Eating at Hedrick
Dining Hall
What goes into an average
dinner here?
The Mission!
The goal of my project is to understand the
process the ingredients in my dinner had to
undergo before they were cooked in the
dining hall. In this presentation, I will try to
follow the ingredients from their birth (the
farm) all the way until their death (the
compost site). So let’s begin!
My Meal
Salad from the Organic
Salad Bar
Rotisserie Chicken with
Peach Sauce and Rice Pilaf
What’s In the Chicken Dish?
Components:
-Rotisserie Chicken
(Gallus domesticus—domestic chicken)
-Rice Pilaf (Oryza sativa)
-Peach Sauce
>Celery (Apium graveolens)
>Onion (Allium cepa)
>Bell Pepper (Capsicum annuum)
>Peaches (Prunus persica)
The Chicken and the Rice
The chicken and the rice is probably grown
industrially. UCLA serves around 20,000 meals
everyday (according to Robert Gilbert) and could
not possibly get all their products from artisanal
farms. Industrial farms grow massive amounts of
the same produce (monoculture) and can supply
customers that need large amounts of food on a
consistent basis (ex. UCLA). The chicken is
probably grown in a CAFO where they fattened on
#2 corn. It provides a way to get rid of the
excessive amount of corn grown her in America.
The rice is probably grown in Asia, the largest
producers of rice.
What’s in the Organic Salad?
The Ingredients:
-Spring Mix
>lettuce & other leafy vegetables
>(family name: Asteraceae)
-Ginger (Zingiber officinale ) &
Sesame (Sesamum indicum)
dressing
-Tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum)
-Broccoli (Brassica Oleracea)
From the Farm
• Everything in the salad bar is grown organically
• ORGANIC def: in order to be considered organic, the farm has to be
certified organic and follow these rules:
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–
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Keep the farm free from toxic pesticides & fertilizers for at least 3 yrs.
Not use genetically engineered seeds or materials
Uphold these goals: sustainability, decrease soil erosion, biodiversity
Use little to no synthetic pesticides or fertilizers
Practice crop rotation
• However, they still grow their crops in monoculture way in order to meet
the demand– which is why they are allowed to use some pesticides. The
USDA have vague organic farm regulations, still trying to clarify them
• Produce is from UCLA probably grown on industrial organic farms (such
as Earthbound) because a constant supply of produce is needed
• “Some of our items are organically-grown and pesticide free” Dining Hall
Website
– Look for this image, means the product is at least 90% organic!
“We make an effort to purchase California-grown produce. This
supports the local economy and reduces energy use and
pollution resulting from the transportation of goods”
Dining Hall Website
Similar to the FarmtoCollege Program Results
Since UCLA is in such a prime area, there are other opportunities in which
UCLA can purchase locally. One option is to partner with CSA. Even
though they aren’t big enough to supply UCLAs entire demand, they can
provide some of the produce.
To the Vendors
From the industrialized organic farms, the
produce is then transferred to small distributers.
The small distributers then work with larger
distributors. UCLA work with these large
distributers to make their daily purchases.
To UCLA Hedrick Dining Hall
According to Robert Gilbert, the Sustainability
Coordinator for Housing and Hospitality
Services, some of the vendors UCLA deals with
are SYSCO and World Produce.
Juvenal Solis, one of the Hedrick dining hall
managers, informed me that most of the
ingredients come packaged and already
prepped.
The Aftermath
After the food is eaten, the food waste goes through the
dining hall’s composting system (which consists of a pulping
process). Hedrick doesn’t have a system yet. The system
was put on trial in other halls. Since it worked so well in the
other hall, they are going to put one in Hedrick too.
Athens Service, which is part of the LA food waste program,
then picks up the compostable waste and brings it to a
composting facility.
The Carbon Emitted
• Transportation creates a lot of CO2. It takes energy to transport the
produce from the farm to the small distributor to the large distributor
to UCLA to the composting site. Keep in mind this occurs everyday– the
produce is ordered daily.
• Most of the food comes processed or packaged and prepped. Fossil
fuel is used to process all the food.
• Cooking the food burns more fossil fuels as well.
• Solutions?
– UCLA could reduce their transportation footprint by buying locally and
more organically. Less fossil fuel is burned growing &transporting the food.
– They could buy their produce whole– not packaged and already prepped.
It would take more work, but it would save a lot of energy.
– If possible, it would be best not to buy from industrialized farms. An
example of an industrialized farm is Earthbound (in Omnivore’s Dilemma).
They produce large amounts of produce, but in an unsustainable way.
They use some pesticide (because it’s grown in a monoculture way) and
the compost they use is made elsewhere. In addition, they use machines
to pick,prep, and package the lettuce, making it easy and fast to eat.
The Bright Side
The organic salad bar is doing its part to help the
environment and local businesses. It’s sustainable and
most of it is grown in California. Improvements can be
made by buying more locally grown produce directly
from the local farmers.
Similar to the FarmtoCollege Program Results
Increasing Sustainable Efforts
• Tray-less Hedrick Dining Hall
– Reduce the water needed to wash the trays,
saving hundreds of gallons of water
• Beef-less Thursdays
– Cattle emit large amounts of greenhouse gases
and enormous amounts of water
– Healthier for people in general to eat less red
meat because they’re high in saturated fat
So In Summary…
FARM
Small Vendor
Large Vendor
Hedrick Dining
Hall
Compost Site
Happy Eating!