Green Eggs and Ham

How much does food matter?

"Agriculture is responsible for an estimated one-third of global warming and climate change worldwide," says Pam Franco, general Manager of Bon Appetit at Claremont McKenna College.

It's here that Franco starts talking about the careful, environmentally-conscious considerations that go into feeding the CMC population at least three meals a day. In a former life, the job of operating the College's chief dining room might have ended at choosing main dishes and dessert options—today, it's forced its way past food pyramids and kitchen gadgets to the realm of science and the defense of ecology.

Franco, for instance, knows about fossil fuel miles and growing practices—the key words pesticides, fertilizers, irrigation, and transportation trailing the latter. How far have the seasonal berries and fresh fish traveled? Were they flown here? Trucked from a port? Sent by rail? How long is an item refrigerated or frozen? If grown indoors, Is the greenhouse heated by fossil fuels? And, what about the processing of products? How much energy is expended? What does it take to produce the packaging and containers? How many deliveries of it will CMC receive? How much energy is the College using to cook and refrigerate? What's the waste ratio at Collins Dining Hall?

Such is the business of running a green kitchen, and Franco offers a number of ways that Bon Appetit and Collins have joined forces to encourage social responsibility at meal time, starting with positive choices that affect health on the inside, and benefit the world outside.

These measures include a kitchen philosophy that promotes cooking from scratch and using seasonal ingredients that are regional as well as local, and sustainable and organic when available, Franco says. Hamburgers are made from ground chuck raised on vegetarian feed without antibiotics or hormones. Turkey breast and chicken are produced without routine use of antibiotics as a feed additive, and the milk that goes into cups and cereal bowls is free from antibiotics and Artificial Bovine Growth Hormone.

When using "shell" eggs, says Franco, environmentally conscious students may be glad to know they're getting the cage-free and "certified humane," kind. Seafood is purchased based on the guidelines of the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch Program (http://www.mbayaq.org/cr/seafoodwatch.asp), and is purchased fresh and locally when available, she says.

How diners tote their fresh fish and turkey burgers from one end of Collins to another is another chance to act responsibly. While the dining hall promotes the use of its china and silverware over throwaway containers and utensils, "to-go" kits will be switched next semester from Styrofoam to only recyclable paper products.

Collins not only makes a habit of donating leftover food to local food banks, but also has partnered with students to weigh leftovers after each meal period—an exercise aimed at raising awareness among students, faculty, and staff of potential waste.

Another kind of waste, the trans-fat free fry oil that's used daily in Collins, is available for pick up by local vendors Green Diesel and The Claremont Bio Diesel Initiative, Franco says, the latter a seven-college organization aiming to reduce the net carbon emissions of the Claremont University Consortium by producing biodiesel from waste vegetable oil produced by 5C dining halls.

Students can learn more about low carbon living on Tuesday, April 22. In conjunction with Earth Day, Collins will roll out Low Carbon Diet day, designed to raise awareness about the connection between food and climate change and also introduce Bon Appétit Management Company's Low Carbon Diet Calculator. (The latter helps guests understand the environmental footprints they leave with their personal food choices.)

"Each food station will illustrate a principle of the Low Carbon Diet and display a sign explaining the principle next to the menu choices," Franco says. "Every station in the entire café will be included in the Low Carbon Diet.

According to the Bon Appetit Management Company's Web site, the Low Carbon Diet will include:

• Reducing the use of beef by 25%t - Livestock production is responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions.
• Sourcing all meat and poultry from North America - 80% of the energy used by the food system comes not from growing food, but from transporting and processing it.
• Sourcing nearly all fruits and vegetables from North America, using seasonal local produce as a first preference and using tropical fruits only as "special occasion" ingredients - Most bananas have traveled 3,000 miles in high-speed refrigerated ships to reach an American breakfast plate. A local apple might be grown within 10 miles.
• Serving only domestic bottled water and reducing waste from plastic bottles - Americans throw away 40 million plastic water bottles every day.
• Reducing food waste - Goal of 25% reduction in three years or less.
• Auditing the energy efficiency of kitchen equipment - In home or commercial kitchens energy losses of up to 30% can be easily corrected for very low cost.

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Collins staff member Elizabeth Gutierrez.

Collins staff members Dora Brown, left, and Elizabeth Gutierrez.