Stephanie Laufenberg

ENG 145, Steven Marx

May 31, 2007

Cal Poly and UC Berkeley: Campuses Striving for Sustainability

Sustainability is one of the most important issues that universities are dealing with today. As large institutions, colleges need to increase their sustainability awareness and programs to improve the communities that surround them. One of the most important facilities on a campus that can help improve sustainability is the dining hall. The food that often times goes to waste from dining halls can be much better for the environment if sorted and composted correctly. Cal Poly is one of many campuses that have been improving their food services to reduce waste and encourage healthy living. However, Cal Poly can still learn more from other universities, such as UC Berkeley about how to improve its sustainability programs in the dining halls.

Cal Poly’s programs to sort and recycle waste from the dining halls are extensive. Cal Poly dining halls collect and recycle all of the bottles, cans, cardboard, and office papers. They use recycled paper and other materials throughout the facility. Produce scraps go straight to Cal Poly’s sustainable farm for compost or are donated to county food banks. (Cal Poly Corporation, 2007) This system not only helps other programs like the food banks and Cal Poly’s sustainable farm, but also reduces waste and sets a standard of helping the environment. UC Berkeley, however, goes a step further. Its system not only reduces waste, but also incorporates the students into the process. The biggest dining hall on the Berkeley campus, Crossroads, recently developed a system in which students sort their own food and trash before putting their trays on a dish belt. Crossroads has different bins set out for students to sort their food waste into compost, non-compostable food scraps, and trash. This not only makes it easier to collect and sort the waste, but also increases student awareness. One might think that this transition from putting everything on a single dish belt to sorting one’s own food and trash would be an inconvenience to students, but I have participated in both systems and found it easy to make the change. All I had to do was look at the poster above each bin to see what type of waste went where. These posters had things like cups and napkins attached to them, to show examples of what went in each place. The majority of Cal students eating at Crossroads seem to agree that this system was easy to adjust to. I have spoken with several of them, and they agree that it didn’t change their routine at the dining hall at all. UC Berkeley freshman Matt DeMartini said, “The only change I saw was a new pride in our school for increasing its efforts toward sustainability. I now feel like I can help our school be more environmentally friendly, just by eating at Crossroads.” (Matt DeMartini, May 24, 2007)

Although Cal Poly has efficient programs for sorting food and trash, it would be beneficial to get the students more involved. By developing a program similar to the one at UC Berkeley’s Crossroads dining hall, Cal Poly could not only reduce the burden on its dining hall staff, but also instill sustainable habits in the student body. If Cal Poly engages their participation in sustaining the environment, the students will be more likely to continue these efforts in their own homes.

Because I have eaten at both Berkeley and Cal Poly dining halls, I can also see the difference in how aware students are of sustainability programs. Before writing this paper, I had no idea that our dining halls were working so hard to be sustainable. In Berkeley, their efforts are publicized and praised, making the student aware of how important sustainability is. I recently saw that they had small displays on all of the tables, describing the Ivy Award that the dining hall received. The Ivy Award is considered “the food service equivalent of the Academy Award,” and Cal was recognized for its “environmentally progressive values,” among other things. (Johnston, 2007) Cal Poly has won the Waste Reduction Awards Program (WRAP) award for the past eleven years. (Lowe, 2006) This is definitely something to brag about, yet students seem to be left in the dark about their school’s success. If accomplishments like that were made known to students, I think they would be more aware of sustainability and how their campus contributes to the community. Berkeley makes their sustainability efforts known, but also encourages their students to contribute to the cause as well. They have the “Eat the World, Save the Earth” Program, where “…Student Sustainability Coordinators help educate students throughout the year about food waste.” (Denton, 2006) If Cal Poly had a program like this, students could learn from the dining hall’s good example and our community as a whole could move forward to sustainability. I’ve noticed the way that the Berkeley dining halls communicate with their students, and it seems like it would be so easy for Cal Poly to do the same.

Organic foods (not a program, per se) have also become a growing trend on college campuses. Organic foods not only promote healthy living, but also encourage students to participate in other sustainability routines. Cal Poly actively supports this growing trend to produce and serve organic foods. Cal Poly serves organic greens that are grown right on campus at the Cal Poly Sustainable Farm. (Retzer, 2007) "We try to get our greens as fresh and local as possible so Cal Poly is first," said associate director for Campus Dining Alan Cushman. "Everything is grown organically, so they do not use any pesticides. They use all organic methods…” (Retzer, 2007) Cal Poly’s use of some organic food and methods in its dining halls shows the university’s dedication to sustainability. Going organic requires more work, and Cal Poly’s programs show that the dining halls are willing to make that extra effort to support sustainability on campus. “From the growing fields, the Cal Poly farm staff picks the greens, cleans them, and ships them off to Campus Dining. The Campus Dining staff then clean them again. ‘We are cleaning our greens twice as a precaution so that we can utilize these organics,’ Cushman said. ‘We wash and clean much more than if we were not using organics.’” (Retzer, 2007) Yet even after all of this washing and hard work necessary to use organic produce, problems do occur. For example, recently a Cal Poly student came across a beetle sharing her salad from Garden Grille. The Mustang Daily clarified that this was “…the first pest incident brought to the attention of Campus Dining this year, a rare occurrence, especially considering the volumes of salad that go out every day.” (Retzer, 2007) However, this shows what the drawbacks are for going organic in such a big institution like a university. Alan Cushman was quoted in the beetle story, where he supported both customer satisfaction and continuing sustainability programs: “‘…We don't want (bugs) in there so we just have to step up our procedures….Our main issue is sustainability so we turn local. We are continually growing that program.’” (Retzer, 2007) Although organic foods and other sustainability programs are important for universities to have, it comes at a cost. However, Cal Poly’s organic efforts show that their priority is to be sustainable, and that they are willing to make sacrifices to improve their community.

Although Cal Poly is to be applauded for its organic foods program, it can still go further. UC Berkeley was recognized recently as “the first…certified organic kitchen on an American college campus…” (Greensfelder, 2006) Gaining certification as an organic restaurant isn’t easy. There are many requirements, which may be the reason no other campus has done it yet. However, seeing a “certified organic” sign over the salad bar at one’s school can affect students in many ways. It can make them proud of their school’s dedication to sustainability; it can encourage them to experience the good taste and nutrition of organic food; and it may well inspire them to seek the same high standards outside of school. Although difficult, gaining organic certification can benefit any university. Jake Lewin, the director of marketing and international programs at CCOF (the organization that issued the organic certification) said, “While there are numerous colleges and other institutions that serve some organic food, until now, none has made the leap to being certified.” As Greensfelder notes, “What Cal Dining is doing points the way for other colleges and institutions to go.” (Greensfelder, 2006)

Cal Poly is making its way toward more organic programs. If it “made the leap,” our university could gain as much, or even greater, recognition for its sustainability efforts. To find out more about the organic efforts within Cal Poly, I interviewed Alan Cushman, the associate director for Campus Dining. I talked with Cushman over the phone as he was driving to Albertson’s, yet he still knew every detail of Cal Poly’s sustainability programs off the top of his head. He was proud and enthusiastic about the dining hall’s efforts to be environmentally friendly, and seemed to overflow with information. He explained to me that Cal Poly’s sustainable farm currently has 2 of 10 acres that are organic. Although they use organic methods on all their products, they aren’t legally certified yet. This, according to Cushman, is because of Cal Poly’s priorities. First on the list is for the products to be local (from within a 100 mile radius) or grown at Cal Poly, and next is for the food to be sustainable. After that, their priority is for the food to be organic. Yet for right now, the dining halls want to use locally grown food first, and perhaps in the future be certified organic. (Alan Cushman, May 24, 2007) If Cal Poly were to be certified organic, it could perhaps surpass Berkeley’s system, because its having its own sustainable farm. Not many college campuses can compare with that, since many are located in cities, like Berkeley. If Cal Poly took its sustainability efforts just a step further, it could become a model not only for its students and the SLO community, but also for the rest of the nation.

Cal Poly’s current sustainability programs show how determined the institution is to be a leader in the community. The dining halls on campus are working towards sustainability in numerous ways. Whether it’s natural lighting in the dining halls, alternative cooking oils, or to-go cups made out of potato starch, Cal Poly Campus Dining is showing its dedication in every detail. Nevertheless, some of Cal Poly’s programs, if improved even slightly, could be much more effective in spreading awareness to the students and making the most out of our resources. If Cal Poly were to look at UC Berkeley’s student participation programs and its organic certification, Cal Poly could advance even further toward its goal of increased sustainability.

References

“Campus Dining.” Cal Poly Corporation, 2007. http://www.calpolycorporation.org/campusdining/?pid=2

Denton, Edward J. “University of California, Berkeley 2006 Campus Sustainability Achievement Award Application.” Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), 2006. http://www.aashe.org/resources/profiles/ucberkeley2006.php

Greensfelder, Liese. “New organic dining option a first for U.S. campuses.” UC Berkeley News, April 3, 2006. http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2006/04/03_organic.shtml

Johnston, Jacqueline. “The Taste of Success: Dining Services Garner Top Award.” The Daily Californian, April 17, 2007. http://www.dailycal.org/sharticle.php?id=24551

Lowe, Bonnie. “Campus Auxiliary Recycling Programs.” Cal Poly Recycling Program, October 5, 2006. http://facilities.calpoly.edu/recycle/pages/Campus%20groupsREV.htm

Personal interview with Alan Cushman, associate director of Cal Poly Campus Dining. May 24, 2007.

Personal interview with Matt DeMartini, a freshman at UC Berkeley. May 24, 2007.

Retzer, Amanda. “Cal Poly Campus Dining Grilled after Insect Found in Salad.” Mustang Daily, April 26, 2007. http://www.mustangdaily.net/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticle&ustory_id=a4588670-863a-4bac-8c45-4c75a51962f4