While you may
know Winslow Dining Hall is an "all you care to eat"
establishment,
you may not realize what happens to the food on your plate you didn't consume.
It goes into the garbage. That garbage goes to the landfill
and the food within it rots. Your mother would tell you to
clean
your plate because there are starving children in Ethiopia.
We're not
your mother (even though there are starving children in
Ethiopia, and
even in Kentucky - check out how you can help with the BackPack
Program). So, let's skip the guilt trip and get down to
science.
When food decomposes it releases
methane gas.
According
to the Environmental Protection Agency, methane is 20 times
more damaging
to the environment than carbon
dioxide. Gases such as methane and carbon dioxide are
labeled
greenhouse
gases.
Greenhouse gases trap and
keep heat in the atmosphere, creating the frightening
phenomenon of
global warming which, among many other things, has been
credited with
the demise of the Arctic and it's cuddly inhabitants. OK, back
to the guilt trip - clean your plate to save the penguins and
polar
bears whose habitat is being destroyed by global warming. It
doesn't
have the same ring as "there are starving children in
Ethiopia,"
but nonetheless.
Dining Services and Racer Hospitality has taken
a responsible step to help reduce food waste by requiring
patrons of
Winslow Dining Hall to choose only one entree at a time. If
you
would like to come back for more, by all means, eat and
enjoy!
The idea is simply to not have a heaping plate of food go to waste.