Super Spinach

Finals are on everyone's mind. Students are anxious to submit their last paper, hand in their last exam, and enjoy the beautiful spring weather! But before we can do that, we have to power through our exams. Let's talk spinach, a versatile food that can add funk to any meatless dish and put some power in your brain!

Spinach has been listed in Huffington Post and Men's Health as one of the top Brain Superfoods. They are loaded with lots of good nutrients that are beneficial to your health in so many ways, but for brain's sake, Vitamin K, Antioxidants and Magnesium are where it's at! 

Vitamin K is essential for a healthy nervous system. It  is said to have a slowing effect on Alzheimer's disease, along with antioxidants. The antioxidant, lutein, is said to help to slow cognitive decline.  Their friend, Magnesium helps another system, the circulatory system. This nutrient helps to stabilize blood pressure. Just eating a salad with spinach will lower blood pressure in a few hours!

Salad's aren't the only place where you can find these greens! Spinach is completely versatile, that can be eaten either raw or cooked, and put into many different types of foods. While eating in the dining halls during that last couple weeks here, you will find spinach on the salad bar, in the deli, as well as in many various types of soups, side dishes, and main courses. 

So this Meatless Monday spring for the spinach! (pun intended)

-Katelyn

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We need YOU to help us start a Meatless Movement!

Today we have two reasons to celebrate- it's Earth Day and it's Meatless Monday! It is the final day of our outreach on campus and we have had an excellent experiences tabling in various locations to show our love of the Earth and all things sustainable!

During our tabling last week, we heard a concern from a fellow IC student. He expressed his interest in the Meatless Monday movement but felt that when he skips eating meat on Monday's, his individual impact would be too low to have any positive environmental impact. He pointed out that the meat industry produced a lot of CO2 emissions and used a lot of water in the feeding, slaughtering, processing, and shipping that it went through before being served at our dining halls. But he argued that since whole process had already happened, and the meat is already waiting to be served at the dining hall, he might as well eat it- because the damage has already been done! We were thrilled he brought this concern to our attention and realized, he probably isn't the only student with this concern. So we'll break it down for you. 

Yes, it is true that if one individual decides to avoid eating meat offered in the dining halls on Monday isn't going to change the environmental impact that it already had on the Earth. The animal waste, slaughtering process, production process, and transportation already happened and had its negative effect on the environment. But, there is a way we can fix this. 

Our dining halls track all of the waste that goes out of the kitchens on a daily basis through a program called Lean Path. One of our jobs is to work with this program to track how much waste we are throwing away, whether it be trim waste, food scraps, or spoiled food. Before the kitchen staff is allowed to throw anything away he or she must weigh the waste on a scale, indicate what kind of food it is, and the reason for throwing it away. All of this information gets put onto a computer where we track the amount of waste. 

Dining Services takes these numbers very seriously to help cut costs and waste. If enough students avoided meat on Monday, Lean Path will start to show a high amount of meat waste on Monday's. The more waste there is, the less meat the kitchen staff will serve on that day of the week. If the demand for meat goes down, Dining Services will start purchasing less meat. 

We can help to save the Earth together! Just think, if an industry such as Ithaca College who feeds about 1,1000 students three meals per day had to cut back on the amount of meat that it purchases, that will have a huge environmental impact! 

Earth Week

If you eat at any on campus dining hall today, you will probably notice many blue Earth Week signs posted at various stations. The signs all feature the meatless option that is offered today at that station and facts about the environmental benefits of eating vegetarian.

In case you missed some of the signs, we're going to refresh you on what the environmental benefits are and why you'll be doing a lot of good for the planet by skipping meat!.

Going vegetarian one day per week will save 84,000 gallons of water in a year!

The meat industry generates nearly one-fifth of the man-made greenhouse gas emissions that are accelerating climate change worldwide.

If everyone went vegetarian just for one day, the U.S. would save:

70 million gallons of gas -- enough to fuel all the cars of Canada and Mexico combined with plenty to spare .

Greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 1.2 million tons of CO2, as much as produced by all of France.

Going MEATLESS one day per week you can reduce your carbon footprint by over 8 pounds per day!

-Save a half a gallon of gasoline per day

-Reduce your saturated fat intake by 15%

-Reduce your risk of heart disease by 19%

Check out our other events happening during the rest of the week! 

Tuesday, April 16^th: Locavore Day

-We will be tabling in the Pub, highlighting a local product served in the Food Court

Wednesday, April 17th
-We will be tabling at Towers Dining Hall for icommit- asking students to take a picture and commit to something sustainable
-Also, from 4:30-7 will be a culinary competition at Terrace Dining Hall! 

Thursday, April 18^th

-We will be tabling at Terrace Dining Hall for icommit- asking students to take a picture and commit to something sustainable

Friday, April 19^th

-We will be tabling at Campus Center Dining Hall for icommit- asking students to take a picture and commit to something sustainable.

Monday, April 22nd: EARTH WEEK CELEBRATION AT THE FOOD LAB!
-From 2:30-4 Students will be welcome to come to Terrace Dining Hall to watch a cooking demonstration at the Food Lab. This demo will highlight healthy, local and sustainable eating. The demo will be run by featured guests Executive Chef Jeremiah Molina, Nutrition Specialist Julia Lapp, and Sustainability Coordinator Stephanie Piech. Free samples will be provided!

Sources:

MeatlessMonday.com

http://www.alternet.org/story/134650/the_startling_effects_of_going_vegetarian_for_just_one_day

http://thebottomline.as.ucsb.edu/2012/11/meatless-mondays-as-a-program-for-environmental-stability-and-public-health

http://www.vegetariantimes.com/article/the-environmental-impact-of-a-meat-based-diet/

http://www.downtoearth.org/environment/top-10-reasons