UCF Dining Services offers way to celebrate our planet

If tofu and vegetables weren't enough to bring students together, the goal to be green on Thursday was.

Students at both the Marketplace and Knightro's dining halls lined up next to green balloons and Earth-themed decorations to enjoy vegan and vegetarian options as part of UCF Dining Services "Happy bEARTHday Earth Day" celebration.

Thursday marked the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, a holiday that is meant to raise awareness of environmental issues and celebrate the beauty of the planet. In honor of the event, the Marketplace and Knightro's both served vegetarian and vegan food.

Both locations usually offer at least one vegetarian option, but on Thursday there was some sort of vegetarian cuisine at every station. The Marketplace went vegan during the lunch hour while Knightro's did so during dinner, allowing students to eat animal-friendly all day long.

"This opportunity helped us to encourage people to eat lower on the food chain with delicious, more sustainable menu options including vegetarian and vegan specialties all day on Earth Day," said Eden Wetherell, sustainability coordinator for UCF Dining Services.

UCF Dining Services has participated in Earth Day events in the past, but with Wetherell's added position of sustainability coordinator this semester, they were able to expand their Earth Day activities.

Some of the items that were featured on the Earth Day menu included eggplant lasagna, stir-fry made with fresh vegetables and tofu, and roasted vegetable and hummus wraps.

"It was good. I don't usually eat tofu, but I liked it," said Paige Williams, an education major.

According to Steve Averitt, the location manager at the Marketplace, their festivities were a success.

"We're giving out a lot more of the green to-go containers that are earth friendly and we've used a lot less Styrofoam today I'm noticing," Averitt said.

Averitt also noticed more people than usual dining at the Marketplace and more people choosing the vegetarian options.

The idea to feature meatless cuisine on the Earth Day menu came from Aramark, a company that sets up dining services on campuses and other such facilities in 22 countries all over the globe. Aramark encouraged dining accounts, such as UCF Dining Services, to feature vegetarian items on their Earth Day menu and also to participate in other Earth Day events.

The UCF Dining Services sustainability team also set up a booth at SGA's Earth Day Bash held at Lake Claire on Thursday. The team gave out free vegetarian and vegan samples, reusable tote bags, free t-shirts and reusable to-go boxes for the Marketplace and Knightro's.

The team has been working hard since March, sampling menu items, getting food and planning the celebration.

However, just because Earth Day is over, that doesn't mean UCF Dining Services will cease their earth-friendly practices.

The Marketplace and Knightro's use only green cleaning products, recycle all their fryer oil, have stopped using trays to help save water and much more.

UCF Dining Services also set up "green teams." There is one employee from each dining establishment on campus that is in charge of making sure the other employees recycle while at work. Wetherell, the sustainability coordinator, is in charge of helping each of the green teams with the recycling efforts and keeping track of how much each team contributes.

"I love the steps Aramark is taking to make UCF a more sustainable campus," said Michael Newman, Mr. UCF and social coordinator of the Student Sustainability Alliance at UCF. "It has been a pleasure working with them and it's great to see them working toward something that is important to students, great for business, and even better for our planet."

For more information on UCF Dining Services' sustainability practices, please visit UCFDining.com/sustainability.