The Challenges to Sustainable Food at CofC – by Lydia Nickolas

Here at the College of Charleston a push has begun for the integration of more sustainable and local foods in campus dining options in addition to accountability for supply chain and waste stream management. While this movement has been largely student driven, the implementation of the desired changes is wholly dependent upon the cooperation with food service providers and garnering the blessings of upper level management within the College. In her presentation at the AASHE 2012 National Conference, Ashlyn Hochschild outlined many of the potential solutions and obstacles encountered while working with Aramark (the College’s food service provider) in designing more sustainable strategies.

Food and adequate nutrition are some of the most basic and fundamental of human needs. Since the dawn of time, the attainment of sustenance has been a community effort, founded in the joint collaboration of hunting, gathering, and cultivation in close cooperation with the natural environment. Not until recently has there been such a vast disconnect between the source of our food and its consumption. In our modern fast-paced everyday lives, concern about the origin, fate, and nutritional content of our food has been relegated to the backburner.  The College serves anywhere between 3,000-3,500 meals everyday on campus, creating a significant impact based on their purchasing preferences and waste disposal methods. The hope is that shifting the purchasing paradigm to a more locally sourced effort will improve the local economy and overall quality of the food served.

In her presentation, Hochschild points out that while small steps are being taken by Aramark, there is still significant room for improvement. She called specific attention to the “Green Thread” program currently being implemented on campus which includes “green” cleaning supplies, cardboard recycling, reusable mug discounts, recycling fryer oil, serving Fair Trade coffee, the use of a compost pulper, and the reusable tray program. While these are excellent first steps, they pale in comparison to efforts being made across the nation. A specific example that was cited indicates that while the pulper was purchased over a year ago, it had not generated any usable compost until this past Friday, November 1st.  Hochschild ultimately concludes that much of the fault lies in a lack of baseline data, communication, transparency, and implementation of large-scale concepts on a smaller scale.

Despite some of these challenges, Aramark has been largely cooperative and willing to lend an ear to both the Office and student input on their policies and provision of service. In order to ameliorate the broader issues, added transparency and initiative on behalf of the College of Charleston is a must. In order to create a positive and sustainable campus environment, there must be joint cooperation between the students, the administration, and their providers. A sustainable approach to our food consumption and waste management encompasses not only where our food comes from and where it ultimately ends up, but how it shapes our community and our interactions.