Cardinal Points

Issue date: 10/12/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Kelly Marsh Student Environmental Conservation Coordinator Sarah Wharton said tray removal stops students from wasting.

All it takes is one second to lose one life.

Thousands of people around the world die each day from extreme starvation.

The date is Monday, Oct. 15, and the place is Clinton and Algonquin Dining Halls.

One chance to get involved. One chance to make a difference.

Plattsburgh State ONE Campaign advocates the fight against world hunger. In their latest efforts, the ONE team has organized 'Dude Where's My Tray?' to show the severity of food wastage on campus.

"The trays in each dining facility will be taken away to discourage food wastage in the dining halls," Sarah Wharton, Student Environmental Conservation Coordinator and Plattsburgh Student Service Corps, said

The rationale behind the program is to discourage students from taking so much food that eventually gets thrown away.

"When the trays are there, some students feel the need to pile on three plates full of food that will not be able to finish," Wharton said. "Without the trays, hopefully students will see that one plate of food is enough, and if they are still hungry, all they have to do is get up and get more."

The program was launched last spring, after it was discovered that 2,300 pounds of food was wasted in just a week from a students' plate at Clinton, said Dean Delano, coordinator for the Plattsburgh Student Service Corps and Adviser of ONE.

This semester, statistics from the Campus Dining Services reveal that on Oct. 1, 171 pounds of food from 167 people at Algonquin Dining Hall and 485 pounds of food from 2,458 people at Clinton Dining Hall was wasted.

In terms of student response, Jacob Avery, Executive Vice President of the Student Association and president of ONE, said it was remarkable.

"We got some mixed reactions where several students could not understand why we were doing this," Avery said. "Although we did receive some upset trayless students, we also received the famous statement 'Oh, I didn't know I wasted that much.'"

The Environmental Action Committee will be providing visuals of how much food is wasted.

"It should be a huge shock to everyone, and should open up some eyes to PSUC's food wastage problem," Wharton said.

The program goes beyond simply saving food on campus, it also shows the impact of the amount wasted on campus. It's a combination of efforts from College Auxiliary Services, Campus Dining Services, ONE and other concerned members of campus.

Avery said that students get to feel the severity and harshness of the issue, and that the ONE campaign believes the 'Dude Where's My Tray' program "is a good adventure for the campus."

Beginning with one place, the program raises awareness about world hunger and the reality of about this country's waste issues, such as the lack of space in landfills, Wharton said.

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