Kitchen Cabinet
Agenda
March 25, 2011
7:15 a.m.
Present: Aaron Banks, Judy Douglas, Bob Douglas, Deborah Downs-Miers, George Elliott, Kristina Fosse, Lisa Heldke, Renee Hoppe, Steve Kjellgren, Mike Stehlik, Rebecca Welp,
New Greens Members Fosse and Hoppe introduced themselves, discussed their interest in being members of the KC, and reported on Greens activity.
• The Greens are working on measures to increase the return rate and decrease the return time of Gustieware. A brief (really brief, compared to past years!) discussion of how to improve the program ensued.
• Deanna Latson Event: Fosse, Hoppe and Elliott discussed the visit by the nutritionist. The lecture was extremely well attended and met with much enthusiasm.
o The main request after the event was for more information about what people SHOULD eat, given that her lecture focused a lot on things we shouldn’t do.
o KC members
Bottled Beverage Contract: Kjellgren reported that, for the first time in about a decade, Gustavus will be negotiating a new bottled beverage contract for the college. He asked the KC to discuss how we can involve the community in this decision. Ideas (some of them mutually exclusive) generated by the group included:
• Not having bottled sodas on campus
• Finding out whether there is a substantial difference between Coke and Pepsi when it comes to matters of justice and ethics. We’re familiar with the reports on Coke; are there similar reports on Pepsi that we’ve just not heard yet? Are they substantially different in ways that matter for our core values?
• Using the RFP period as a time to get the respective companies to think about how they could create a program that would actually contribute to the College’s goals vis a vis the environment, health, and other concerns, as represented in our strategic plan and our core values statements. E.g.:
o Create a “signing bonus” that would go toward the purchase of health equipment
o Invite them to consider stocking smaller size portions in their machines
o Consider the kinds of packaging used
• How can we get the community involved? How can we let folks know they are invited to participate in this discussion? Ideas included:
o A video
o A forum
o Contacting Student Senate
o Involving classes—service learning projects
o Enlisting student organizations such as Greens
o Information on monitors in Lund and other buildings
o We’ll continue to solicit ideas about this, and will begin to implement them this spring. We have a year in which to make this happen; it’s an important opportunity for the community.
Meeting adjourned