One of the major adjustments to college is new-found freedom with food. Suddenly, students have the ability to truly form their own eating habits independent of other people. They have their own schedules and their own preferences. The choices that a student makes with this freedom can have a great impact on their personal health as well as on the food system, by affecting options and availability.
The Furman Dining Hall, or the DH as we call it, has many food options for it’s students.
Most students are unaware of what Furman Dining does when it comes to understanding and supporting food systems. Furman Dining strives for local and seasonal food and also monitors student eating habits intensely to reduce food waste.
Locavore Movement
Some stations have the Certified South Carolina logo, stating that some or all of the ingredients used at the station are local. Local food helps support local economies and reduce the miles that food has to travel from farm to plate. The “Locavore Movement” has seen a rise in interest in the past couple of years, especially among younger generations.
Student Film Project College Winner – Gardening for Good from GLP Films on Vimeo.
Monitoring Food Consumption
Furman Dining Services also monitors student eating habits. The DH measures what recipes are popular and how much food is needed to sate students. For example, the staff will record how much chicken goes out into the “floor” stations for lunch then at the end of the shift monitor how much chicken is left over. This might seem like an irrelevant detail but it actually is a great step in the right direction. Food waste is a major issue, particularly in the US where food production is so heavily subsidized. When food demand is monitored on the front end it reduces waste on the back end.
Although these are two very specific examples of how Furman Dining is reducing its environmental impact through smart food system choices, it is not alone. Food movements are popping up on higher education campuses all over the globe. There is a growing trend of on-campus teaching gardens.
Serious conversations about the state of our current food system are taking place. Higher education, especially small liberal arts colleges, are great facilitators for these conversations because they provide vital examples of the impact smart food planning can have on a complicated system.
Amanda Richey 