Green Eating Habits Mean More Than Just Broccoli

Just Food, a nonprofit organization that “works to develop a just and sustainable food system in the New York City region,” held a summit the first weekend of December in conjunction with The New School. I sat in on a series of workshops that focused on food, farms, and community health. In the process, I picked up a great deal of green information, all of which Columbia students should know, and most of which some of them probably don’t.

For instance, eating organic produce translates to eating an extra serving of fruits and vegetables due to all the antioxidants and nutrients it has compared to nonorganic produce.

Students might also be interested to know that vitamin content in nonorganic fruits and vegetables has decreased by 10 to 40 percent over the years.

With so many Japanese food options, both on campus and in the neighborhood, students should be aware that fish and shrimp served in sushi bars and buffets are grown in large nets that enclose antibiotics and pesticides along with the creatures’ excrement.

This isn’t the only issue with fish. Raising one pound of carnivorous fish such as cod requires two to six pounds of wild fish to be ground up as feed. As a result, the rise of fish farms is wiping out some wild fish populations.

Moreover, irradiated food—food exposed to radiation to kill off bacteria—does not have to be labeled as such, even if it’s sold in restaurants, schools, and hospitals. This is disturbing, as irradiation destroys vitamins, protein, and essential fatty acids, and produces chemicals that have been linked to DNA damage in human cells.

However, due to the driving market of consumer demands, the prevalence of local, healthy food is gradually increasing. Over 15 percent of the world’s food is now grown in cities. New York City alone has 50 farmers’ markets. Columbia, in response to student groups operating under the Green Umbrella, an umbrella organization for environmental groups on campus, is also taking steps toward serving students nutritional and environmentally-friendly food.

John Jay Dining Hall now serves sustainable seafood. All campus dining locations sell sustainable water from Deep Springs International, a company that donates all its profits to water-preservation organizations. Working with the student group CoreFoods, JJ’s has created a section that sells organic local snacks and beverages including cookies, ice cream, and milk. In addition, Columbia’s dietician, Ina Tsagarakis, and John Jay chef Amy Goffio, provide a weekly podcast about the variety of local produce available at the farmers’ market and the best way to prepare this produce.

Although they buy the now-familiar fair-trade and organic coffee, the majority of students are unaware of Columbia’s green changes. If more students knew about these options, they’d be prompted to demand even more environmentally-forward programs concerning not only food, but also the energy and waste issues on our campus.