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Tremendous amounts of energy are wasted on food packaging.
Letters to the Editors
Dear Editors,
I am very disappointed in
the level of service offered in
the cafeteria this year. I am
referring specifically to the
lack of vegetarian dishes on
week-ends. If you are a
vegetarian you must survive
from Friday until Monday on a
meager diet of peanut butter
and cottage cheese, and
whatever non-meat protein
that just happens to be served.
If a simple dish like
macaroni and cheese or an
omelete could be served, both
vegetarians and non-vegeta
rians could be fed. But no;
Ron Short has specifically told
one non-meat eater that since
vegetarians number only 15%
of the student body, they will
just have to get along.
Ron needs to realize that
Guilford is a Quaker school
where the needs of everyone
are taken into consideration,
not just the majority. If he can
at least attempt to accomodate
everybody, he'll be doing a
good job. If he won't even try,
he doesn't deserve his job.
A Disgruntled Student
Dear Editor:
I would like to question the
Guilfordian's policy on un
signed letters to the editor. I
personally do not think that a
letter which is not signed
should be printed. Any
personal opinion no matter
how biased can be printed
without any concern about
taste or fairness. In the case of
last week's letter, I didn't
think that the letter was harsh
enough to need the author's
name withheld. The victim
also suggested ways for the
cafeteria to change their ways.
I think a change in this policy
will eliminate spiteful letters
such as last year's (on the
semi formal dance), and will
promote a more open
atmosphere concerning letters
to the editor.
Geoff Wilkinson
Dear Editor,
I read your article in the
Guilfordian (Sept. 8) about the
new Founders Building, and
was quite distressed to see
that there was no mention of
the Guilford College Revelers
anywhere in the article. Our
offices are also located in the
new building right next to the
recreation room. Also there,
are the offices of the drama
faculty. Dr. Donald Deagon
and Mr. Dean Regenos.
The Gnilfordian
Food Packing Costs More Energy
Than Production
The food on your dinner table may have wasted more energy just to package it than was ac
tually spent in producing it.
According to a new report by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the fancy
packaging of certain foods, such as soft drinks and some canned items, requires more
energy than is spent getting them to the family table. In its 14-page table, the Center, a
non-profit group based in Washington,D.C., compiles some fascinating comparisons of
the amounts of energy required to produce and package different foods.
Aluminum and plastic containers, which take large amounts of energy to produce, are
becoming more and more widely used, the report said, at the expense of glass, steel and
paper packaging which use less energy. The report calls throw-away aluminum cans and
plastic milk bottles "great energy wasters,"and recommends against the throwaway glass
bottles for the same reason.
Among the highest energy users are such processed foods as TV dinners, frozen prepared
foods, flavorings and spreads, canned beverages and cooking oil sprays that come in
aerosol cans, it said.
The report also notes that a 12-ounce aluminum can of Budweiser beer takes 3,272 units of
energy to produce, and 4,735 units of energy to package, while the same size steel can of
Schlitz beer takes the same amount of energy to produce, but only 2,685 units of energy to
package.
It takes 9,058 units of energy to produce a 16-oz. non-returnable bottle of Royal Crown
Cola, the report said, two-thirds of that spent on the packaging.
While a returnable bottle the same size takes an additional 1,850 units of energy to make,
the report said, returnable soft drink bottles are re-used an average of 15 times, so total
energy requirements are much lower over a period of time.
The report says Americans spend about 12 percent of their total energy output on growing,
processing and packing food. It recommends five methods of reducing energy con
sumption while preserving high nutrition standards.
Growing more vegetables and fruit at home can save a good deal of transportation and
packaging energy. The report said it takes less than half the energy to grow potatoes at
home than it does to bring commercially grown ones to the supermarket. Growing apples
at home, a much more difficult process, takes about one-sixth the energy spent on com
mercially grown apples.
Other recommended energy saving practices are shifting from animal to vegetable protein,
cutting down on processed foods, avoiding nonreturnable beverage containers, and buying
more bulk and unpackaged foods.
Some other comparisons from the table:
Producing grain fed beef takes 42,600 units of energy per pound, compared to only
29,650 units of energy per pound for folage fed beef;
It takes almost as much energy, 31,950 units, to produce a dozen grade A large eggs
as it does to produce 1.97 pounds of Holly Farms frozen chicken breasts, 37,756 energy
units. But it takes a lot more energy to package the eggs, 2,256 energy units, compared
to 388 energy units for the chicken packaging;
Using a plastic bag to put fruit and vegetables in at the supermarket takes 171 more
energy units than a paper bag.
1 am sure this ommission
was an error, and I appreciate
its correction by printing this
letter.
Thank you,
Peter E. Riess
President of Guilford
College Revelers
Editor's Note:
I regret the omission in last
week's issue of the Guilfor
dian. The omission of the
Revelers from the students
activities list was not
intentional, it was an
oversight on my part. Thank
you for your letter.
Leslie
No Stars, Just Parties
As many of you have
noticed, last Thursday night's
"Star party" did not materia
lize. Because of the amount of
interest shown, we have
rescheduled the "star party"
for Tuesday night, September
16th, at 10:00 P.M. Once
again, Jupiter will be the
"star attraction"! Also, don't
forget the non-credit, free
computer class, sponsored by
the SPS, which will meet on
Wednesday, September 17th
at 10:00 AM in the basement
of King room 030.
The South Central Farmers
Committee, Post Office Box
1094, Delano, California
93215, represents the growers
in offering the facts of the
farm labor issue. They have
materials and information
which are available to anyone
interested in this issue.