Dining services article misses ‘real’ food issue

By Letter to the Editor | Letters
Updated: 02/08/12 1:00am
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TO THE EDITOR: Upon reading your “More Than You Can Chew” article, I felt a key element of UNC’s important, ongoing food dialogue was missing.

Why would UNC students ever waste the meal plans for which they pay thousands of dollars each semester? To me, the answer seems simple: There is a clear necessity for better food options in our dining halls.

According to the Real Food Calculator, only about 10 percent of UNC’s current dining hall food can be considered “real food,” i.e., local/community-based, fair, ecologically sound and humane.

By having more local, organic and tasty options available, Carolina Dining Services and students can certainly reach a mutual consensus of greater satisfaction and less waste.

Our current dearth of “real” food options at UNC is not something to be decried. I have personally worked with Carolina Dining Services this year to implement more sustainable food options, and they really do listen to what students have to say. We are, after all, their customers.

If we as students want dining hall food that better aligns with our values, we need only speak up for those values, and we will be heard.

If you would like your own food values to be heard, consider coming to FLO Foods’ Supper on South event this Friday, Feb. 10, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. There, students and community members will gather around potluck-style to show support and strive for food choices about which all of UNC can feel fully satisfied.

Glenn Lippig
Fair, Local, Organic Foods

Published February 8, 2012 in Letters, Opinion
2 comments
Let'sBeHonest
February 8, 2012 at 11:15 AM
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I was in complete agree w/ the letter until it somehow equated “better food” with “local and organic.” I support the local food movement, but let’s get real. When the majority of students say they want better food, I doubt they’re hopping up and down about the difference between whether the cantaloupe’s grown within 50 miles or not. Students want a variety of more tasty options. We pay far too much for a meal not to get the variety and taste of a real buffet.

beelzebub
February 8, 2012 at 11:54 AM
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This makes the assumption that FLO food is good – it’s all about taste. I went to a ‘local’ event @ Rams once & people threw most of the food away – esp that nasty horseradish pizza. Most of us don’t care about where the food comes from – it is all about the taste.

 
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