Introduction

College students seem to be powerless when it comes to dependency and reliability on the food industry and its negative impact on the environment. Most college do not have full time jobs or make very much money at the jobs they do have. Many times college students live in dormitories on campus or commute from home, so their food choices depend on the cafeteria, their family meals/food pantry or local delivery and take out restaurants. A college student’s limited budget may not be able to afford kitchen wares and groceries, and many students may not know how to cook meals on their own anyway. How can college students be empowered to lead more independent and sustainable lives with limited resources, e.g. money, transportation?

Do college students care if food is produced in an environmentally safe way and fair trade?

“According to Alloy's eighth annual College Explorer study, done in conjunction with Harris Interactive, a growing number of students-41%, up from 37% last year-are looking to spend their money on socially responsible brands” (Bush, 2008). The companies ranked highest for being socially responsible according to college students were Toyota, Yoplait, Target, Burt’s Bees, and Nike. These companies portrayed themselves as being “green” and socially responsible in ways that were visible to college students. “’That's not to say the students are more socially responsible themselves, but it is to say emphatically that today's college students would prefer to purchase from companies that are socially responsible,’" said Samantha Skey, exec VP-strategic marketing at Alloy” (Bush, 2008).

How do college students spend their money?

College student spending power has taken an increase from $237 billion in 2008 (Bush, 2008) to a projected $250 billion in 2010 (MediaWeek, 2010). Where is all of this money going?
In Du & Kamakura’s (2008) conducted a research study on household budget allocation and consumption priorities using the CEX family extracts made available by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) (66,368 households from ’82-’03). “On average, food and clothing took a smaller portion of the household budget over the years, whereas health insurance took a larger share. Although the incidence rate of tobacco usage decreased during the 22- year period, tobacco consumption took an increasing portion of the budget among those who still smoke. The portion of the budget allocated to motor and home fuel decreased substantially in the 1980s but seems to have increased in the last few years” (Du & Kamakura, 2008, p. 115).
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (2008), for persons under the age of 25 years of age in 2008, spending on food totaled $4,447 with $2,117 of food being consumed out of the home. Housing totaled $9,975; utilities, fuel and repairs totaled $1,875; $1,351 was spent on clothing and services; and transportation totaled $5,464. These numbers are listed in their “Age of reference person: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2008 (Table 3).”

How can college students get food that was produced in an environmentally safe way and fair trade?

Again, college students have limited resources, especially when it comes to money. So how do can college students buy organic and fair trade products when they cost so much more than products that are not?
For on-campus diners who eat their meals primarily in the cafeteria, students can organize to convince the cafeteria management to purchase better food that is eco-friendly and fair trade. Students can request specific food changes such as having more locally grown food, cage free eggs, organic produce, etc. If enough students want it, perhaps the dining hall will see the cost benefits.
If the cafeteria management does not respond to student requests, personal food choices can help make a difference individually. Discovery created a Planet Green website for college students and shares ideas for students to make more eco-friendly personal choices in the college cafeteria. For example, they suggest not using trays to cut back on extra food waste and water usage to clean the trays. The Planet Green website reported that a study by the Seminar in Environmental Issues class at American University found that “students that did not have cafeteria trays in the lunchroom wasted 14.4% less food than those that did, and a remarkable 47.1% less at dinner.” Exotic foods like bananas, coffee and tea are all tropically grown, and they cost a lot to transport to other areas of the world. The meat and dairy industry produces food items that should be avoided as much as possible because “livestock production accounts for 55 percent of the erosion process, 37 percent of pesticides applied, 50 percent of antibiotics consumed, and a third of total discharged nitrogen and phosphorus into surface water” (Discovery, Planet Green).
If college students can find the space and enough interest, community gardens are an option for producing food that is local and organic. Students can work on this project together creating community and food products that are healthy.
For students living off campus who don’t necessarily eat at the campus dining hall (as not all colleges have dining halls), farmer’s markets are the best place to find food grown locally. This also allows the consumer to know exactly who grows their food and how it is grown.

Does power = money?

Corporations are funded by consumers who buy their products, and corporations want to provide products that the consumer wants. If more people buy organic and locally grown foods, perhaps the corporation will make produce better products. This can be very empowering to consumers who want to make a difference with the products they buy.
In 2010, the Supreme Court decided that corporations can fund federal candidate campaigns. In turn, if the candidate wins the election, there is a likelihood that the new politician will create laws to protect the corporation who helped elect him/her with financing the campaign. This makes it even more important for voters to know the candidates, who supports them, and what policies they will support while they are in office.

Conclusions

All consumers, not just college students, can vote with their money by what products they spend it on. Perhaps if enough people were to only buy fair trade and organic products that more corporations would spend their money to make better products available to consumers.
There is something to be said about the power of the individual for this specific issue. One person may not make a lot of difference, but if that one person inspires more people, perhaps things will be more likely to change. The power of groups is what can make an impact on the food industry, but within those groups of people there need to be strong individuals. Listed above there are many suggestions about what individuals and groups of individuals can do together.

References

Bush, M. (2008). “Students rank social responsibility.” Advertising Age: 79. http://ezproxy.hamline.edu:2374/ehost/detail?vid=2&hid=110&sid=694019e3-75de-40b3-998c- 89879658deea%40sessionmgr111&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=ufh&AN=33538 656

Du, R. & Kamakura, W. (2008). “Where did all that money go? Understanding how consumers allocate their consumption budget.” Journal of Marketing: 72. http://ezproxy.hamline.edu:2374/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=4&hid=110&sid=a6b42b4a- 664c-49ee-8317-dad3d94171ba%40sessionmgr110

MediaWeek. “The campus connection.” Media Week: 20. http://ezproxy.hamline.edu:2374/ehost/detail?vid=2&hid=110&sid=a067351d-9598-4c38-b81a- 64b97d972fd4%40sessionmgr113&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=ufh&AN=48 191416#db=ufh&AN=48191416

Planet Green, Discovery: http://planetgreen.discovery.com/feature/back-to-school-green/college- students-professors.html

US Bureau of Labor Statistics: Age of reference person: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2008 (Table 3).” http://www.bls.gov/cex/