Kitchen Cabinet
October 12, 2015
Jeri Miller, Margo Druschel, George Elliott , Paul Matzke, Chuck Niederriter, Patrick Neri, Jana Elliott(SAVE), Kaitlyn Bicek(SAVE), Mark Hanson , Steve Kjellgren, Lisa Heldke, Lindsay Rothschiller , JJ Akin, Andi Dickey, Erin Kuiper, Abby Nistler (Fair Trade)
Fair Trade
Margo and Abby discussed how Gustavus is working towards becoming a fair trade college. The next step is passing a resolution. Abby and a number of other students have been working for a year and a half on Gustavus becoming a fair trade campus and have partnered with Kelsey Timmerman (What am I Wearing?) last year as well as Dining Service to promote different fair trade foods (banana bread has been a fan favorite). There are many colleges and universities across the country fulfilling the criteria and Gustavus has met the criteria thus far. The last piece of it is the resolution; Abby has shared this with Steve. Steve has crafted a response and it has been sent back to Brian Konkol. Next month it may be in a place where it can be shared with KC. Kitchen Cabinet can look over the resolution and make comments. It would then go to Student Senate. Fair Trade would be appreciative of input and support. Also if you see something that would support Fair Trade please let Steve know as Dining Service and Book Mark are always looking for new ideas.
Wednesday Tabling in the Dining Room
September was the first month the Kitchen Cabinet tabled in the Dining Room. It was great conversation which was led by a fun Gustieware stacking game created by Paul and followed up with a tasting of the Big Hill Farm watermelon (which by the way was amazing!). We are tabling one Wednesday a month and having a Kitchen Cabinet conversation. Margo will be tabling this Wednesday with help from Paul and Lisa and students on sustainability.
Greens Update
Although they are not present at the breakfast table this morning Steve did give us an update on the Greens interest in composting. The Greens are interested in the compost material that we are currently not composting. It does get composted in the Dining Service. If you throw a compostable cup in the trash outside of the dining room, it will go in the trash. The Greens are asking how we can do a better job of capturing the cups, plates, etc. that are compostable. A great example was the recent Nobel conference; we had all compostable material for service as well as compostable bins for people to put their dinnerware in. We thought this was a no brainer and people still put their recyclables in the compostable which contaminates the compostable and makes all of it trash. So basically as students you are paying to have compostable dinnerware on campus, yet you are putting it in the trash. The Greens will be working with Warren to further research this concern.
Sustainability
Chuck is bringing the conversation of sustainability to the Faculty. What do we want faculty to know about sustainability? The Kitchen Cabinet suggested topics on energy efficiency and re use of materials. Perhaps just asking the question, “What seems wasteful to you?” would be a great way to get the conversation started. Patrick also suggested having a research opportunity such as studying the energy consumption of a building and comparing it to a new building such as the renovation of Nobel (it was noted unfortunately the building is not in use so trying to do a before and after would not be feasible).
MAYDAY Conference
MAYDAY’s theme this year is a different way to think about divestment. Most don’t think of divestment as a tool for peace; how can we use divestment as a strategy? There is certainly room to piggy back on that and add a sustainability speaker for MAYDAY that would fit with the theme. There is a meeting this week (4:30 in Beck – 301) to discuss speakers. If you are interested in attending this meeting please let Chuck know. This is a great way to start the conversation. What can KC do to support the sustainability issue as well as the MAYDAY conference? A suggested idea was featuring food from the various oil producing or coal producing areas. Chuck has been such an asset in featuring this topic on campus to further our knowledge.
Gustieware
Steve had challenged the Greeters and CF’s about what we can do better with our Gustieware and how to get it back. A student has approached Steve on a class project about Gustieware. Steve is hoping this project can continue to shed awareness of how Gustieware impacts our campus and the benefits of utilizing Gustieware.
Steve’s Mailbag
Steve shared with the Cabinet some of the emails he is receiving. One was from a parent wondering if offering halal meats in the MarketPlace is a possibility. We have offered Halal meats to students in the past. If this is a need on campus how do we best meet the needs of students who would enjoy and need halal meats. We need to hear those voices as we do want to offer foods that all students can embrace. Pass the word as Steve and Kitchen Cabinet would enjoy more conversation about students’ needs in Dining Service.
Coke Grant
The Coke grant information went out last week. If you are a returning group, please ask for something different than you have in years past. The Coke Grant information is on the Dining Service home page. We encourage all to submit a proposal; it is very user friendly and a relatively easy process. Paul, Meghan, Judy, Heather, Lisa, Mark, Steve and Brady Kelley are the committee members. Submissions will be reviewed as early as November 15, 2015.