Kitchen Cabinet Minutes: May, 2014 Posted on May 5th, 2014 by

Kitchen Cabinet
May 5, 2014
Steve Kjellgren, Lisa Heldke, Paul Matzke, Rebecca Hare, Jessica Burggraff, Margo Druschell , Meghan Krause, George Elliott, Molly Yunkers, Mark Hanson

Meal Plan Accounts – A brief discussion on meal accounts and how they are used. Overall it seems as if meal plans do average out, some students run out of money, some students have money left over. Athletes may use up more than the average student.

Fair Trade – Thanks to the Weekly, a great job was done promoting inside out day and it was very successful. They were able to table downstairs and did get some folks interested. They are meeting again this week. The bookstore has a great Alta Gracia display. Brian will talk about fair trade at Sabbath. Kitchen Cabinet is still very much in support of Fair Trade. The Hub in Mankato will also tie well in to this when it gets up and running.

Greens – Student Senate recently changed its bylaws; they are required to have a member at the Kitchen Cabinet meeting. More than likely the new Co Presidents will continue to work on bottled water on our campus and if we need to make a switch. The Greens will continue to work on informational videos and getting them on the website. Also a map and supplier list on the website would be helpful. Last year there was work done on the environmental website, but at present not sure where that project is at.
Also discussed the recent Tray less day that was not sponsored by the Greens but was a research project. By not having trays we save 3.50 a day and 240 gallons. And that is only if the dish machine is turned off when there are no dishes, but remember, out of habit it typically runs. So the question becomes if there really is water saved. Unfortunately tray less day turned out to be a not so good experience; there was not enough homework done prior to the day and not enough advance notice to the public. It created some really angry responses from faculty and students. There are other things we are in the process of doing can save water. For example, our steamer ovens which were installed years ago. We have five of them and they use 1 ½ gallons of water a minute and they use reverse osmosis water as well. Do the math 1250 gallons a day x 5 = 60,000 a day just to steam food. Two of them have recently been replaced already and that is a water savings right there. Two more will be replaced this summer. It is not as visible and you don’t get to participate in it so it does not make it as sexy as a day of everyone coming together and participating.
Steve also noted that we will have an intern this summer who will meet with the staff about trash, recycling, comingling and Gustieware.

Nutrition Update-The pork window cling project is in the hand of Marketing and it looks like it will be completed in June. So look for the pork window clings to starting appearing on windows in June. George will also have a dietetic intern for the summer and the goal is to have some student driven projects completed. One idea is to do some simple cooking videos that can be posted on the Dining Service website.

Wellbeing – Meghan discussed the survey was put out in regards to students and their sleep habits. We have much room on this campus to improve sleeping habits overall. Meghan was also intrigued as to how tray less Tuesday impacted food choices. Meghan recently participated in a focus group with the author of Strengths Quest – Tom Rath. Tom has a new book out Eat, Move, Sleep (there is an online test, to give you 30 days of nudges so you can improve). He is developing a system for clinics and practitioners as well as developing something for higher education. Meghan also appreciated the Coke grants reception. It pulls together all the good things going on around campus. And how many of the projects were Wellbeing related.

Dining Service –the Coke Grant Recipient Reception was well attended and there is always room for more and it is a difficult time of year. There were many great projects presented and there is still room to be more competitive and engage the campus community. At present the committee has been able to fully fund or partially fund the projects submitted. There will be an article in the Weekly on Friday of this week. And notices about next year’s grants will be sent out in August or September.
Steve noted the Video series is up and running and there is a link on Kitchen Cabinet.

It was noted the Dive renovations did not pass. Steve said that the Courtyard Café will have a different look next year with some cosmetic changes being made.

Green restaurant association – Steve did talk to Ken about the process and this seems like a viable project worth exploring. We would move forward with this project after June 1, 2014.

Book Mart – Molly shared with KC what she has learned about the clothing she is carrying. It is much easier to find out about where clothing is being manufactured with the transparency act in California. Having said that, a garment can have many different parts made in many different countries which can make it more difficult. Also, how do we pass all this information on to the consumer? Some items coming up in the future of manufacturing; Champion has an eco-friendly blend that uses one recycled water bottle per shirt. In the past there was no clothing that eco-friendly so it is a start. And this conversation ties nicely in to our upcoming Reading in Common book selections.

 

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