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January 24, 2018 - Image 12

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MDining’s quest for sustainability

Wednesday, January 24, 2018 // The Statement
4B
Wednesday, January 24, 2018 // The Statement
5B

Mondays, meatless no more

E

ven when I still ate meat,
I loved Meatless Monday.
Saying this is much like a
middle school student who

openly admits to enjoying school. For
one day, the University of Michigan’s
East Quad Residence Hall’s dining
hall removed meat from the premises
and served all vegetarian and vegan
dishes. Given the challenge, the menu
renounced its standard meat-and-pota-
to options and served dishes like falafel
pitas and vegan pot pie.

Unfortunately, I’m probably alone in

saying that. Most of my peers would
do anything to avoid Meatless Monday.
Even my friends who lived in East Quad
would forgo convenience and trudge
through rain or snow to South Quad
Residence Hall’s dining hall. On the
other days of the week, East Quad was
almost always packed to capacity, forc-
ing students to awkwardly share tables
with strangers. But this flock of car-
nivores migrating away every Monday
guaranteed a barren dining hall filled
with a glut of seating options.

In recent years, the University as

a whole has struggled to meet its own

goals to reduce both waste and green-
house gas emissions. Using measure-
ments in 2006 as the baseline, the goal
was to reduce waste by 40 percent,
to 7,900 tons. Not only has it failed to
do so, but it has moved in the opposite
direction: In 2016, waste totaled 14,100
tons, nearly 1,000 more than 2006. And
although the University has made more
progress reducing greenhouse gases, it
is still 132,000 metric tons short of its
goal.

Nevertheless, there was little trans-

parency when MDining silently aban-
doned Meatless Monday this past fall,
causing great confusion that a quick
Google search couldn’t fix. I thought,
perhaps, the meat-eaters student lobby
grew too strong to be ignored — that,
or Tyson Foods donated $100 million
to the School for Environment and Sus-
tainability to fund a sustainable food
program given that MDining exclusively
serves chicken. Granted, I’m definitely
the only person on campus who spends
their free time thinking about potential
Meatless Monday conspiracy theories.

The reality is more straightforward:

Meatless Monday was always about sus-

tainability, and MDining felt there were
more effective measures to promote
this rather than getting rid of meat in
one dining hall only to have students
migrate to meat-serving locations. So, in
fall 2017 and without fanfare, Sustain-
able Monday took over campus-wide.
I

t’s possible that student back-
lash won MDining over. In a
column published by The Daily
in 2015 — titled “Meatless Mon-

days of indoctrination” — Ashley Austin
wrote Meatless Monday eliminated stu-
dents’ freedom to choose whether or not
to eat meat.

“The notion in itself that students’

access to meat should be limited over-
steps a previously established bound-
ary,” she wrote.

This sent a strong message to the

University community: Students don’t
like having meat taken away, and they
will be heard. Despite my affinity for
Meatless Monday, some of the criticism
was warranted. There were days when
the menus included all of the typical
meat dishes, but with flimsy fake-meat
swapped in.

Elliott Rains, marketing coordinator

of MDining, and Keith Soster, direc-
tor of Student Engagement of MDin-
ing, denied Meatless Monday had been
a flop, stating that the new initiative
seeks to be more impactful.

“I think one of the biggest pushbacks

we got with Meatless Monday was
that we were taking something away
from people,” Rains said. “Reintroduc-
ing meat in some capacity on a Mon-
day makes it more accessible to people
… And if you can eat something that’s
healthy and good for you one day of the
week, then maybe that will build posi-
tive behaviors.”

To me, this seemed like a peculiar jus-

tification. Livestock contributes to 14.5
percent of all greenhouse gas emissions,
more than automobiles. Cutting back on
meat altogether is one of the most effec-
tive ways to mitigate climate change
and promote sustainability. If serving
meat is unsustainable, then why, in fos-
tering sustainability, would you choose
to do so?

Yet, Soster believes MDining is play-

ing its part in reducing waste and not
contributing to the upward trend.

All dining halls implement 100 per-

cent pre-consumer composting, which
takes the remains of unused foods, like
carrot peels and watermelon rinds, and
allows them to decompose naturally.
To complement this, MDining began
using compostable food packaging in
all its facilities. Even though one-third
of campus-wide waste is food, this also
includes units outside of the dining
halls, like office kitchens, according to
Soster.

“We’re the biggest department in stu-

dent life and one of the biggest ones on
campus,” Soster said. “We have not only
a responsibility to lead, but to give great
examples … If we model the behavior,
we’re hoping that others will follow.”
T

he pinnacle of MDining’s
sustainability
efforts,

which expand beyond Mon-
days, lies just seven miles

northeast of Central Campus.

Starting in fall 2017, MDining began

buying food from the Campus Farm
and using it in dining halls. This is
a clear step toward fulfilling Planet
Blue’s sometimes-vague goal of creat-
ing a more sustainable campus. Since
the farm received its Good Agricul-
tural Practices certificate, it has sold
8,500 pounds of food to MDining in one
semester alone, according to LSA junior
Connor Kippe, Business and Projects
Manager of the Campus Farm.

When I visited the Campus Farm ear-

lier this January, it was hard to imag-
ine sprawling tomato plants and other
lush summertime vegetables growing
— a thick layer of snow and sub-zero
temperatures didn’t quite set the scene.
Regardless, they grow cold weather-
friendly spinach and kale during the
winter months. In the fall, they store
squash, beets and other root vegetables
to continue selling in the offseason.

Kippe began working for the Campus

Farm about a year ago. He works with
nine other students on the farm who
serve different roles curated to their
own specific interests.

Kippe’s interest in the farm grew after

taking classes about the impact of food
on the environment and people, which
inspired him to begin volunteering prior
to his first day on the job. Regarding the
switch from Meatless Mondays to Sus-
tainable Mondays, Kippe said there was
a slightly heated response from vegan

students at the University.

“I am for whatever is pragmatic,”

Kippe, a vegetarian himself, added. “If
doing sustainable Monday everywhere
at most of the cafes reduces the amount
of meat (consumption) more so than
doing just meatless Monday, then I’m a
fan of it.”

Kippe also serves as a student ambas-

sador for Planet Blue. I worried Planet
Blue was the University’s mechanism
of greenwashing; ploys that appear to
promote sustainability without actually
doing so. Despite the University’s luke-
warm improvement with regard to sus-
tainability, Kippe maintains Planet Blue
is much more than a mere buzzword to
promote sustainability.

“It’s easy to make that claim that

Planet
Blue
is
only
greenwashing

because lots of the things Planet Blue
does are behind the scenes, so it doesn’t
appear that they’re doing things even
when they are,” he said. “The Univer-
sity’s actually trying to move in differ-
ent areas. Though, it’s having different
success at different things.”

As for the farm’s future, Kippe pre-

dicts it will continue to grow in the
upcoming years, potentially doubling in
size.

“I also see us doing more educational

work, more vocational work — this has
given me a lot of experience for things
that I can go and do and change in the
future in the environmental field,”
Kippe said. “And for my coworkers, it
has as well.”

According to Kippe, more important

than the farm itself is the culture it
breeds.

“We’re creating people who are more

able to make that change and more …
we’re both increasing the amount of
people in that work and also how good
they are at doing it,” he said.

Inside one of the main greenhouse

units, containers with microgreens —
the equivalent of green gold due to their
high value — are lined up side-by-side.
30 volunteers accompany me, all helping
plant and grow products like the micro-
greens.

LSA freshman Kellee Byard is one of

these frequent volunteers.

“I really like meeting the new people

that volunteer here because we’re all
like-minded — we all like working with
plants, the outdoors and getting our
hands dirty,” Byard said. “I’ve done har-
vesting, we do the planting… (and) help-
ing with maintenance. It’s all fun work
in my opinion.”

She said what makes her time spent

at the farm most fulfilling is the impact
she sees, and eats, on campus.

“Sometimes in the dining hall, I’ll see

a certain fruit or veggie … that I know
we had worked with — harvesting spin-
ach, for example,” she said. “Seeing that
in the dining halls is super cool, and
knowing not having to get it imported

from somewhere far away … You’re help-
ing the environment in the sense that
it’s local, it’s something done by stu-
dents here at Michigan.”

Annually, 300 to 400 others like

Byard volunteer at the farm. Friends of
the Campus Farm, a student-run orga-
nization, organizes the volunteers inde-
pendently.

Campus
Farm
Manager
Jeremy

Moghtader said there has recently been
more student engagement on the farm,
he believes is due to the collaboration
with MDining.

“I’ve been impressed that U-M and

MDining is sourcing almost now 17.8
percent sustainable and local product
into the halls,” he said. “These folks
are taking whole beets, roasting them
and slicing them to put on the salad bar.
That kind of culinary care for taking the
locally grown beet and preparing it like
that shows a real passion and dedica-
tion towards sustainability and towards
delicious food.”

Moghtader highlighted the multifac-

eted effects of food and said it is rele-
vant in everyday life.

“Food sits at this nexus of all of these

really important environmental and
social issues, whether it’s public health,
the economy, climate change, biodi-
versity … All of those things are really
impacted by the food system,” Moghtad-
er said.

As for the future of sustainability on

campus, he is optimistic; he views the
farm as an educational opportunity and
source of inspiration for all.

“Having students be hopeful about

this farm and sustainability on campus I
think is knowing that people can engage
and learn about the food system,” he
said. “They can engage in it meaning-
fully… (not) just learn about it in the
classroom but learn about it in a way
that allows them to contribute directly
to the institution’s sustainability.”
A

bout 9 percent of Ameri-
cans adults are vegetarian,
according to Pew Research.
The vegetarian population

at the University is also small, but none-
theless passionate. LSA senior Aaron
Brodke leads the Michigan Animal
Respect Society (MARS), which creates
a community for vegetarians on campus.
Without speaking on behalf of everyone
in MARS, Brodke explained his organi-
zation’s views toward the change from
Meatless Monday.

“Since the change happened from one

dining hall to the entire group of dining
halls at the University, this could poten-
tially be a big opportunity that MARS
would support because it continues the
sustainability message around food,
which for the first few years were really
just centered around one dining hall,”
Brodke said.

For MARS, it’s a mixed bag — it sup-

ports the wide scope of Sustainable

Monday, while questioning the lack of
transparency on the decision to ax its
meatless predecessor.

“Right now there may not be as much

clarity around what the university, or
MDining, means around Sustainable
Mondays, so there is some backlash
from members that may feel that it is
somewhat regressive by adding animal
products back to the menus,” Brodke
said. “Once definitions become more
clear, it could present a good opportu-
nity for more sustainable food systems
change at the University of Michigan.”

LSA junior Jacalyn Webster has been

a vegan for four years. Although she is
still relatively new to the University,
this change from a meatless to less-meat
standard perplexed her.

“If you’re going to call something

sustainable, and still serve meat, they
should be saying why meat is not a
sustainable option,” Webster said. “If
they’re still going to put it out, use that
as an educational opportunity to inform
people of what they’re eating.”

As for the switch to sourcing locally

grown food from the Campus Farm,
Webster viewed this as a feat.

“The closer your food is to home, the

more sustainable and environmentally
friendly that is.”
A

t first, MDining’s decision
to ditch my beloved Meat-
less Monday was unsettling.
In an age where greenwash-

ing is so pertinent, I worried this was
nothing more than a PR campaign. Call-
ing it “Sustainable” Monday, while still
serving meat, is like driving a gas guz-
zling truck that happens to be a hybrid

— it’s clearly still fuel inefficient, but at
least it’s labeled “eco-friendly.”

However, it’s clear this isn’t entirely

the case. Despite these negative trends
throughout the University, MDining is
playing its part in improving the health
of ecosystems and communities, one of
Planet Blue’s goals created in 2011.

After my beloved dog Charlie passed

away, I started feeling guilt anytime
I ate meat. It was conflicting to be so
heartbroken by the death of a dog, yet
happily eat a bacon cheeseburger. Even-
tually, this guilt overcame me: I ditched
meat altogether in September 2016.

Honoring
Charlie’s
spirit
wasn’t

the only factor that led to this change.
My older brother and best friend —
both longtime vegetarians — had been
encouraging me for months to experi-
ment with a meatless diet. Although
admittedly lame, the biggest source of
inspiration came from trying to impress
a girl I had a crush on with our “shared
life choices.”

Since then, what has kept me from

reverting back to my omnivorous ways
is the meat industry’s devastating con-
tributions to climate change. I can now
put my guilty conscience to ease; at the
very least, I feel less guilty about some-
times taking showers that last a few
minutes too long.

I’ll do my part in preserving human-

kind’s longevity. Being vegetarian is by
no means a get-out-of-jail-free card. I
can’t then drive a Hummer and leave
lights unnecessarily on all day. But it
definitely helps.

And, it pays respect to my late, dear

friend (Rest in peace, Charlie).

Prashanth Panicker/Daily

Campus Farm.

by Will Stewart, Daily Arts Writer

Prashanth Panicker/Daily

Campus Farm.

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