4 4A - Wednesday, October 26, 2011 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com _ .. ,. l e Michioan 1ailp A Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com BRUNO STORTINI E-MAIL BRUNO AT BRUNORS@UMICH.EDU -- C- STEPHANIE STEINBERG EDITOR IN CHIEF MICHELLE DEWITT and EMILY ORLEY EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS NICK SPAR MANAGING EDITOR Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily's editorial board. All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors. Cultivating new resources 'U' and businesses should utilize local farms n general, farms are thought of as relics of the past. Many peo- ple are unaware of how food gets to grocery stores or where the food one eats comes from. However, federal grants allo- cated to farm start-ups are an important step in encouraging peo- 4 A Commander and a President ple to buy and eat local food. According to an Oct. 20 Michigan Daily article, the Food System Economic Partner- ship, a Michigan-based nonprofit organiza- tion, will receive nearly $92,000 in grant money from the U.S. Department of Agricul- ture's Farmers Market Promotion Program. The grant will beused by FSEP to supply Til- lian Farm Development Center, a local farm incubator program outside Ann Arbor Town- ship, with new farming equipment to assist Michigan-based farm start-ups. With the assistance of the federal grant, residents of Southeast Michigan can look forward to more locally owned farm start- ups. The grants will lead to the consumption of more locally grown foods and create jobs in the area. The University and Ann Arbor businesses should support these start-ups by expanding their partnerships with local farming businesses. Tilian will provide mentorship, finance and business planning assistance and farm- ing equipment for qualified individuals to start their farms on land provided by the incubator program. Participants of the pro- gram who establish their farms in Michigan will increase the amount of locally grown foods in restaurants and markets. People living in urban areas with little access to fresh or healthy food options - areas known as food deserts - will benefit as more locally grown food becomes available. Many residents who live in these areas don't have easy access to transportation, but farm- ers markets that sell fresh produce locally provide easy access to healthy food options. Produce stores or markets that plan to open in these neighborhoods can also benefit from partnerships with local farmers, who can provide regular shipments of fresh fruit and vegetables to fill the aisles at prices residents can afford. First Lady Michelle Obama - who was in Detroit yesterday - has widely campaigned her "Lets Move" initiative since entering the White House. Obama is trying to decrease obesity, particularly in children. In July, she partnered with Wal-Mart to help open more than 1,500 stores that would provide fresh produce in urban areas. In Detroit and other cities throughout Southeast Michigan, many neighborhoods lack accessible, affordable grocery stores. Without fresh and healthy options, people are more susceptible to obe- sity and other serious diseases. It is impor- tant that residents buy healthier foods that urban gardening and local farms provide. A study conducted in 2006 by the Michi- gan Land Use Institute and the C.S. Mott Group for Sustainable Food showed that when existing Michigan farms increase their sales to produce stores, they generate $187 million in revenue, which can create 1,889 new jobs. With Michigan's unemployment rate at 11.1 percent, these figures are hard to ignore. Locally grown food is beneficial for peo- ple's health and the environment, as these foods have fewer chemicals and preserva- tives and require less fuel to transport. But in order for start-up farms to increase and exert their economic, environmental and health benefits, farmers participating in incubator programs like Tilian must stay in Michigan. For this to occur, local businesses and the University need to expand their rela- tionships with sustainable, local agriculture businesses. ast week, Commander in Chief Barack Obama helped strategize the killing of yet another big-time major enemy leader, Libyan x dictator Moam- mar Gadhafi. This achieve- ' ment liber- ates the Libyan peoplefrom DAR-WEI Gadhafi's iron- fisted rule and CHEN undoubtedly makes the world safer. ForObama, Gadhafi'sdemiseisthe fourth-major foreign policy triumph: Besides Gadhafihe successfullyused a drone attack to kill al Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki in late September and he recently announced the Iraq war would be over by the end of the year (a campaign promise). And in a memorable moment this summer, Obama presided over a covert opera- tion into Pakistan that led to the death of Osama bin Laden. Even with these accomplish- ments, Obama is still in trouble for 2012. Commander in Chief is not his full-time job - he is Presi- dent Obama too. So far, Obama has achieved mixed economic results. A USA Today article last year found that his stimulus plan, according to economists, created nearly 3 million jobs and averted "what could have been called Great Depression 2.0." However, the country's unemploy- ment rate has remained at an unac- ceptable 9 percent minimum for almost his entire presidency. Fair or not, Republicans are going to slam Obama's economic policies in an effort to win the 2012 presi- dential election. However, they will have ahard time tarnishing his ster- ling foreign policy record, which brings up an interesting point: The juxtaposition of Obama's achieve- ments in foreign policy and the econ- omy is somewhat puzzling. How can someone be so efficient and ruthless on one front and, at times, be frus- tratinglyineffective on another?The GOP will try to explain this through its core message: Obama has failed on the economy because he is "in over his head," in the words of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor. But what if another reason existed that explains Obama's economic woes? Obama has to work with Congress to pass legislation. As you might know, Congress includes people called Republicans, who are united with one goal. Cutting down the national debt? Not according to their massive tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations. Advancing the nation's economy with conservative solutions? Maybe, but not their top goal. According to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, "the sin- gle most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president." Contrast Obama's predicament on the economy with what he deals with when he becomes Command- er in Chief Obama. Obama can get deeply involved in the armed forces and - short of declaring war - can do almost whatever he wants in regards to military policy. Repub- licans cannot do little to stop him beyond press attacks - admittedly, one of the few things they do well. Obama's performances on the economy and foreign affairs are more explainable now. When the GOP purposely tries to bring down his presidency through intran- sigence and obstruction, Obama Gadhafi's death is another triumph for Obama. lus was watered down with ineffec- tive tax cuts and scaled back aid to local and state governments. Want to guess which party championed the tax cuts and reduced govern- ment aid? Conservatives might say that perhaps Obama hasn't per- formed well on the economy because economics is not his strong suit - nothing to do with obstruction. However, duringhis daysworkingas a community organizer, Obama spe- cifically sought out struggling fami- lies to understand their problems. If anything, he should have better ideas about helping those in need than handling foreign affairs. When Obama answers to him- self, he is a dominant force. This statement is not to say that he has been ineffective when working with Congress (a simple Google search brings up a litany of accom- plishments) - the point is that when Obama is not hamstrung by a radicalized GOP, he has been pret- ty damn good. Maybe all America needs is a shot of pure Obama. -Dar-Wei Chen can be reached at chendw@umich.edu. hasn't performed as well as he would like. For example, Obama's stimulus plan (for all its merits) was not large enough, according to economists including Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman. Krugman says the original stimu- 4 EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS: Aida Ali, Michelle DeWitt, Ashley Griesshammer, Nirbhay Jain, Patrick Maillet, Erika Mayer, Harsha Nahata, Emily Orley, Teddy Papes, Timothy Rabb, Vanessa Rychlinski, Caroline Sims, Seth Soderborg, Andrew Weiner PETER WARD | Sustaining Dinimg Services FOLLOW DAILY OPINION ON TWITTER Keep up with columnists, read Daily editorials, view cartoons and join in the debate. Check out @michdailyoped to get updates on Daily opinion dontent throughout the day. PATRICK MAILLET I Beer before liquor... 4 University Dining Services has been increasing its sustainable initiatives and mak- ing those initiatives.more visible to students by purchasing a greater percentage of locally grown food, increasing composting efforts and also going trayless (Dining halls going trayless, 10/12/2011). I applaud the efforts and agree that the programs will provide success- ful results, but the solutions taken up by Din- ing Services appear to only be topical in an inherently unsustainable system. The structure of the University's food sys- tem is the most pertinent in regards to its sus- tainability; itccan't rely on patch over programs as a means to an end. Energy use and food waste are the outliers in the University Dining Services. Imagine nine industrial kitchens in University dininghalls preparing thousands of meals everyday, without the kitchens knowing exactly how many students will show up for those meals. I know calculations help deter- mine numbers and portions, but overproduc- tion is the only way to ensure availability and satisfaction of consumers. I've worked in several kitchens over many summers and know firsthand just how unsus- tainable the food industry is. Restaurants end up spending about 4 percent of revenue on utilities, equivalent to about two-thirds of their roughly 6 percent profit. (The approxi- mately 88 percent remaining is spent on the cost of food, salaries, etc. according to a 2006- 2007 National Restaurant Association report) Restaurants use an astounding amount of resources and continuously run lights, ovens, ranges, walk-in coolers, sinks and dishwashers from early morning to late at night. Minimiz- ing waste, conserving resources and manag- ing controllable expenditures are all in the best fiscal interests of restaurants, but these concerns are dwarfed by the sheer size of our University. (Actual energy use data is not pro- vided by Dining Services nor are the standard operating procedures documented within the dining halls.) Dining Services has to take a bottom-up approach to the problem and also provide transparency in its operations. Unlike a restaurant, Dining Services works under a budget rather than working for a profit - making it a static system. This static approach undermines the necessity to conserve or minimize waste if everything is planned out and essentially purchased for the following year. There were numerous comments on the Daily's article regarding food waste and its relationship with the quality, or lack thereof, of the food. If Dining Services is truly concerned about conserving waste and increasing efficiency, what is needed is a dynamic system that produces and responds to the demands and behaviors of consumers. Dining Services has done a great job listening to students and implementing sustainable initiatives, but switching to high efficiency light bulbs doesn't hide the SUV in the driveway. Peter Ward is an LSA junior. I've got bad news for parents, state Legislatures, school officials and state authorities: Underage kids drink alcohol. While I am not speaking on behalf of everyone under the age of 21, nor am I endorsing under- age alcohol consumption, t do have some thoughts on the recent alcohol legislation in Michigan. On Nov. 1, a new law concerning the sale of beer kegs will go into effect throughout Michigan. Under the current keg law, a customer wishing to purchase a keg simply has to provide an ID, put money down for the keg deposit and transport the keg to their car without receiving a hernia. Under the new law, those wishing to purchase a keg must provide his or her name, driver's license number, date of birth, address and telephone number to the store cashier who will then copy this information onto atag on the keg. If this tag is removed, the purchaser of the keg is liable to face misdemeanor charges including up to 93 days in jail and/or up to $500 in fines. These tags will allow police officers to know exactly who bought the keg, when they bought it and who sold it to them. The overall goal of the legislation is so police officers can identify who is responsible for providing alcohol at parties they break up. If police were to discover under- age drinking at a party, they can check the keg tag, trace the person who bought the keg and charge that person for serving alcohol to minors - a penalty which includes up to 60 days in prison and/or a $1,000 fine. With this liability when buying a keg, one can safely assume that keg sales in a college town like Ann Arbor will most likely drop. Strickland Market, a local liquor store on Geddes Avenue, has already announced that it will stop selling kegs once the new law goes into effect. For all you alarmed underage drinkers out there: Don't worry, there is a solution, and that is where the true problem lies. Republican Gov. Rick Snyder recently passed a sepa- rate liquor law that pertains strictlyto hard alcohol. Sny- der's bill, which takes effect next October, will eliminate the state tax on hard alcohol. This tax elimination will make hard alcohol cheaper and will most likely cause liquor sales to rise. The keg law is meant to limit the amount of beer served to underage kids, yet the liquor law is meant to enhance the sale of hard alcohol. I'm not an expert, but isn't it dangerous to replace beer with hard alcohol? If people actually replaced each 12 oz beerthatthey drank with a measured 1.5 oz shot of hard alcohol - which has the same alcohol content - this wouldn't be a problem. But I don't remember seeing too many students wielding measuring cups at the last fraternity party I attended. State officialsbelieve they can actually curb underage drinking with this new keg law. Instead, kids will most likely find substitutes for a keg, like canned beer or hard alcohol. According to Georgia state officials - one of 30 other states that currently have a similar keg registra- tion law - there is little evidence to prove that this type of law leads to a conclusive decline in underage drink- ing. State officials claimed that kids in Georgia were now more likely to replace their kegs with hard alcohol. Imagine the effect this keg law will have in a state that is simultaneously lowering its liquor tax. Kids are going to drink no matter what law is put in place. Authorities can work toward limiting underage alcohol consumption - oftentimes effectively - but eventually, kids will find a way to bypass the law and obtain alcohol illegally. When kids replace beer with hard alcohol, that's when people can seriously get hurt. When you see a kid being carted out of the Big House on game day after drinkingtoo much, odds are it wasn't the beer that almost killed him. Didn't we learn anything from the "Four Loko" fad of 2010? While state authorities obviously have to fight under- age drinking, forcing kids into situations in which buy- ing hard alcohol is easier than beer is not the answer. If state officials seriously want to stop kids from drinking, they're going to have to be much more delicate with the situation than this. So to the party animals, fraternity stars and the innocent freshman, enjoy your keg beer this Halloween because the Ann Arbor party scene could drastically change next Tuesday. Patrick Maillet is an LSA sophomore.