More Sustainable Foods at Mason

Last Thursday the Environmental Action Group’s Sustainable Foods Working Group met with Mason Dining Services senior administration to discuss the use of more local, sustainable foods in Mason dining facilities. The group met with Sodexo Resident District Manager Denise Ammaccapane, Executive Campus Chef Peter Schoebel, and Mason Dining’s Dietian Lois Durant. The student lead group consisted of Environmental Action Group members Darius Salimi and Jason Von Kundra, GMU Organic Garden Association member Nya Jackson, and Sustainability Projects Specialist Danielle Wyman. The delegation claimed to be representing over three hundred and fifty members of the Environmental Action Group.

The largest concern of the student lead delegation was the lack of local, organic produce in Mason’s dining services. Executive Campus Chef Peter Schoebel responded to student concerns by stating that he does use local produce, when available, but “we [the students] just don’t know it”. Keany Produce Company, Mason’s produce provider, provides local fruits and vegetables by default when they are available. Due to Schoebel’s time limitations he stated that “I don’t have the time to go through the produce order list and create labels for which food is local”. The Sustainable Food Working Group will be working with two service learners, appointed to work with Dining Services, to assist with creating local food labels to be prominently displayed at Mason Dining facilities to make the Mason community aware of which foods and ingredients are being sourced locally. Denise Ammaccapane, Sodexo Resident District Manager, has also volunteered her marketing student interns, to help with designing labels for locally sourced produce.

Signs for locally sourced produce wasn’t the only labeling issue discussed at the meeting. Environmental Action Group Co-chair, Jason Von Kundra, who is a vegan, expressed his discontent with the prominent labeling of vegan dishes at Southside. Currently, there is a binder with the list of ingredients that are present in dishes but Von Kundra doesn’t think this current system of labeling is convenient. “The list of ingredients should be directly in front of the dishes they correspond to not over in a corner somewhere” said Von Kundra. The Sustainable Foods Working Group also wasn’t satisfied with the current symbols used to identify gluten free dishes, and dishes containing soy, dairy, peanuts, and other ingredients students might possibly be allergic to. The student group will be working with Mason Dining’s Dietian Lois Durant, who is directly employed by Sodexo, to improve the allergy symbols used. Schoebel also claims to be working with Mason’s IT department to fix the labeling glitches.

The conversion of George’s to a vegetarian restaurant was also discussed during the meeting. Ammacaccapane said converting George’s to a vegetarian restaurant had been discussed in the past but there wasn’t enough support for the restaurant. Salimi expressed the need for a vegetarian restaurant on campus. “It’s crazy that I pay $9 to get into Southside to eat without a meal plan and only have one or two vegetarian options available to me. I want the same number of food options as non vegetarians” said Salimi. Ammacaccapane, Schobel, and Durant seemed open to the idea but asked for more information from the student group including where they would like to have a vegetarian restaurant on campus, what the menu and staffing would look like, and what students are willing to pay for a meal. Schoebel volunteered to do a cost analysis of a vegetarian restaurant to see if it is feasible.

Lastly the group discussed the use of garden produce in Southside. Last month the Organic Garden Association donated over 10 pounds of basil to Southside for them to use for their menu that day. The basil wasn’t used in the menu that day. Schobel stated that if the produce from the garden is to be used in Southside he needs advance notice of produce available from the garden that he can use in the next week or two. He also suggested that the Organic Garden Association consider using the garden produce in other dining facilities that have more flexibility in their menus since they are dealing with a lesser volume of customers.

The group will be meeting again in two weeks to discuss their progress and further areas where they can work together. Some members of the Sustainable Foods Working Group seemed optimistic after their meeting. Danielle Wyman, Office of Sustainability Projects Specialist, expressed her excitement after the meeting. “I feel very excited and encouraged that Sodexo seems ready to really move forward with what we all are asking for!” Others have chosen to wait until after some results have been seen to call the meeting a success. Von Kundra of the EAG had this to add. “At the 2010 Longwood Sustainability Conference I was impressed with all the sustainable initiatives Aramark, one of Sodexo’s biggest competitors, is doing at Longwood University. I was even more impressed when I learned that Longwood does not have any environmental group. At GMU, our environmental group has presented the issue and the ball is the hands of Mason Dining and Sodexo to make changes here on campus. I can’t consider [the meeting] a success until we see some changes made.”

If you are interested in learning more about the Sustainable Foods Campaign please contact the Environmental Action Group at gmueag@gmail.com

STEP program a huge success!

Last month, two dozen students, including nine students from Mason, traveled to Prince William Forest, part of the National Park System, right outside of Washington, D.C. to take part in a weeklong training in environmental protection. During the week the students learned how to create a successful group that will be able to run and manage effective environmental campaigns on their campus. The program, called the Student Training for Environmental Protection (STEP), was run by the George Mason University Office of Sustainability.

See our event video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHgVJQbMqyo

The program focused on giving students the skills and knowledge they need to create the change that will turn passion for the environment into action that will protect it. Some of the workshops that were covered include: Recruiting, Leadership Development, Coalition Building, Campaign Planning, Event Planning, as well as, Public Speaking, How to get Media Attention, Message Development, Lobbying, and Anti-oppression..

The week culminated in a trip to Capitol Hill where students met with representatives of their Senator’s staff to ask for their support of an improved American Clean Energy and Security Act. Altogether, over 30 young people from nine states and Puerto Rico participated in the training and met with their Congressional staff to ask for a stronger climate bill.

Following in the footsteps of Power Shift 2009, the George Mason University Student Training for Environmental Protection program allowed the participants to create bonds with other student organizers from around the country while being trained and empowered with the skills needed to be part of the movement that solves climate change, environmental injustice, and economic failure.

With hope, we plan on having follow up events in the near future. Information will be posted soon.

-Colin


P.S. Here are some things that participants had to say about STEP:

If I went into STEP with any expectations, I definitely came out of STEP blown away because it far exceeded any expectations I had. I learned more in a week than I have in previous years of my life. STEP was a truly incredible experience with incredible people. You learn so much about yourself, about others, and really how to make a difference in your community, on your campus, and when you are around others. If you are looking to really learn about environmental leadership and activism, as well as a little bit more about yourself, then STEP is for you. You will have fun, meet great people, and learn how to empower yourself in the world around you.
-Ashley Mott, George Mason University Graduate Student

This single event has been one of the most empowering experiences of my life, I've already started to organize events and actually get things done! Thank you!
-Odessa Knipp, Virginia Wesleyan Class of 2009

STEP really allowed me to connect with other organizers from across the
country and beyond. I was able to learn from their experiences and build
wonderful new relationships. It's amazing what we could accomplish in one
week and I can't wait to hear about what we are all able to accomplish with the support and knowledge we all got from STEP.
-Molly Shea, Ohio University Class of 2010

Help needed for a $200,000 grant!

Dear Friends,

The GMU Office of Sustainability has applied for a $200,000 grant and we need your help to get at least 1000 votes and 500 comments in favor of it by noon on Friday! Please help us by following the link then sharing this message with as many people as possible

Step 1: Go to-
http://www.justmeans.com/competitionidea/8512/promoteidea.html

Step 2: Vote for our proposal and comment about how great it is

Step 3: Share this message directly with at least 10 people- friends, family, colleagues, teammates, boyfriend, girlfriend, et cetera and ask them to do the same, everyone can participate

Step 4: Post it on your facebook and other social networking profiles

Mason is doing so well in the America's Greenest Contest, in fact, we just passed UMD and are back in first place- we can do equally well with this.

Thank you, your support means so much! Please let me know if you have any questions.

-Colin