At the Dining Hall

Every day we make personal choices that impact the health of our land, air and water. We can make the biggest impact in the dining halls, as we start paying attention to the food we eat and the containers we use.

Perhaps the most effective and easiest thing we can do for the earth also improves our health! That's eating lower on the food chain. A diet focused on beef not only increases your risk of cancer and heart disease, it consumes an incredible amount of water and fuel while encouraging deforestation and water pollution.

• A pound of steak uses 2,500 gallons of water. Livestock production (including crops fed to livestock) accounts for half of all water consumption in the US. (Diet for a Small Planet)
• 500 calories of steak requires 20,000 calories of fossil fuel, mainly to produce the crops to feed the cattle. (Diet for a Small Planet)
• The US has lost one third of its topsoil - and 6 of that 7 billion tons of eroded soil due to the cattle industry (from graising to unsustainable methods of raising feed).
• "Western consumers are contributing to the loss of tropical forests through our consumerist demand for cheap supplies of livestock feed." (Save the Earth - Jonathan Porritt))
  

That's an awful lot of patties being dumped in the field to put a patty on your grill - 250,000 pounds of excrement per second! (Diet for a New America). All this cow manure poses a serious threat to water quality, especially when state governments are a bit lax in enforcing federal laws. According the the Virginia Pilot, Virginia's own Smithfield Foods has dumped so much animal waste into the Pagan river, it remains closed to shellfishing and could pose a health risk to swimmers.

You don't have to "become vegetarian" to reduce deforestation, save our soil, reduce water pollution and save energy. A meatless diet may reduce your risk of heart disease and cancer, but simply eating less meat will be a significant step towards improving your health, as well as the health of the planet.

• "Each year Americans throw away 25,000,000,000 Styrofoam cups." The Green Consumer
• Last year, we (students of Virginia Tech) threw away over a MILLION styrofoam items at Owen's Food Court, costing us nearly $50,000.

Owen's is taking a positive step forward by [how to word this?] working towards a recycling program with Dart Container - a company that will reclaim used foam, crumble, wash and melt it into pellets to make new polystyrene products. Its important to realize that these pellets cannot be made into new food container products (the temperatures required to sanitize old foam would destroy it), so the foam we use at Owens will continue to be made from raw materials.

The results are far reaching, as styrene production is resposible for much of the benzene used in this country, using styrofoam containers thus drives an industry of toxic and carcinogen chemicals that endanger our health. Styrofoam's light weight also makes it a particularly annoying form of litter, blowing into hard-to reach places - even blowing out of trash cans. Finally, the use of styrofoam is an endorsement of a throw-away mindset. Just as we accept waste for convenience, many industries would like to trade toxic emissions for a cheaper product. Do we really believe that convenience is more important than a clear conscience?

• Use your re-usable RHF cup! They're free to on-campus students, and you get a XX % discount too.
• Don't forget your new CupClip. They are free to students who take the EcoChallenge.
• To avoid using styrofoam, eat in as much as possible. When you eat out, be aware of how your choices impact the environment.
• Bring a re-usable container with you to Owens! Health codes prevent us from serving you directly (unless we wash the container ourselves), but you can get your food on a plate and move it to the container before you go out the door.