Undergraduate delegates from all across the country gathered in Chicago from January 19 to 20, for a national student conference on the current global food crisis.

The aim of the conference was to examine the inequalities and human rights implications of current food policies and to discuss the political, economic, and social forces driving global food distribution and agricultural policies so as to identify causes of and potential solutions to modern-day famines.

The University sent an email to inform all International Studies majors about the conference earlier in the year. Previous conference topics have included urban slums, human trafficking, and American HIV/AIDS policies.

The NUCHR is the largest undergraduate student-run conference on human rights in the country. Its program includes lectures, panels, group-discussions, specific case studies and experiential learning trips. 37 delegates attended the conference from schools such as New York University, the University of Chicago and Brown University.

It featured lectures from President Raymond C. Offenheiser of Oxfam America and Roger Thurow, a retired journalist for “The Wall Street Journal.”

Delegates also gained firsthand experience in exploring food-related human rights abuses in the country through a community-based learning trip in Chicago.

“It was interesting to hear so many different perspectives from the speakers themselves, as well as having two opposing views in the same panel,” Itani said.

“I think the good range of students and speakers in the conference really gave us a diversity of opinions,” Pasternak added. “We’ve been very inspired by the work that Northwestern students did in putting together this conference and we hope to start something similar on campus too.”

Washington University anthropology professor Glenn Stone served as a panel leader at the conference.

“The world produces more than enough food to feed everyone, yet we have enormous numbers of people going hungry,” he said. “Saying it’s a distribution problem trivializes it by making it sound like all we need to do is tweak our delivery system. It is much more systemic. We heavily subsidize productions of non-food crops. [Farms] don’t have to pick up the tab for a fouled countryside, tortured animals, depleted aquifers, dead zones, and antibiotic-resistant bacteria.”

Food-related issues continue to proliferate in developed countries. According to the US Department of Agriculture, around 15% of the population experience some form of food insecurity each year, and around 5-6% experience severe food insecurity.

At a local level, Bon Appétit, the University’s caterer, has been involved in several programs to contribute its small bit toward tackling the global food crisis. The groups include the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, the Equitable Food Initiative and TEDxFruitvale.

As a result of Bon Appétit’s Farm to Fork program in 1999, at least 20% of its ingredients originate from small, owner-operated farms in the local area. Since 2011, the program has expanded to include mid-size poultry and hog farms, cattle ranches, dairies, and seafood—covered by the Fish to Fork program.

“We believe buying locally is as much about flavor as it is food security; investing in local food sheds makes long-term sense,” said Jill Duncan, director of marketing and communications for Bon Appétit. “In 2010, we reached a goal of working with 1,000 Farm to Fork farmers, fishers, and artisans.”

Matt Mitgang | Student Life

Three Kings provide traditional pub fare such as burgers, wings and sandwiches.

The bar at Three King’s offers a wide selection of beers, including local favorites like Schlafly’s and Urban Chestnut. The bar is up front and there are plenty of tables in the back to mingle with friends over drinks. Three Kings boasts strong drinks for the best prices. Wednesday through Sunday nights feature live music and often a lively crowd that ranges from the early 20s to the mid-40s.

Student Life sampled the lunch menu, which consists mainly of sandwiches and burgers. The pub’s signature Three Kings Burger, a half-pound beef patty topped by bacon, bleu cheese and balsamic relish on sourdough, proved delicious. While no one proclaimed it the world’s best burger, for eight dollars, it was more than enough for lunch and was well priced. Unfortunately, we did not sample the Captain Crunch Shrimp, our server’s suggestion, but when we return, we’ll order it immediately.

The decor and ambience of Three Kings are its strongest features. The bar, paneling and furnishing are mahogany. Three Kings is smaller than competing bars on the Loop, like Cicero’s and Blueberry Hill, which gives the pub a more intimate atmosphere. Three Kings tries to evoke the look and feel of an English pub and for the most part, it succeeds. The pub’s best assets are large prints of photographs of University City from over 100 years ago. Despite being a new establishment, Three Kings succeeds in feeling like a part of University City and the culture of the Loop largely because of these photos.

In older English, an ordinary was an inn that offered regular meals at fixed prices. While it does not let rooms, Three Kings Public House otherwise suits this definition. Whether a customer orders a draught or a sandwich, he can expect a good return on his dollar. However, besides the inexpensive drinks, nothing about Three Kings makes it particularly attractive to people looking for a new favorite bar. But with the right friends, this ordinary has the potential to be quite extraordinary.

3.5/5 stars

This Tuesday, a new season finds Oliver in Los Angeles, which houses the largest public school district in America. But this time, the school district isn’t so welcoming. The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) refused to let Oliver’s television crews enter any public school, meaning that Oliver must take his food battle to the streets.

After reshaping the country’s unhealthiest town, Oliver wanted to take on the big city. The LAUSD, however, is putting up roadblocks, hindering any of Oliver’s attempts to bring fresh food into Southern California’s cafeterias. Oliver takes action through a variety of methods including opening up his own educational kitchen in an LA neighborhood and staging a protest at a school lunch convention.

It seems like Oliver’s only hope at this point is to rely on the power of parents. The first episode shows parents lamenting over both the poor quality of their children’s school-provided meals and the compliance of restaurants on the street.

Tune in to ABC this Tuesday at 8/7 central to join the Revolution.

Washington University food provider Bon Appétit’s website lists 10 reasons why I should always buy local, and the company places signs on campus displaying local sources of the food we eat here. The company claims that buying locally grown food strengthens communities, helps family farmers and creates a better future, among other things. I agree that local produce can oftentimes taste better, and I’m willing to pay more for the value. Serious problems arise though when consumers are forced to pay more for equal or lower quality products simply because it’s local. Bon Appétit’s “buy local” campaign fails to address the serious economic consequences of living in a society that only trades with itself.

One of the greatest “buy local” campaigns in human history was the Middle Ages, in which communities were largely isolated from one another. Despite being self-sufficient, the lack of trade forced communities to devote time in an inefficient manner. Communities more suitable for growing crops were unable to trade with communities more suited for raising livestock. Instead, individual societies were limited to what they could produce. As a result, the general standard of living was substantially lower.

In order to achieve a prosperous society, the division of labor must grow outside of the home, the community and the nation. Each household is no longer responsible for growing its own food, and life has improved as a result. Technology has allowed for cheaper clothing, meaning that we no longer have to make our own shirts. By spreading out labor and allowing the most efficient means of production to win out, the standard of living improves dramatically.

The buying local movement is simply asking for an act of charity. If local producers provided a better value, they wouldn’t need to ask me to buy local; their product would speak for itself. Instead of trying to isolate their customers into buying local products, producers should seek to expand their consumer base into far-reaching communities. The liberalization of trade creates benefits for both parties, allowing consumers to obtain maximum value while encouraging efficient means of production.

Consumers rarely purchase on price alone, instead buying on multiple rational or irrational impulses. Local businesses that provide better value than their competitors will always find a place in the local and global economy. However, local businesses that have lost out to more efficient businesses should adjust. Coercing consumers to buy local products leads to a sub-optimal society and inhibits the division of labor.

Bon Appétit and all other businesses should not be praised for buying local. The only moral decision that Bon Appétit should make is how to provide the best value to Washington University students, not how to support inefficient businesses. The origins of a product shouldn’t factor into decision-making as much as a consumer should try to maximize their value. By doing so, the consumer rewards quality businesses, leading to a higher standard of living and a more prosperous economy.

For those essential personnel who were required to work, however, the 43-hour “snowpocalypse” was anything but relaxing. These individuals made sure that students living on campus remained fed, that emergency medical services were available, that emergency facilities were ready in the event of a power outage and that the walkways around campus remained passable.

These administrators, cooks, facilities, maintenance and Top Care allowed students to pass the break comfortably and helped the University open on Wednesday morning. We would like to thank them for their hard work and personal sacrifice, and we hope that the rest of the University community takes time to thank them as well.

Students living on campus need to realize how lucky they were to have the University watching out for them. Bear’s Den kept us sane with specially prepared “Snow Day Specials” (Grilled cheese and macaroni! Chicken sandwich! Pork loin!). The Danforth University Center, the Knight Center and the Athletic Complex were being outfitted to provide lodging for students in case we lost power. Top Care kept everybody from slipping, and ResLife made sure we all kept our windows closed and everything went as smoothly as possible. In order to ensure these services, University personnel stayed overnight on or near campus, sacrificing their own comfort and personal time in order to guide campus through the storm. Maybe the on-campus wireless was a little slow from overuse, but at least we still had Internet—how else were we supposed to waste time on our day off?

This week served as another reminder that our maintenance, facility, janitorial and dining personnel help keep this campus functional around the clock. It’s time to thank these University employees for their work this week and for everything that they have done and will do for us this year.

Josh Goldman | Student Life

Rabbi Andy Kastner recites the blessing over bread before dinner began at Sacred Meals on Nov. 18.

The students joined employees and clergy from Hillel, the Catholic Student Center (CSC), Lutheran Campus Ministry and other University officials for an interfaith dinner aimed at bringing the many religious voices of Wash. U. together for dialogue and community building.

“We wanted to bring people together,” said Brian Blosser, the Campus Ministry Intern at the CSC and a 2008 alum. “Sharing a meal with someone is sharing community.”

The idea for Sacred Meals stemmed from conversations between Rabbi Andy Kastner, the Silk Foundation Campus Rabbi at Hillel and leaders from the Lutheran Campus Ministry about sustainable eating practices.

“Making that connection of shared value, we just continued the conversation from there. It slowly grew,” Kastner said. “I think the idea originated really organically.”

Student leadership was central to the event’s success. Juniors Hannah Rabinowitz, Kelly Diabagate and Lee-Ann Felder and sophomore Alaa Itani all helped to facilitate group dialogue and plan the event.

Rabinowitz, who helped plan Pluralism Week last year, formulated the idea for some sort of interfaith dinner during the summer, at which point she contacted both Kastner and Father Gary Braun of the CSC.

The dinner, possibly the first of many, was not advertised publically. According to the event’s organizers, this enabled them to bring students together for a more intimate meal.

Every table featured at least one Jewish, Catholic, Protestant and Muslim student or adult.

“I was really excited with the turnout. We got a really diverse group of people of different backgrounds that can comment on different aspects of how food and their religion come together,” Itani, a practicing Muslim, said.

The event focused on dialogue surrounding the sustainable production and consumption of food. The dinner of salad and butternut squash and lentil soups was prepared with produce from the Burning Kumquat, the organic student-run garden. Challah for Hunger provided freshly baked bread, and the CSC provided china plates that could be washed and re-used.

Maddie Earnest, co-owner of Local Harvest Grocery, Café, and Catering, delivered a keynote speech before the meal. Local Harvest showcases local produce and meat from around Missouri and Illinois, with approximately 50 percent of food coming from within 150 miles of St. Louis.

“I think that, regardless of religion, food is something that we can come together on,” Earnest said. Earnest described ways in which omnivores and vegetarians alike can look for sustainably produced food free of chemicals, antibiotics or pesticides.

The junction of food with religious pluralism facilitated a lively discussion, featuring topics ranging from positive and negative interfaith experiences to a debate on the merits of keeping kosher.

“I think that food can unite all of us,” said Nadeem Siddiqui, the resident district manager of WUSTL Dining Services. “People are people. If you get to know them, then you can do amazing things.”

Senior Sylvia Johnson expressed an interest in keeping kosher, though she is not Jewish. Johnson’s motivation stems from observation of a friend’s dietary habits.

“I guess it’s the integrity of it,” Johnson said. “To treat something as black and white can be very helpful.”

Responses to the event have been nothing but positive.

“There are so many negative examples of religions that to have such a positive gathering share religious caring about local food, it’s huge,” said Rebecca Boardman, the pastor at the Lutheran Campus Ministry.

Rabinowitz said the event exceeded her expectations.

“I just felt like everyone there was really serious and committed to having a respectful and productive dialogue,” she said.

The event’s leaders say that, based on the event’s success, more interfaith events will likely follow over the course of the year.

“We put evaluation forms for students to fill out, and they were overwhelmingly positive. There was a lot of enthusiasm,” Kastner said. “The language that students used to describe the experience was not ‘program,’ was not ‘event’…but what they think was an initiative. It struck me that there was something more profound about this experience.”

Ben Gottesdiener | Student Life

Students participate in the national Mix It Up at lunch day, an event that encourages students to meet new people and cross social boundaries. Mix It Up is an annual nationwide event. Student Involvement and Leadership and Connect4 hosted the event this year.

The students went to the DUC on Tuesday to participate in a diversity experiment known as Mix It Up, a national event that Washington University has taken a part in for the past two years.

Mix It Up at Lunch Day, the national event, is held at schools and colleges all over the nation. Last year, more than 100 University students, faculty and staff attended the event. Organizers hoped to attract more people this year by publicizing through Facebook and e-mail and offering an impressive new menu of food from all over St. Louis.

The event was originally created by Teaching Tolerance, a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center. The non-profit which lays out the main ideas for the event and suggests activities, but each school puts its own twist on the idea, according to the event’s organizer, junior Nikki Desai.

The University’s Mix It Up was a collaboration between Connect 4 and the Student Involvement and Leadership Office.

The event was formulated to randomize each table: Each attendee would walk in, put his or her name on a name tag, and take a piece of candy from a big bowl. Each type of candy corresponded to a table where the attendee would sit. Food was served buffet style, including sandwiches, breakfast for lunch, tapas and more. After serving themselves, attendees would ideally sit down at these randomly “diversified” tables and meet new people whom they normally wouldn’t sit with at lunch.

There was a line of people going out the door and chatter filled the room. Students and faculty members of all different races and ages sat together.

In the hopes of attracting more people, the organizers set out to advertise to as many people as possible.

“We pretty much told every single student group, every single freshman floor, every single person that we physically, possibly could,” Desai said.

Sophomore Camille Young, one of the organizers of the event, said that the more people they attracted to the event, the more diversity and new connections there would be.

This year’s new feature was to serve food from all over St. Louis, which Desai says helps add to the community-unification aspect of the day.

Some students who showed up didn’t even know what the event was for.

“I’m here because someone told me there was free food,” freshman John Rincon said. Event organizers recognized the draw of food and even counted on it as a factor to help bring out more students.

“We want to reach everyone from different student groups, different activity groups—even just people that are hungry,” Young said.

Regardless of their reasons for coming, the attendees seemed to realize that the event was intended to take them out of their comfort zones.

“I think there is a bubble mentality. It’s much easier to be around people that are similar to you,” said junior Rebecca Slotkin, who attended the event.

“I think it’s going to take more talking about it instead of just watching it happen to change things,” sophomore Christine Diepenbrock said.

Dialogue, according to Young, is the main purpose of the lunch.

“Our goal is to get people to reach outside their comfort zone, to meet people they normally wouldn’t have,” she said.

Slotkin felt that the event was effective.

“Every year, you get a class of a thousand or so students, and the whole student body changes,” she said. “It’s really interesting to meet different people from all different backgrounds.”

Young says that although this event acts as a starting point, it’s really up to the attendees to make a change.

“Mix It Up puts the question out there of ‘Who am I hanging out with? Who am I spending my time with?’ From there, it’s an individual effort,” Young said.

Sarah Milford | Flickr

If you’re looking for the full experience of a rich ambience and mouth-watering, decadent desserts, drop by Bailey’s Chocolate Bar, located in trendy Lafayette Square.

Most desserts here are built around chocolate, and some are infused with Bailey’s liqueur. The restaurant’s famous “Bailey’s Chocolate Brownie” is served gooey, warm and ready to be devoured. The brownie is cut generously and topped with vanilla ice cream flavored with Bailey’s liqueur and caramel sauce. The flavors of decadent chocolate, dulce de leche and smooth, creamy Bailey’s is heaven on a plate.

Bailey’s extensive menu also features several mocha and coffee flavored options, as well as standards like crème brulee, banana splits and bread pudding. For the especially ambitious—or just plain hungry—couples out there, the “Lovers Plate –Aphrodisiacs–Tastes for Two” is almost profane in its indulgence. For $20, you and a partner can share a platter loaded with cherry chocolate mousse, three kinds of truffles, caramelized banana, strawberries and nuts. The plate is served with mead, as well as a warm spiced dark chocolate sauce and a white chocolate lavender sauce for dipping. Ay carumba!

For a St. Louis Favorite:
Ted Drewes Frozen Custard
6726 Chippewa St. Louis, MO 63109

Ask any St. Louis native where to find the best frozen custard in town and you’re bound to hear a resounding “Ted Drewes!” Though Ted Sr. originally started his custard business in Florida, the operation is a landmark in St. Louis and has been since its opening in 1941. With 70 years of experience, this place knows its custard.

Whether you opt for a “concrete” or a specialty, you won’t be disappointed. A “concrete” consists of vanilla custard mixed with flavorings and tasty treats—ranging from abaco mocha to mint to Heath Bar, to name a few of my favorites. The three available sizes range from $2.10 to $4.50 in price, making Ted Drewe’s a frugal choice for fiscally responsible patrons out there.

In honor of these autumnal months, I would recommend the seasonal specials, especially for those who have tried the simple concretes before. “The Great Pumpkin” is pretty much every Thanksgiving-lover’s dream—Ted Drewes takes vanilla custard and an entire piece of pumpkin pie and mixes them together to create a deliciously tempting Thanksgiving treat anyone will enjoy.

For Coffee & Cake:
Park Avenue Coffee
1919 Park Avenue St. Louis, MO 63104

Though generally served as a coffee cake rather than a post-meal dessert, Gooey Butter Cake is another St. Louis original, whether baked at home, bought at the grocery store or purchased by the slice at the Lafayette Square favorite, Park Avenue Coffee.

If you’ve never tried this delectable treat, an original gooey butter cake recipe is comprised primarily of butter, sugar, cream cheese and yellow cake mix, topped with powdered sugar. The consistency is similar to that of a lemon bar—in a word, gooey.

Though an “original” gooey butter cake is heavenly, the bakers at Park Avenue Coffee have taken this St. Louis classic to the next level—or, rather, the next 73 levels. That’s right—Park Avenue Coffee has added 73 different flavors to their “Mom’s Traditional” recipe, ranging from berry explosion to espresso chip to white chocolate macadamia nut cookie dough. Seasonal options include eggnog, cranberry walnut and cranberry orange—and, of course, pumpkin.

Though this may sound like a sugar overload, even to the most ambitious sweet tooth, the flavors are subtle and not overwhelming. While delicious, the white chocolate raspberry, which the barista dubbed a customer favorite, did not vary too drastically from the lemon blueberry—it had a hint of white chocolate and raspberry but I wouldn’t distinguish it as its own unique flavor.

Nonetheless, the consistency of gooey butter cake is key, and Park Avenue’s got it down pat. Park Avenue Coffee can bake any flavor for you in advance, and the in-store flavors vary day-to-day.

I recommend taking your “dessert” and a cup of coffee out on the back patio or across the street into Lafayette Park to admire the fall foliage—what could be better?

Our thoughts
To look past the facility’s shortcomings simply because improvements have been made is to undercut the desired purpose of these improvements in the first place. Despite the fact that the South 40 has made tremendous progress, its journey toward sustainability is far from complete. There is an abundance of plastic cups over reusable ones. Attempts to provide locally grown food such as trout and apples are evident but confined to what strike us as specific, well-marketed instances. And we would be remiss without expressing displeasure with the numerous gigantic plasma TVs in the new Bear’s Den. Despite being nice to look at and making rotating menus more feasible, they are costly to operate and waste huge amounts of energy.

These observations are not necessarily detrimental to the sustainability movement at Wash. U. Rather, they are small things that could easily go unnoticed but, with even the slightest effort on the part of students and administrators, have the possibility to make a huge impact.

Going forward
Sustainability takes work. For our campus to truly reach its potential, it is our job as students to raise our own standards and to demand more of our university. This means bringing reusable cups or bottles for drinks, eating as much local food as possible, and doing independent research on where our food comes from and any possible alternatives that the University has yet to provide. In other words, the push toward sustainability is a great initiative, but its success can only be reached if we expect nothing less than complete dedication to the cause.

That being said, we as students cannot be as sustainable as possible without guidance and leadership from the University and Bon Appétit. Bon Appétit should not only focus on more sustainable practices such as local foods, but it also should reach out to students and educate them on their food choices. Displays indicating where our food comes from, how many miles it travels, and its environmental impact can serve as powerful tools for making more informed choices. Bon Appétit touts itself as a leader in sustainability; we hope it continues to step up on the South 40 and across campus.

Nathaniel Margolies

Students wait in line at Bear's Den on Thursday night. In a recent survey by SU, students expressed overall satisfaction in the new Bear's Den.

In a survey of 158 students, 58 percent of respondents said that the new Bear’s Den is better or “substantially better” than last year’s South 40 dining facilities. Only 3 percent said the new Bear’s Den is worse, while a third of respondents said they didn’t live on the South 40 last year.

The survey was used as an outlet for students to communicate with Dining Services about what they think of the new facilities. The mostly freshman and sophomore respondents had a chance to answer questions about their dining experience, as well as provide comments and suggestions for improvement.

Some major issues, such as line congestion, emerged in the survey results. Ninety-six percent of students said that congestion was at least somewhat of a problem, one that SU senators and Dining Services staff pledged to address. Not a single respondent indicated that congestion was not a problem at all.

The short survey, which was open Monday through Wednesday, asked students what their favorite stations are and which stations they think are the busiest.

While these statistics will help administrators improve Bear’s Den, the part of the survey that SU leaders say is the most important is an open-ended comments section in which students were able to share their personal experiences and insights.

“Almost every person that actually responded to the survey filled out the additional comments section, and a lot of these comments were really thought out, giving a lot of specific ways they thought Bear’s Den could be improved, and even providing innovative solutions for some of the problems they’re having,” said sophomore Mamatha Challa, speaker of the Senate.

The idea for the survey started this year when Challa and Senate Outreach Co-chairs, juniors Alex Cooper and Zach Schmitz, met to discuss topics that would be relevant to students. Cooper and Schmitz wrote the survey and worked with SU Vice President of Public Relations Cody Katz to distribute it electronically.

Ben Gottesdiener

Ciao Down, a station at the new Bear's Den, offers many different types of pizza including made-to-order.

The dialogue about the survey results opened up at the Senate meeting, as the student senators and administrators discussed some potential solutions.

“One thing that we talked a lot about was increasing the use of WebFood, which is going to be on the 40 soon. Hopefully that will limit some of the lines,” said Katz, a junior.

Survey comments also addressed the lack of garbage cans in the main dining area and the distance of the dish return room.

“That was something that we brought up to [Dining Services], and hopefully we can see an improvement on that,” Katz said. “It’s a quick fix.”

With the results of the survey now turned over to Dining Services, Katz and Challa say the Student Union will remain committed to the follow-up.

“We’ll continue communicating with [Dining Services] through the Campus Services Committee [of the Senate],” Challa said. “At this point, we’ve given Dining a lot of feedback, so our role is to make sure they’re taking that feedback in, and really working to improve the condition of dining on campus.”

The dining staff has already made several changes in response to student commentary, such as bringing back make-your-own pasta and returning turkey burgers and tater tots to the grill menu.

“We appreciated that Student Union did that survey so that we have some sense of… what’s working and what’s not working,” said Nadeem Siddiqui, resident district manager of Bon Appétit, the company that provides most of the food on campus. “As we went through, there were some really good suggestions. We go through each item with the senior team from the South 40 and review that with the chef to take a look at things that are possible to accomplish.”

According to Siddiqui, many of the issues students have faced in the new facilities have begun to work themselves out. He said that the new layout and system of Bear’s Den, which offers a wide array of options and concepts all under one roof, has taken a little getting used to for both students and staff. Siddiqui’s goal is to make the students feel comfortable and satisfied with their dining experience, and he is eager to learn from the students themselves how better to do that.

“As time goes on, I think we will keep finding the tweaks and changes and improvements, and we’re open to those ideas and suggestions,” Siddiqui said. “We’re open, we want to know.”