajiv Prabhakar, Matt Rose, David Russell, Katherine Seid, Brian Leather helmets are long gone; why isn't Carr? TO THE DAILY: LETTERS POLICY The Michigan Daily welcomes letters from all of its readers. Letters from University students, faculty, staff and administrators will be given priority over others. 1 L -IA- 1. 1_ ~1..t. I 11 -.-A 1. T ,----1---------,o.-*. I