During a time when Americans generally waste $277 million dollars worth of uneaten food, the Office of Sustainability gave eco-friendly eaters something to be thankful for.
The Sustainable Thanksgiving Dinner was held at the Ohio University Ecohouse by the Office of Sustainability on Monday, which included teaching attendees how to make a low-carbon menu by using locally-grown, in-season produce.
Vicky Kent, a graduate student studying recreation studies, was engaged in the dinner from stem to stern, preparing the dishes, co-hosting the dinner and teaching the attendees.
Kent has been a graduate assistant in the Office of Sustainability since the beginning of the semester. She said she hoped to teach people about sustainability and give them skills that they can take to their families.
Annie Laurie Cadmus, the director of sustainability who co-hosted the dinner with Kent, said it was important to use local organic and sustainable food items for the dinner.
"All of the dishes we made tonight, all of the diary was local, almost all of the produce was local, in fact, local to campus — we got them from food studies organic gardens managed by students,” Cadmus said.
She said they consider the carbon footprint and energy consumption of each item, not by the ingredients, but by the process of cooking with gas stoves and ovens.
The vegetable dinner included sweet potato casserole, vegetarian stuffing, mashed potatoes with vegetarian gravy, salad and pumpkin and butternut squash pie.
"We intentionally chose vegetarian dishes, because meat has a high carbon footprint,” Cadmus said. “We chose traditional Thanksgiving dishes that did not include meats, so that where we got the best idea for the menu for tonight.”
While turkey is a traditional Thanksgiving dish, it was intentionally left out of the meal on Monday.
"Meat is one of the most unsustainable things to eat,” Kent said. “We tried to make sure everyone was included and taught them the simplest side dishes, because Thanksgiving has a huge amount different dishes to make.”
Maeve Kroeger, a junior studying media and social change is a resident at the Ohio Ecohouse.
"I’m attracted to the idea of sustainable lifestyle because I feel that is the only way we should live,” Kroeger said. "Sustainability is not as hard as it looks, it is really just slowly changing your lifestyle that causes you to use the waste resources every time you consume.”
Kent believes people who joined this dinner will realize if everyone can save a little, then the concept of sustainability would eventually spread around the world.
Cadmus pointed out food waste is a problem year-round, not just during Thanksgiving. It also exists on campus — for instance, diners will take more than they really need at the dining halls for single meals.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States estimated the worldwide volume of annual food wastage is approximately at 1.6 billion tons.
"For tonight’s dinner, mashed potatoes we chose not to peel because we did not want to waste these peelings.” Cadmus said. “By (keeping the peels) in the final dish, we avoid the food waste.”
Kroeger said living in the Ecohouse has helped her learn how to be more sustainable and how to use waste resources. She considers whether she uses the stove or the oven, what will contribute more greenhouse gases in the earth and whether she wants to compost rather than throw away the garbage. She said she will convince her family to be more sustainable after she comes back to home.
Kent said she hoped the dinner could help people to discuss the ways they can make their lives more sustainable.
"I think one people realize it can save their money as much as possible, more people will think it is valuable," Kent said.
