SWA #9

Guidelines for the college student

When it comes to Berry's guidelines for responsible eating, my guess is they are aimed mainly at household leaders of the American family, the mothers who do the grocery shopping and fathers who pay the grocery bills. When Berry wrote of planting a garden to “become acquainted with the beautiful energy cycle that revolves from soil to see to flower...”, he did not have the typical college student in mind. How is a college student able to eat responsibly with a limited budget, time, and resources? Although it is challenging, it is possible, and my roommates and I ourselves have already taken some steps to do so.

Guidelines for the responsibly-eating college student:

1. Growing your own food is most likely not an option. However, you can purchase local foods from the farmer's market and local grocery store! At this particular university, there is a farmer's market that comes to Greene Street every Tuesday. Last week, my roommate returned from the farmer's market with delicious honey crisp apples, plums, peaches, and homemade sour-dough bread. She and I really appreciated how natural and beautiful the fruits were, and the product of human-hands that was the homemade bread. We were able to appreciate the full food cycle, and delicious food, with just walking a couple feet away from our dorm on a Tuesday morning!
2. Compost is very easy to maintain and very helpful for the environment. It reduces trash, and also provides fertilizer for new plants to grow. Students can compost their fruit and vegetable scraps easily. Colin Beavan, author of No Impact Man, our First-Year Reading Experience book, provides instructions on how to compost on his blog: http://noimpactman.typepad.com/
3. Set aside one hour a week to walk to your local grocery store with your roommates. Shop for fresh fruit and vegetables that you are unable to find at the farmers market, and also ingredients to make your own home-cooked meal. Have one night with your roommates and friends to make your own dinner in the community kitchen or other available space. Possibilities include whole wheat pasta, soup, salads, or other healthy, easy-to-make entrees. Not only is this a fun experience and great bonding time with your friends, but you will become more conscious of what you are eating. By making your own meals, you are able to control the quality and ingredients.
4. Do your research on your food. Ask the farmers at the farmers market how the food is grown or prepared and where it comes from. Read the labels of packaged foods at the grocery store, doing the best you can to select natural, local products. Be knowledgeable about what you are eating!
5. Broaden your research. Perhaps use the food industry for your next assigned research project. Research the food industry; the function of industrial production, the food economy itself, and even the consumer. Consider reading books such as Food, Inc. or The Omnivore's Dilemma. Not only will you be more informed about what is really happening behind the wrappers and packaging on our grocery store shelves, but you will be much more likely to eat responsibly in the future. This will be not only beneficial to your health, but to the economy, welfare of domestic animals, and the world as a whole.