I’m going to admit something.
It’s easier to find the bad qualities of something than it is to find the good. I learned this sleazy trick in high school debate, and it has unfortunately stayed with me. But I’ve vowed to rid myself of this nasty habit.
School eats have always been easy to pick on. You’ve probably passed down stories of the time you found the lunch lady’s tooth in your brownie or the spider in your burrito (yes, both are legends among my social circle), but here on campus, Chartwells is doing a pretty good job.
Chartwells’ sustainability efforts have caused a few eyebrows to be raised for using Styrofoam. But the company surprised me with the green initiatives it has taken, the best of which is ridding itself of Styrofoam and changing out the product with corn-based biodegradable salad and sandwich containers, plates and cups by early next year.
“Now (corn-based products) are hitting the price where they are very viable,” said Reggie Conerly, resident district manager of Chartwells.
They couldn’t have come at a better time. Paper has become so passé. Chartwells moved all catering menus and advertisements online.
I also have to give props to Chartwells for its food choices. They don’t buy pork or chicken with growth-promoting antibiotics and they buy cage-free eggs. They skip farm-raised and threatened fish species and only purchase sustainable fish.
What won me over was their support of the U’s farmer’s market this fall. Chartwells purchased produce from the market and from the campus garden. It’s their policy to snag as much local food as possible, including organic fair trade coffee from Logan.
The food service provider also eliminated the use of trays recently. Who needs “em! It takes half a gallon of water to wash one, Conerly said. Eliminating trays also cuts back on the amount of food people take, which in turn, cuts back on the amount of food people waste. Scrapping trays yields fewer scraps.
U students do well to encourage greener pastures, and it has definitely improved the dining on campus. As always, creative thinkers will invent ways to improve. When they do, Conerly is ready for them.
“If the students would like to see more, that’s what we’ll do,” Conerly said.
So, while debate taught me how to take a shortcut on an argument, life has taught me to not bite the hand that feeds me. And one more thing: it never hurts to be nice to the lunch lady, even if you suspect you have her tooth.