| Yale Notes |
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| October 2005 | |
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How much common sense can I get for a grass-fed burger? Here at Yale University, like most schools, the food on the cafeteria menu is a mixed bag. Some days are full of dry pork chops while others have tantalizing dishes such as Gerneral Tso’s chicken. One thing that separates Yale from many other schools though is a revolutionary movement on campus called the Sustainable Food Project. Students see brochures and informational pamphlets all over campus that extol the virtues of this project, but the real question behind sustainable food, a question seldom asked by those engaged in this “progressive project,” is how efficient is this method of servicing our dining halls? The answer to that question is that such a practice is inefficient and not worth it for Yale Dining Services, a self-evident conclusion when we look at the costs accrued by the Sustainable Food Project. Last year alone the project spent over one million dollars more than they would have if they had purchased food from more efficient, mainstream producers. Most of this cost is a result of purchasing food from producers who have chosen inefficient ways of running their farms, thus increasing the cost to produce goods. Of course the proponents of this plan argue that sustainable food is worth the costs because the methods used on the farms where they purchase livestock and other food goods are environmentally friendly and “humane toward the animals they are raising.” Yes, that’s right, they provide a humane environment for animals being raised specifically to be slaughtered and made into human food. Chalk another one up for the Greenpeace mindset as it completely ignores rationality and efficiency in favor of ideas that make people warm and cozy inside. |
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