Letter to the Editor
Food saving idea needs support
To the Editor:
This month, our campus celebrated Hunger and Homelessness Awareness
Week along with hundreds of other colleges nationwide. During the
course of the week, the Community Service Learning Office in Wilson
Hall helped plan events to call students to action. On Nov. 13,
2001, the "Clean Your Plate" event took place at D-hall,
where students participated in a weigh-in of how much food was collectively
wasted during lunch. From 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., 463 pounds of food
were wasted by students. Based on this statistic, in one semester,
51,856 pounds would be thrown away over lunch alone.
As students, why are these statistics relevant to us? Think about
how many people could be fed with these leftovers in malnourished
third-world countries or in the United States alone. The nonprofit
organization Bread for the World found that 12 million children
live in U.S. households where people have to skip meals or cut back
on food expenses to make ends meet. Worldwide, over 800 million
in the world go hungry. This is a major social issue we should become
educated about.
We have the ability to contribute our resources in hopes of solving
this problem. As a student, I struggle with trying to conserve food
on a daily basis. I understand that with facilities like D-hall
and Let's Go that serve you as much as you want, it's
hard to gauge the amount you should take. As individuals, there
are ways to be more conscious of the food we discard. By trying
to eat all that we take and contributing our time by volunteering
to tackle hunger issues, positive steps toward saving food can be
made. The university also can get involved in this call to action.
Students in the past attempted to start a food salvage program
at JMU but have not found the support to see it through. The problem
lies that in order to transport food, a refrigerated truck is needed
to meet health code standards. It is my hope that with enough support
we can find the resources and funding to make this program happen.
For more information regarding this subject, visit the Community
Service-Learning office in Wilson 204. Together we all can work
to make a difference on our campus, and hopefully for the rest of
the world.
Campbell Palmer
senior, SCOM
Hunger and Housing Service Coordinator
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