I have gotten into contact with the De Neve Dining hall food manager and have set up a meeting for an interview to discuss the various sustainability efforts at the dining and the specific ways in which they promote sustainability. Moreover, I will be asking questions regarding the ways in which the kitchen collect excess waste for other purposes besides recycling, and whether they have a way of reusing food and other waste for other purposes. In addition, I am still working on obtaining a meeting with Rob Gilbert, the sustainability coordinator for housing, and discuss all these issues, as well as taking a tour of the dining hall kitchen and facilities to better understand how the dining hall system at de neve works and maintains, if they do, a sustainable atmosphere.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Project Progress Report
For the last week, I have been researching the sustainable activity of the De Neve Dining Hall by seeing whether the dining hall has recycling and composting techniques in the kitchen and throughout the dining hall for all the extra food waste and other food material. First and foremost, the dining hall does have various large recycling bins and large recycling chutes for excess waste of food that is either somehow reused, from what I was told from one of the people working in the kitchen, and also how some of the waste is composted. However, I still feel that there can be more done to provide for a better sustainable future within the dining hall by at least promoting more recycling and having more recycling bins and trash bins necessary to separate specific items and form an inventory for all such items so as to provide a more efficient and sustainable environment. Next, I observed how much food was wasted and even partially eaten in the dining by just visually seeing all the trays that were placed in the kitchen when people were done eating. The point was to see whether, given the current meal plan system at UCLA, that such a system only promotes wasting of food by not charging more for specific items and instead, only charging one fair amount, or swipe, for all the food. I hope that in this observation, I can compare to other systems at other schools, such as Berkeley and Irvine, and see whether their food systems have better ways of having less waste of food.
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Your project sounds really interesting! I agree that maybe another system (you mentioned the ones at Berkeley and Irvine) would lead to less food waste and waste in general. What we have now promotes taking as much food as one wants without consequences - at least not direct consequences.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I had no idea garbanzos grew on trees. Haha. How's that going?
Wow that's really great that you're taking the initiative to contact the DeNeve manager and Professor Gilbert...I'm sure both of them can shed a lot of light about what UCLA can do to waste less food...
ReplyDeleteellen: hey thanks again, I now right I mean I've been to berkeley several times and at first was appalled at how the food system was there. For example, Berkeley base their system off meal points and they dont have all the food at just the same price but rather make other meals more expensive than others, so as to save more food and not have waste. So therefore, people are more responsible on how much meal points they use and need for the semester. Oh maybe I was wrong then, my mom told me she was growing some type of beans on trees, maybe I heard Garbanzos haha, its goin well taking a while but its good.
ReplyDeleteVicki: Hey thanks again yea I figured the best way to obtain such information regarding the food system here was by going to the Deneve manager and professor Gilbert, they are both indeed sheding a lot of light and information on the system.