From recycling to green roofs, to organic food and even recycled clothing, it seems as if everyone has gotten the “green” bug. Emphasis on making things environmentally healthy has become a cool trend instead of a daily burden. However, many students still eating products made with pesticides, herbicides, and steroids.This is partly because many people are uneducated about the many benefits of organic food, while others just don’t want to spend the money when the other grocery store down the street sells their apples for 50 cents less than an organic market. We live in a city where the market for organic and locally grown foods is exceptionally high, and it seems a waste that the organic/local food community and college students can’t be more beneficial for one and other.
Dani Erker, an Olathe senior, says that all the word “organic” means to her, is “more expensive.” In a stressful school environment, Erker doesn’t really think twice about what she eats as long as it gets her through the day.
“Look, I know that organic foods are better for you because they don‘t have chemicals, but I’ve been eating regular food my whole life, so I really don’t see what changing my diet now is going to do,” Erker said.
Erker is just one of the the many college students who can’t seem to justify spending extra money on organic and local products. However, their are a number of students who have begun to “lean green.” With a variety of health places to eat springing up all over downtown, such as: ingredient, Global Cafe and the golden oldie of organic eateries, Local burger, students are beginning to feel the need to eat healthier.
“I’ve always been a healthy eater, its just how I was raised,” said Riley Parker, an Overland Park senior. “It’s been so nice to be able and go out to eat at a place I know is serving healthy good food.”
Parker prides herself on being a health conscious individual. She exercise everyday and prefers fruits and veggies over meats and carbs. Parker shops mostly at the Community Mercantile, but has found that other grocery stores such as Hy-vee and Target offer healthy organic food as well for reasonable prices.
“I’m definitely willing to spend more for the food I eat, I know that many people aren’t but I’m just used to eating this way, and to turn away from it now would seem wrong or something,” Parker said.
John and Karen Pendleton, local Lawrence farmers, rely on an older client base for much of their revenue.
“We don’t rely on students for most of our business,” said John Pendleton, a Lawrence farmer, “it’s mostly all families and health conscious adults who come out to our farm to buy our products.”
The Pendleton’s own a unique farm four miles east of Lawrence, and have been growing and selling asparagus, soybeans, wheat, and corn to the Lawrence community for 25 years. One of their most well-known events is the time of the year when people can come out to the farm and pick their own asparagus right out of the ground to take home.
“We get a really diverse group of people that come out to pick their own asparagus, people just love to know they are eating just what they picked out of the ground, truly homegrown produce,” Pendleton said, with a proud smile.
The Pendletons aren’t the only people trying to spread a healthy word to the wise, Casey Millstein, co-owner of the organic grocery store on Massachusetts Street named the Casbah, has been working tirelessly over the past year to get her store open to the public. Millstein’s emphasis for her store is trying to make good organic and local foods more accessible to the public, while educating people of the benefits of eating both.
“Pesticides, harmful chemicals and steroids are bad for the body. They make it harder for the body to process food,at least when it’s local you know exactly where the food came from and how it was grown,” Millstein said.
Millstein said that in the few weeks before the store opening she and her colleagues have discussed how to make the store more gravitating for students.
“There are the obvious advantages of us being on Mass. street, there is a lot of foot traffic and people will be curious and want to stop in. Also, we have made efforts to attract people in the store for other reasons bedsides grocery shopping,” Millstein said.
Millstein plans on having an art gallery in the basement, filled with pieces done by local artists called the “Wonder Fair,” along with a Jamaican themed vegan restaurant in the back. Millstein hopes adding these other aspects to the store will bring more people in. Also putting some less expensive food up in the front of the store so people won’t be thinking about prices right as they walk through the door.
“I am going to try and make the store the least expensive I can.” Millstein said. “For me this first year is not really about making a profit, it’s more about gaining a reputation with the community and building a strong client base.”
The Casbah is a family owned business. Millstein co-owns the business with her brother,and her father is their landlord. The family has been running a business off Massachusetts street for many years. Their main goal for the store is to use as many local products as possible and one day eventually have their own farm that most of the products will come from.
“One of my biggest hopes is that this store will help get the word out, and educate people about the benefit of growing things organically with less harming chemicals, not only will it help a human body but the land it’s grown on as well,” Millstein said.
Not everyone on college campuses is completely unaware of the benefits of organic products however, small schools such as St. Olaf are using completely sustainable food in their cafeterias, where everything is either organic or locally grown. Now, even KU has gotten on the organic food bandwagon.
Rita York, manager at the Community Mercantile, said that they had representatives from KU dining contact them and ask to meet for advice on how to make the KU dining areas more diverse by offering organic products.
“We are willing to help anyone who has an interest in sustainable food. We pointed KU dining services in the right direction, and gave them information on where we get our own products,” York said.
The Community Mercantile has been an organic/local food market for the last 8 years and in brought in $8.5 million in sales of organic and local products last year alone. David Smith, head of marketing for the Community Mercantile, said that they estimate about 15-20 percent of their customer base is students. Smith said The Merc has been marketing more towards a vegetarian and vegan movement going on among young people.
"We try to let students know that we have these options available
throughout our store -- we offer vegan muffins, cookies and quickbreads in
our bakery. In our grocery and frozen food departments we have quite a range
of vegetarian and vegan choices," Smith said.
When asked if The Merc has done anything to make their products more affordable for students, Smith said the company had come up with a program in order to help out with the added expense of eating organic.
"At The Merc we do understand that organics can be pricier than conventional
products. To make our store more affordable to shop, we have created The
Merc Basics Program. We took a look at items that are "basic" to people's
everyday lives. We then purposely lowered the prices on these staple items," Smith explained.
With the demand for organic foods on the rise, more and more business are seeing the pototential places like the Merc have been benefiting from for years. Now there are organic products on the shelves at the Market in the Union. That is just one more step into introducing organic foods to students who would more often than not opt for the cheapest products they can find no matter how unhealthy or chemical treated they are.
“I don’t really care where it came from or how it got here, they could have traveled across the country in a big truck and polluted the air the whole way and been grown with harmful pesticides and what-not. All I care about is if I have enough money to put food on the table in front of me, and still go out for a beer with my friends,” Erker said.
On the contrary some students are optimistic about the steps being taken in Lawrence to promote healthy eating and local growers.
“I think it’s fantastic that they have organic products at the Union.” Parker said. “Many students don’t realize it’s not just about being healthy it’s good for the earth as well, and I must admit I have started doing as much as I can lately to try and do my part for the environment. I recycle, I eat good food, I have a compost pile, every little bit helps, people just need to realize it.