Harvard Dining 's Sustainable Food Practices

He probes them to learn the what, where, and how of dinner – knowing what is going into the body, knowing where that food came from, and knowing how that food was made. By first knowing what is being consumed, people can make better informed decisions about their purchases. Nutrition, or lack thereof, is a key component in the battle against obesity. Food giants are hoping to hide the often unnecessary filler present in their products by use of dodgy claims and socially engineered advertisements. In general, most consumers probably couldn’t say where their food came from. This usually boils down to the fact that shoppers typically don’t think about it. Breaking this reliance on mass-grown foods is the second part of Pollan’s proposition. The third and equally important element is how the food is produced. More specifically, Pollan is concerned whether or not the food has been produced in a sustainable manner. Preserving the biodiversity of food, maintaining fertile land for future generations, and ensuring consumers receive food that does not compromise health are all factors of sustainability. Without informed consumers, what, where, and how will continue to be unanswered questions. Whether it is for nutritional or ethical choices, a particular food’s history is something that needs to once again become common

With the organic industry booming and up until recently showing an annual growth rate of 20% it has been necessary for the federal government to step in and regulate the previously self regulated industry. Initially, regulation of this industry was implemented by private nonprofit organizations and some state governments as a way to put an end to consumer fraud and to ensure the integrity of organic food. This

It has recently been brought to my attention that our school is looking to adopt a sustainable menu into our meal program and I would like to give my viewpoint on the matter. As one many students here at Oxford Academy this change will affect me directly. Although people may at first oppose this conversion I think if we are able to overcome the first obstacles, this change would bring a great positive impact to the environment and the health of our students.

Michael Pollan the author of Omnivore 's Dilemma discusses and asks, “what should we have for dinner?” He attempts to answer one of the pressing questions of sustainability in today 's society, to save money or to save the planet, and how? Pollan talks about how humans are omnivores and we have the choice to eat whatever we want, no matter the health and sustainability implications of our decisions. Pollan discusses three main food chains, industrial (corn), organic, and hunter/gatherer. He analyzes each food chain, learning eating industrial is basically eating corn, and goes into the complex issues

While everyone may love to go out and enjoy a fine meal with friends and family, most will never stop to think the process of how the food came about, or the production thereof. John Oliver’s piece on “Food Waste” outlines all the problems of food waste and how they can impact society, animals, nature, and even the farmers who harvest the produce. America and its businesses should try to decrease the amount of food being wasted. By doing so, not only are we a contributing factor to help reduce waste, save time and money, but we are also aiding the less-fortunate in a society, while still saving natural resources and the planet as a whole.

It is a known fact that the way humans produce food is not sustainable for a bright future. Here in America we discard almost half the amount of food we produce, which could be used to feed the enormous amount of starving people in the world. Not only are we being wasteful, but we are also greatly contributing to the amount of pollution and greenhouse gases because of our practices. After reading “What’s for supper?” my eyes were further opened to how damaging our agricultural system is and inspired me to take on a “greener” lifestyle.

The food industry has a large impact on individuals and will affect wider communities in the future. The rush of today’s society has pushed food production to become more commercialized with prepackaged/premade based foods. For numerous reasons such as time, work and costs of living, people are wanting meals that are cheap, fast, easy and don’t require much effort. This is due to many obligations and priorities in life that are put above

Consumers have become increasingly detached from their food as America’s food system grows larger and continues to ruin the environment. The main problem is that most consumers do not know how their consumption habits affect the ecosystem around them. Nor do they know about how their food was produced. Information about how and where the food is being produced and wasted is essential, so people can shop responsibly. Short of legislation, Americans make choices at the grocery store. It is essential for all Americans to cast in a vote with their dollars to change the way that food is produced in the United States resulting in more sustainable food being more accessible in the aisles of the grocery store for all Americans.

As a part of the American Marketing Service (AMS), the NOP was founded in 1939 and strives to develop “national standards for organically-produced agricultural products” (“National”). Their mission is to ensure goods with an organic seal are controlled and distributed as uniformly as possible, and they take every complaint with a heavy hand to keep irregularities to a minimum. In 1990, the USDA was instructed to “establish uniform national standards for organic food and farming, fixing the definition of a word that had always meant different things to different people” (Pollan 154). Since then the term organic has been manipulated and distorted by large companies in order to push their products to as big a market as possible, leaving consumers dazed and confused about the actual standards of the foods they were purchasing. Often times, the true meaning of the extravagant or misleading words on the packaging is hard to translate for the average consumer-organic being no different. The seal that dawns certified organic products provides no insight into the qualifications needed in order to receive that stamp nor is the USDA very forthcoming about the actual meaning of the word organic. Any retailer can slap an “organic” label on their product so long as “at least 95% of the farm-grown ingredients are organic and you sell direct to customers in

Food waste is an issue that is present at Cornell College. By going into Bon Appetit, the issue becomes clear. Students are given more food than they can eat. To go boxes are not available for students who dine in, and most students do not bring reusable containers with them. Most do not think about how much food they waste. By going over to where we put out plates when we are finished, it is easy to see many students leave a good portion of their meals on the plate. Whether they did not like what they were eating or they were in a hurry and had to leave, big amounts of food are wasted during each meal of the day. Steps can be taken to decrease the overall amount of food that is wasted on campus. Ideas such as smaller plates, vermiculture, competitions, and others can be utilized in the efforts to decrease food waste on campus.

Grey Plume is a sustainable restaurant in Omaha, Nebraska. They are the “First Restaurant in the world to meet the SustainaBuild™ Standard, First 4-Star Sustainabuild™ Certified Green Restaurant®, First Certified Green Restaurant® in Nebraska, One of the Nation’s Greenest Restaurants, One of the Nation’s Most Sustainable Restaurants.” They are encouraging people to not waste food. They are also showing them how to properly use food instead of blindly encouraging them to cook their own meals. The Grey Plume Team visits all of the farms and growers to make sure the farms are sustainable and waste free. When meals are ordered they prepare them right there instead of guessing on how much will be sold and preparing it the night before. This saves

The Brundtland report defined sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” From early times, philosophers, such as Thomas Malthus, believed humanity could not be sustained. Malthus believed mankind would reach their carrying capacity, specifically with regards to food. Yet, this notion changed in subsequent years, thanks in part to the green revolution. This revolution helped increase crop yields due to new fertilizers, pesticides, etc. While there became more food available, sustainability, with regards to producing food in an environmentally friendly way, ran into some difficulties. While the Brundtland commission defined sustainability, there are three components that must be integrated for the well-being of all—social, environmental, and economic. Each component of sustainability must be looked at critically when considering the sustainable use of any resource. While many simply worried about having enough food available in the world, one must think of food sustainability with regards to environmental, economic, and social implications. As follows, the importance of food sustainability will be discussed, along with the attempts to measure food sustainability.

“Reduce, reuse, and recycle” is a motto that pioneered environmental programs in schools, and public announcements. This motto also holds true in the food service industry. Following the trend to “go green” means implementing this motto into restaurant operations. This includes procedural changes that aim to reduce the amount of resources used, attempting to reuse resources, and recycling those that cannot be reused. Restaurants can move toward more sustainable food service through the utilization of

According to the USDA, organic foods consist of foods and products that are grown without the use of sewage sludge, harmful pesticides, and fertilizers made from synthetic ingredients. These standards and guidelines were implemented with the overall objective of improving the quality of the food supply while also preserving the environment. The Organic Foods Act (OFPA) “authorized a new USDA National Organic Program (NOP) to set national standards for the production, handling, and processing of organically grown agricultural products. In addition, the Program oversees mandatory certification of organic production.” (Gold “Organic Production/Organic Food:”) When these standards are upheld, consumers are given the opportunity to educate themselves on the contents found in their food, which

When considering the challenges and opportunities posed by EU non market policies, we must look at both the food producer and the manufacturer as both can have positive and negative reactions. Going forward, global warming is now high on the agenda of policy makers. With agriculture a high contributor, it is unsurprising that measures are being introduced that have effect on the producers’ and manufacturers’. The buzz word now associated with the future of the environment and the food industry is “sustainability”. This refers to sustainable growth as the producers (farmers) try to maximise output. Moreover, with world populations set to dramatically increase up to 2050, the EU and the world must find ways to promote food production. Therefore, policies are now becoming more difficult and multifunctional. This is symbolised through the increasing awareness of the environment and it becoming more and more apparent in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). “The industry realises the need to protect and, where possible, improve biodiversity. Given that the industry’s raw materials are grown in the natural environment, and the industry purchases and processes 70% of EU agricultural production, it is essential that agricultural practices are sustainable.” FoodDrink Europe. (2011). It is here in the CAP that I have found non-market policies to have impacted both positively and, at times, negatively on the food producers and manufacturers operating in the EU. The