If You Can't Feed it to Your Dog, Don't Feed it to the COW

Here are some rules of thumb to abide by when feeding an anaerobic digester. It may not be as cute as a Jersey Cow, but it is more rewarding.

DO Feed: Lettuce, salad, fruit, pasta, banana peels, orange rinds, egg shells, bread, coffee grounds (Starbucks run! but not for un cafe latte), tea bags, and juices. 

Please DON'T Feed: Plastic, wood, paper, metal, glass, containers, bones, pits, rinds, styrofoam, cobs, and alcohol. 

So as you can see, if you are a dog owner experienced in dishing out table scraps, you know that everything on the "don't" list is everything that will send your dog to the vet at 3 o'clock in the morning. And that will send out digester into an early retirement. So just think of our machine as your puppy. 

Another thing to consider is that meat/dairy must be separated from other food resource for health reasons and for the fact that meat must be rationed to the digester.  So come January when we have our bins in the dining halls to collect food scraps, look out for our "vegan" and "meat lovers" bins.

One last note, congratulations to the Food2 Joules Team who won 3rd place at the Panasci competition!  Way to move the team and the idea forward!

With your daily dose of dog feeding know-how,

-Elysa

Your Green FoodPrint!

It's tough to eat green on a meal plan. No, scratch that, it's really, really, REALLY tough.  However, there are still things you can do to eat green on campus. Plus, eating green can also mean saving green and losing some freshman 15 (the rhyming was not intentional).  

First, limit your intake of red meat.  There are so many negative side-effects for you AND for the environment linked with the consumption of meat.  For instance, the environment suffers because in order to sustain high demand, cattle are raised on grain (instead of grass) which must be fertilized with harmful synthetic fertilizers, and depletes a lot of nutrients in the ground.  In addition, cows give off a lot of methane- which is the most potent greenhouse gas. And yes, the methane that comes from cows comes from their farts. 

In addition, overcooked meat can often house carcinogens (cancer-causing compounds) and have high amounts of saturated fat, which isn't good for your heart or your waist.  

So choose chicken instead- it's raised on grass and has a shorter lifespan, so less energy goes into sustaining the life of a chicken.

Second, hit the salad bar! Our dining halls strive to offer produce that is in season. Also, Syracuse Dining carries some foods that are local- including those delicious apples, cheese curds, apple cider, Byrne Dairy products, and Crowley yogurt (high in protein, calcium, and really good with granola).  

Nonetheless, if you really aren't satisfied with dining hall food, Syracuse University also offers students, faculty, and the community a farmers market from the beginning to the end of summer that is located in the Waverly Avenue parking lot.  The food is incredibly fresh, cheap, and delicious.  And once you get a lot of it, it can be frozen and eaten in the winter months. Here's a tip: frozen blueberries make a terrific topping for cereal, filling for a crumble or pie, or even a great topping for ice cream when cooked in a pan with strawberries, a bit of sugar, vanilla extract, and some honey.

Hopefully, it's clear by now that you can eat sustainably (and deliciously) without having to eat grass.  

Happy munching!

-Marissa

What a Day

Great News from the COW meeting today!  The group received a grant from the  SEP, which means that the digester is no longer a figment of our energetic brainstorm meetings but a reality in progress. This summer the team will be working to build a 1/5 scale digester that  will be powered by food resource provided by our very own Sheraton hotel. The employees at the hotel are stoked to be involved in this initiative, going to show that these ideas are on their way to the main stream! 

Wegmans, the giant of the east, is also interested in the idea and we hope to see a digester functioning next to every Wegmans in the future. 

Lindsay had the great idea to use this blog to gain support for the Climate meetings that will take place in December in Coppenhagen.  We will be sure to keep you updated on any initiative pertaining to political causes.

Very importantly, though, today's meeting generated an idea that could get everyone involved. Including you.  The CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) of New York could become a valuable resource for our digesters. The farmer raises his produce organically, thus any scraps from the farm are organic. That material may go through a digester and the resulting effluent is also organic, which means that it is qualified to be used as fertilizer for that organic farm. Talk about  cradle to cradle genius. But the important part of this idea is that it involves Community.  The consumer that purchases produce from the farmer can have a hand in this by supplying his or her own scraps. That consumer is learning about the innovative way to dispose of valuable food scrap and is now thinking about the life cycle of his or her food. And that farmer is helping an interdisciplinary university initiative.  Gee, everyone could get involved. Lets have your cousin's friend's brother jump on this idea while we are at it. 

Building a community is an important part of sustainability and it is becoming an  important part of living. In this day and age we can accomplish anything on the internet.   We can buy clothes, order food, swap building plans, purchase insurance, manage our banking, and educate ourselves. In that regards do we ever need to leave the wall outlet? YES. The one thing that we cannot do via internet is build a relationship with a community and learn how to live.  By getting involved we are opening our eyes to the realities of the world and escaping this Wall Street disillusionment that has corroded some of the foundations of this country. You and I have the power to mitigate this, right here in Syracuse, by pitching in and rebuilding a community. Small steps, but large results. So check out that farmers market down on Waverly. Support the CSA in your area. Or even just help us compost in the dining halls. Whatever you decide, the community applauds you. And hey, food's involved. I'm there. 

With your daily dose of zen,

-Elysa