Initiative promotes 'responsible dining'
Like many students, freshman Miko Yu did not know about the University's new local sustainability initiative until she saw the flyers tacked up around campus.
"I didn't know until I saw the signs at Pura Vida and the Fresh Food Café," she said.
The program, called Responsible Dining, was started in September and is a joint effort by JHU Housing and Dining Services and Aramark.
From purchasing locally-produced milk to serving dolphin-safe tuna, the program introduces environmentally sound practices at campus dining facilities.
"It all falls under an umbrella of being more responsible citizens of the community," said Dave Furhman, director of dining programs at Housing and Dining Services.
"It includes local and sustainable foods, healthy eating and energy-saving devices. We feel it's important to support local businesses as much as possible and contribute positively to the community."
Locally grown and sustainable food sources are a major component of the program. The University hopes to use as much as possible from farms, bakeries and dairies within a 200-mile radius of campus.
Teryn Norris-Hale, head of the Hopkins Energy Action Team, applauded the University's initiative in spearheading the program.
"This is a really great example of the administration taking something up on its own instead of relying on kids to do all the hands-on work to get sustainability on campus," Norris-Hale said.
Dining halls have seen an increased variety of produce with the addition of spaghetti squash, sweet potato, gala apples and Asian pears - all from local farms.
Sustainbles are foods that have been produced in ways that minimize harm to the environment.
"When you fly in kiwi fruit or berries from South America, the amount of jet fuel that is used to transport those goods is harmful to the environment," Furhman said.
"But buying locally-produced goods means less fuel is used and less pollution is generated in getting the food here."
"I didn't know until I saw the signs at Pura Vida and the Fresh Food Café," she said.
The program, called Responsible Dining, was started in September and is a joint effort by JHU Housing and Dining Services and Aramark.
From purchasing locally-produced milk to serving dolphin-safe tuna, the program introduces environmentally sound practices at campus dining facilities.
"It all falls under an umbrella of being more responsible citizens of the community," said Dave Furhman, director of dining programs at Housing and Dining Services.
"It includes local and sustainable foods, healthy eating and energy-saving devices. We feel it's important to support local businesses as much as possible and contribute positively to the community."
Locally grown and sustainable food sources are a major component of the program. The University hopes to use as much as possible from farms, bakeries and dairies within a 200-mile radius of campus.
Teryn Norris-Hale, head of the Hopkins Energy Action Team, applauded the University's initiative in spearheading the program.
"This is a really great example of the administration taking something up on its own instead of relying on kids to do all the hands-on work to get sustainability on campus," Norris-Hale said.
Dining halls have seen an increased variety of produce with the addition of spaghetti squash, sweet potato, gala apples and Asian pears - all from local farms.
Sustainbles are foods that have been produced in ways that minimize harm to the environment.
"When you fly in kiwi fruit or berries from South America, the amount of jet fuel that is used to transport those goods is harmful to the environment," Furhman said.
"But buying locally-produced goods means less fuel is used and less pollution is generated in getting the food here."
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