Lights on Laurentians: Sustainability Cafe
St. Lawrence University’s Sustainability Program has begun preliminary steps towards refocusing Kirk Douglas Hall’s Spartacus Café into a campus eatery that prioritizes sustainable and environmentally-conscience food options. The new sustainability initiative plans to have the new campus eatery open three nights a week from 7 p.m. to midnight, and will be in collaboration with the business and environmental studies department through courses available to students during the registration period.
Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Sara Ashpole believes that the new campus eatery will be an important step in decreasing the negative effects current campus eating habits have on the environment. “All of our food will be sourced from us, sourced locally, or sourced ethically and sustainably,” said Ashpole. “It would be a way to inform the campus community about sustainability food issues that are becoming increasingly important.”
Ashpole explained how crucial it is for student’s to be involved in deciding what foods are available to them. “Think of being in a business class running the operations of the café and hearing consumers request sandwiches as part of the menu,” explained Ashpole. “Where will you source the bread from? What options are ethical and sustainability, and how do you balance that against what makes sense financially?” Ashpole explained that this is one example of how the café will also provide a hands-on experience for students beyond those who are concerned with sustainability issues.
The discussions on refocusing Spartacus Café into a sustainable eatery have received mixed reactions from students on campus. Jose Fernandez ’20 said that he frequents the Spartacus Café multiple times throughout the week, and is worried what the changes will bring to his daily eating routines. “Spartacus is one of those hidden SLU gems,” said Fernandez. “The paninis are amazing, and I feel like taking that away would eliminate one of the low-key eating spots that a lot of people enjoy.”
Those concerns echoed across other universities that have taken similar steps to modernize campus eateries to incorporate a more sustainable approach. Sam Lubow, who is the Environemnt Initiatives Coordinator at University of California Berkeley, explained the turmoil that following their changes to the campus’s Brown Café in 2015.
“Brown [Café] used to be a buffet-style eatery with typical menu items like mashed potatoes and chicken wings,” said Lubow. “When we switched the café to seasonal local ingredients focusing around sustainability, there was a lot of bite-back from the campus community that had gotten used to the old menu items.” Lubow said that it wasn’t until Berkeley dining administrators rebranded the café to match the growing consumer trends on healthy living and fresh products that the café received wider acceptance.
“Sustainability for some reason is such a dirty word for many people,” said Lubow. “Once we explained what sustainability actually entails, the lines at the cafe were outside the door and people became much more going along with it.”
The reactions of those in the campus community aren’t the only barriers that the new sustainability café could run into. Harsh winters make it difficult for universities to maintain local food sourcing throughout varying seasonal conditions, an issue that Assistant Director of Dining Operations Michelle Gailard experiences managing the eateries at Bowdoin University.
“We try to implement sustainable and local food sourcing, but the question becomes as to where you’ll make these choices throughout the long and harsh Northeast winters?” said Gailard. “If you grow food in February, you’re growing indoors, which rises the cost of things like fruits and vegetables exponentially on the consumers end.”
SLU’s Assistant Director of Sustainability and Energy Management Ryan Kmetz said that this is a concern that the Sustainability Program has thought about significantly as the initiative has moved forward. “Obviously we all know how harsh the winter’s are here in Canton,” said Kmetz. “Rising costs when temperatures plummet are problematic, but there is the opportunity to revamp the menu seasonally to focus on produce that is more accessible through the winter months, such as root vegetables.” Kmetz argues that the alternating menu will provide the café with the opportunity to be accessible despite the weather challenges that come as the semester progresses.
While the café will provide St. Lawrence with an alternative eating spot that is more environmentally conscious, Communications Department Chair Jessica Prody said that she believes the café has the potential to appeal to a variety of other clubs. “We have reached out to groups like La Sociedad Hispana looking for opportunities to collaborate down the lines on theme nights,” said Prody. “These would be opportunities for students to showcase different cultural recipes and relationships with food throughout a scheduled week, along with music or performances that can really bring a diverse experience that is currently lacking on campus.”