Present: Molly Yunkers, Steve Kjellgren, Lisa Heldke, Jeff Stocco, Joe Lenocini, Alex Christensen , Ben Batz, Caitlyn Robb, Josh Sande, Brooks Stapleton , Mike Stalik, Christine Tenhoff , Adam Lugsch-Tehle, Steve Bennett, Bob Douglas, Jim Dontje , Judy Douglas, George Elliott
Kitchen Cabinet first addressed any concerns members may have as we are looking at the decision making process today.
Student Issue – disposal salt and pepper shakers – people do steal them and using disposal salt and pepper shakers is more economical and efficient than replacing glass salt and pepper shakers.
Can products be labeled that contain pork – please address these concerns to Chef Jake.
It was also reported that there is available funding for the compost project. There will be many thoughtful decisions made re: how to involve students at many different levels. More information to follow from Jim Dontje.
Follow up on the Beverage contract: There is a class from marketing that is currently working on a survey, although note the survey is more on personal preference.
What follows is the main portion of our Kitchen Cabinet meeting today. How do we make the decisions to buy what we buy? For example, some colleges have chosen to not sell water bottles on campus. Our question in part is “what should we sell” and the second part of that is “what should we buy”. We as an institution have core values, and a mission as to how can we decide on what to have on our campus. What sort of an educational environment should we set up to help us make these decisions, what should we rule out of question and what sort of things should we have to make, how should we make the decions about what we have on campus.
As a group we looked at the following items: trash bags, milk, chicken, coffee, bananas, tuna, detergent, ground beef, cereal, bacon. And then asked the question: why do we purchase it.
Reasons You Purchase
- Milk: Local, how the animals are treated, and growth hormones
- Bananas: Fair Trade, Price, Organic
- Coffee: Fair Trade, Price, Taste
- Trash Bags: Cheapest, size, quality and capacity
- Tuna Fish: Price, taste, dolphin save, don’t eat it
- Ground beef: I don’t eat it, how much fat, cheapest
Historical associations and how we purchase our items – can we look more at ethics, the ethics of the corporation, why we buy what we buy.
We do have to offer some sort of compromise – depending on price, ethics, and our values.
How much of this is knowledge – if people had the knowledge – would they make different choices?
Price was a more common theme of our decision making process.
As a student – there is a disconnect – we like this but we can’t afford to do it. As a student it is very price driven – do you buy the cheap food or can you be more ethical? Not there yet – price still really drives the bus.
Are the economics more important – yes, it is nice we are making decisions based on ethics, and treatment of animals and workers – and again is price really the driving issue?
How do we help to make the transition from eating on campus to buying groceries for our self – as we have more limited funds when we live off campus. It is more impactful when it is your own money – does the institution need to offer something that is more life skilled based – such as a consumer science course. Or how do we have the conversation with students on how to help them beyond this experience.
Intentional course setting – the cultural perception that food should not cost anything – until you spend your own money you don’t realize how much food does cost – how much does it cost to produce what you are eating and why.