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[kbroker]

Sorry if I'm posting in the wrong place  :-[. Anyways, I'm writing an article for the New U about how "UCI will now serve only organic, free-range eggs in all its cafeterias as part of a campuswide effort toward sustainability and “green” eating habits," and I need some student opinions on the decision to include in the article :). If you prefer to use Facebook, you can go here to find out more: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=11117863852. Otherwise, below is the same information if you'd like to answer here :)

"I'm writing an article for the New U about how "UCI will now serve only organic, free-range eggs in all its cafeterias as part of a campuswide effort toward sustainability and “green” eating habits," and I need some student opinions on the decision to include in the article :)

You can say whatever you want on this - for or against it, concerns, questions, etc. You don't have to have eaten at UCI or eaten anything with eggs in them - I'm just looking for opinions on the move itself. And you can either comment here or on my Facebook, or message me :). Feel free to invite anyone else who goes to UCI too!

If you decide to comment, it would be great if you included your name, year and major too. It would be a little easier for me when I go to actually write the article :). Any comments are really, really appreciated!"

Daily Pilot article: http://www.dailypilot.com/articles/2008/04/05/education/dpt-cagefree032908.txt

[ian mofoker]

How the hell does a "green" mentality connect with organic food at all? One is about consuming as many fossil fuels, and the other has to do with the use of hormones and pesticides with our food.

3rd year Chem major

[V]

How the hell does a "green" mentality connect with organic food at all? One is about consuming as many fossil fuels, and the other has to do with the use of hormones and pesticides with our food.

writers/advertisers just like to stick GREEN in front of everything to make it seem like the give a shit (about the environment). Green COULD be associated with organic when you stick local foods in there and argue how less fuel is used to transport the food... but that's stretching it. And remember, production of organic food could by all means actually use more resources than non-"organic" production

PS. Before trying to go organic, how about trying to make the CURRENT food less expensive and actually edible?

major: ICS/Anthro
year: 2

[Nanner]

Well, that's a step (however small).  Good that they went for organic, but that basically means the feed is not genetically modified.  Funny thing is that it is virtually impossible to avoid genetically modified food.  Also, cage-free in the U.S. means absolutely nothing.  Farmers and proprietors have the freedom to call any egg "cage-free".  There are no regulations when it comes to stamping eggs as cage-free in the U.S.  

Major: Biology
Year: 4

[Benjikun7]

the only good part of the new U is the police logs everyone knows that  . I don't really care about the eggs thing, its just an excuse to charge us more for food not that I eat at UCI anyway. GMOs aren't exactly a bad thing anyway; if it improves nutrition or crop yield I think its better, so using organic eggs isn't necessarily better.
3rd Year
Environmental Analysis and Design Major

[kbroker]

I'm really sorry for not mentioning it before, but if you would like your name to appear in the article too, feel free to include it (in this thread or in a pm) :). Thanks to everyone who's responded so far!

[chessknt87]

Is there any hard scientific evidence that these organic eggs are any better for the students?  What about their energy cost vs. normal eggs?  And what about the oils they use to coat the grills they bake them on, are those organic as well?  What a bunch of bullshit--UCI Dining is run by monkeys.

[fleshlight]

Assuming that the transportation costs are the same, the organic eggs would be "greener" then their regular counterparts since they will use "organic" pesticides and fertilizers which are probably less toxic than their regular ones. Of course they are more costly to produce.

3rd year EnvE and ESS major

[Polobum86]

it's because of the idea of "green" things is a big fad right now, it's amazing how much misinformation is out there about what's important and what isn't though

[Erik09]

any student who pushes for this has NO right to bitch about how tuition keeps going up.  Organic foods are always smaller than non-organics and more expensive.

Feed me my non-politically-correct food dammit...extra hormones!

[BirdKr]

I don't get it, wasn't the purpose of non-organic foods was so that we can sustain food supply by producing larger produce/poultry that are more resilient to diseases with less expense to the producers?

If so, then how the hell does switching to organic food maintain sustainability? If you mean sustaining the natural order of the ecosystem once we're all extinct, maybe, but then, who gives a damn? (who can give a damn?).

That said, if somehow this organic foods movement is one of the reasons (even if it's a small one) why total expenses of college is rising, then those people who signed petitions or demanded "greener" food can go to hell.

That said, I can't really blame UCI Dining on this one.

Freshmen Math and Physics major

[cbems]

in general i dont believe organic foods offer any benefit over non organics but if these eggs are obtained from chickens that are treated more humanely then why not.  as far as tuition goes if you spread the increase in cost over everybody it would be pennies...

[Benjikun7]

as long as its not powdered eggs then im fine with it

[kbroker]

Thanks for responding, everyone :). I wasn't expecting to get this many replies :p. I think I'm pretty much ready to write about student opinions on this, but if anyone still wants to add or say anything, it would be great if you did so by tomorrow evening. I'll consider including quotes where I know the speaker's year and major, and including your real name would be very appreciated (you can say it here, on Facebook, or in a pm) :). Thanks again!

[BirdKr]

You know, I think part of the reason why you got so many responses was the fact that they were anonymous...

[V]

You know, I think part of the reason why you got so many responses was the fact that they were anonymous...

what are they gonna do? hunt us down and poison our food? >.>

[Tr1xAre4Kids]

so we are going to be served green eggs and ham for breakfast?

[JeebusSez]

what are they gonna do? hunt us down and poison our food? >.>

hey man, you don't want to piss off those greenpeace people...

Senior, Sociology

[The Ant]

This is the most utterly pointless topic to ever write about.

[anokhi]

 "green" mentality connect with organic food at all? One is about  consuming as many fossil fuels, and the other has to do with the use of  hormones and pesticides with our food.

[jtlau]

I don't get it, wasn't the purpose of non-organic foods was so that we can sustain food supply by producing larger produce/poultry that are more resilient to diseases with less expense to the producers?

If so, then how the hell does switching to organic food maintain sustainability? If you mean sustaining the natural order of the ecosystem once we're all extinct, maybe, but then, who gives a damn? (who can give a damn?).

The way they raise chickens now is to cram as many as they can in an enclosed area.  Chicken shit is full of ammonia, so raising them the way they do now means that the chickens have all sorts of problems from scarred lungs to having their shit burn away their skin.  On top of this you have problems with disease control (a crap ton of birds in a small space)  Antibiotics are needed to keep them alive till they get big enough to slaughter and go to market.  From all the antibiotics they throw at the chickens, you can bet that there will be antibiotic resistant diseases coming from the practice. 

"green" mentality connect with organic food at all? One is about  consuming as many fossil fuels, and the other has to do with the use of  hormones and pesticides with our food.

The production of fertilizers for farming is one of the most energy intensive things the country does.  That's why food prices went up so much when we saw oil prices spike up a year or two ago.  It's a matter of time before the economy kicks into gear and demand for oil spikes.  Prices for food will go with it too b/c of the way food production works.
That said for the newspaper:

Green and local are the new buzz words, but it is important to look at how the farm is producing these eggs.  Green/Local has been twisted into new flashy marketable words that may not be better than the previous source.