Amy to Ray Ivany
Dear Mr. Ivany,
Firstly, I would like to thank you for your diligence in responding to student concerns about the water fountains on campus. I have since been notified that there is a work order at Physical Plant for fixing the fountains we suggested in the fountain assessment. I feel this is a critical step forward and very beneficial for Acadia and its sustainability initiatives.
My main reason for contacting you today is with regards to a new concern on campus: the situation with Student Union Building (SUB) food service provider. The Acadia Student Union (ASU) executives have been working on opting-out of the contract that binds the Student Union Building to Chartwells. They have done this successfully, which I feel will be a great opportunity for increasing student traffic in the building and creating an atmosphere of student community within the space. Right now, they are pursuing Tim Hortons as the food provider for the vacant Perkin’s space, which is based on surveys and focus groups from the previous school year. Tim Hortons has agreed to work with students on some sustainability initiatives, including promotion of reusable mugs, incorporating local food when they can, and funding a water fountain for the main lobby of the SUB. While they have made some promising offers for sustainable initiatives, this does not change the fact that they are a large National corporation, ship the majority of their products from far away, do not coincide with the Fair-trade principles, and are one of the largest contributors of waste to Nova Scotia landfills (22% of Nova Scotia waste in landfills, according to GPI Atlantic http://www.gpiatlantic.org/clippings/mc_waste18.htm ).
The Sustainability Office, Acadia Environmental Society, Acadia Farm and others have raised concerns with the environmental impact of this food provider, and also the lack of communication about the food provider options with the students. The previous year, not all food provider options were given, nor was there any education or information related to the environmental impact related with each provider. We feel student satisfaction is important, however the sustainability of Acadia and consistency with the Acadia Strategic Plan goals is also of utmost importance. There are two Fair trade coffee shops, namely Just Us and TAN Fair-trade, which would provide two very good alternatives. Through our research, we found that they will be able to provide students with cost-effective and high quality products, consistent with the student needs expressed in the previous year’s survey. This would also provide an opportunity for an ASU owned business, which would have many benefits.
Acadia University has a unique opportunity to be a leader among fellow Canadian Universities in terms of the Student Union food service provider, and also to show its commitment to sustainability and environmental integrity. In addition, Wolfville is the First Fair-Trade Town in Canada, and it would be especially favourable for Acadia University to be consistent with this endeavour.
As the new Acadia President, I hope that you will inform yourself of these options and become involved in the important discussion related to the SUB. The Acadia Environmental Society (AES) Coordinator Dewey Dunnington has taken the liberty of making an open, informative display of the discussion on the AES website. It is a useful way to become up-to-date on some of the exchanges between students, faculty, and ASU executives: http://aes.fishandwhistle.net/.
Sincerely,
Amy Buckland-Nicks
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