The student news site of Bellarmine Preparatory School

The Bellarmine Prep Lion

The student news site of Bellarmine Preparatory School

The Bellarmine Prep Lion

The student news site of Bellarmine Preparatory School

The Bellarmine Prep Lion

Food matters: preparing for the future

An array of smells fills the room as the lunch line inches forward. A glance at the self-serve section reveals sandwiches, cookies, fruit and yogurt. For some reason, that cookie always seems so much more appealing than a large cup of freshly-cut fruit.

Food matters. It’s not just an important decision that affects the body, but it’s also a decision that affects the entire planet. Three times a day, consumers choose what kind of food-related practices they will support or tolerate. The food and agricultural business in the United States, unfortunately, utilizes many methods of production that are terrible for animals, humans, and the environment.

Most chicken meat available at major supermarkets, for instance, is likely from a chicken bred inside of an enormous chicken coup with no windows. These chickens hardly walk, not because they are unable to see in the dark, but because they are fed so many growth hormones that their bodies are unnaturally large and unable to be supported by their legs.

By buying and eating that chicken meat, the body ingests the artificial growth hormones fed to the chicken and the consumer supports a business that abuses animals. Dark, crowded conditions are no way for an animal to live. Chemically enhanced meat shipped from hundreds of miles away is not something beneficial to the body. It is imperative to have food that is healthy for both humans, animals, and the environment.

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The need for organic meat may seem obvious, but the necessity of environmentally conscious produce is less so. Vegetables cannot be abused, after all, since they are not alive like animals are. However, many of the ways vegetables are farmed in the United States and elsewhere are abusive to the earth.

Pesticides and herbicides, for example, are terrible for the environment. These are poisons that are spread over crops to prevent disease and insects. Instead of dealing with nature in a natural way, these chemicals that apparently fix one problem create another when they damage the soil. Continually harming soil by destroying vital nutrients, worms, and bugs is not a sustainable practice. There are many people in the United States that need to be fed, harming soil like this jeopardizes the ability to produce crops.

A sustainable alternative would be growing a wider variety of crops together to create a more diverse ecosystem. When one plant fails, other crops will not. Growing many of the same kind of crop makes it much easier for insects and disease to attack. The diversity of an ecosystem, even if that diversity is several different kind of vegetables on a farm, gives it a degree of protection from failure. Protecting crops naturally means that the soil remains healthy and many more vegetables can be harvested over a longer period of time.

Unfortunately, food related issues are not black and white, good or bad. Things are not as simple as just picking the sustainable alternative or deciding to go all organic.

Buying organic produce from local farmers sounds like, and in some cases is, a good idea. However, according to Kitchen Manager Krissie Bowman, “The only problem with that is we aren’t insured.” When Bellarmine buys produce through Cysco, one of the school’s three food suppliers, a log is kept of what food has been purchased. If it is suddenly discovered that there has been an outbreak of salmonella in lettuce, Cysco can look at the logs and to see if any of the infected lettuce is currently in a refrigerator at Bellarmine.

This kind of insurance would not be present if Bellarmine were to buy vegetables locally. When buying organic, however, it is even more important to have constant monitoring of produce because there is a higher risk of foodborne illnesses when pesticides are not used. The cafeteria serves a large number of students. Should lettuce or another vegetable be contaminated, many kids could become fatally ill.

This raises the question of future sustainability versus student safety. To promote environmentally sustainable foods, Bellarmine should buy organic food that does not use pesticides. On the other hand, is environmental sustainability worth potentially jeopardizing student health? These issues are not black and white.

There is, however, a way to avoid the risks that come with organic produce. There are three greenhouses on campus, two of which are heated. Bowman acknowledged that if Bellarmine were to grow it’s own produce, she wouldn’t worry about using it in the cafeteria because she would know exactly how it has been grown and if there were any risks foodborne illnesses.

Bellarmine growing vegetables for Bellarmine is an ideal situation, but Donna Pitt, Greenhouse Director, stated that that vision would only be possible “if we can get some lighting for growing in the winter time.” The greenhouse has grown tomatoes, parsley, basil, peppers, and beans in the past, but these, and other produce, are usually only ready during summer. “Generally plants need 14 hours [of sunlight], in winter we get about eight.”

Obtaining enough grow lights to realistically supplement the cafeteria is, unfortunately, very expensive. Bellarmine’s greenhouse “isn’t funded by any money as far as school goes,” Pitt stated. All of their money comes from the annual plant sale that takes place near the end of the school year.

As of right now, the greenhouse program is mainly used “for the propagation of native plants” that make up most of the landscaping around Bellarmine. The greenhouse also has a small community garden that Pitt hopes to expand in the future.

Since growing produce is not a feasible idea at the moment, perhaps the Bellarmine’s cafeteria could buy organic food from carefully researched growers. The problem with that alternative is price. “Kids want volume in their food,” Bowman said, but buying organic “is so much more expensive, and people don’t want to pay more.” Money is already a major issue for the Bellarmine cafeteria, where “it’s a challenge to make money or break even.” About $940 a day of food is purchased for preparing lunches, and “last year was the first year it [the cafeteria program] was profitable.”

At the volume and prices the cafeteria deals with, going entirely organic is not a realistic option. However, Bowman stated that “I think the best thing we can do is make healthy, fresh food.” And this is exactly what the cafeteria does.

Public schools, prisons, and a variety of other places use institutional food. Institutional food comes either frozen or in a number 10 can. None of it is fresh, and none of it is made from scratch. “To me its so gross,” Bowman said. But because Bellarmine is a private school, it does not have to follow the federal guidelines that public schools are required to adhere to.

“Area directors are shocked at the stuff we buy,” Bowman stated. “Most schools don’t buy fresh vegetables, or produce, at all,” but Bellarmine is “buying food in its raw state.” The cafeteria staff and volunteers prepare all of the meals from scratch each day.

Although the food may not be organic, “We are buying so little of processed foods of any sort.” Students are getting a meal prepared only hours before their lunch, complete with a “protein, starch and then some produce.”

Perhaps a more realistic goal with organic food would be to start smaller. “We could have an organic section,” Bowman stated. If Bellarmine were to obtain several grow lights, the greenhouse could then begin to grow a small amount of produce for this self-serve section.

    An organic section is a small step in the right direction, but it’s a realistic step. It’s a step that Bellarmine should take if it’s a school that cares about the future of the world and the future of its students. The only way progress is possible, however, is through the support and desire to make a change. Food and environmental issues are not easy problems to deal with, but the first step to solving them is taking that first step.