Anita Handy is out to save the world, one food container at a time. The food service director of Taher is determined to make the world a little cleaner.
Many students may not know who Handy is, but they certainly know where she works and what she does. Handy is the Manager of Fresno City College’s campus cafeteria, where many students go to eat and socialize. She is very passionate about using eco-friendly products, and is doing her best to bring this passion on campus by turning FCC’s cafeteria into a model business for the green movement.
“We started last year, when we took out all the Styrofoam products,” says Handy. Styrofoam is a non-biodegradable product. Handy said Taher, the catering company that works in the cafeteria, is also committed to same standard of eco-friendliness as she and is behind the cafeteria’s move toward a greener future. Since April 2008, all plates and containers are now made from paper, so that they can be recycled. The cafeteria has also switched to using more biodegradable products, such as the Grab-N-Go lunches which are made from corn products.
Right now, the FCC cafeteria is continuously purchasing and using new eco-friendly products from Solo, a food-service company that, in recent years, has begun to offer environmentally-safe containers and cutlery. In addition to offering biodegradable products, Solo produces a large line of “post-consumer fiber” or PFC products, which are made of recycled materials. All of their eco-forward products contain at least 20%, and often times much more, PFC materials. Plates from the cafeteria, as well as some cups, are made of these types of products. Most recently, the cafeteria has begun to replace its remaining non-biodegradable cups, because of the polyethylene lining.
Solo Company representative Evie Lambert said that using post-consumer and biodegradable products is a “great way [for businesses] to start,” and to “show you’re going green.”
Most eco-forward products have additional structuring made from plant products, such sugarcane. This makes the products very compostable. Solo even makes a plate that can decompose in 180 days.
“Biodegradable [products] can be too expensive,” explains Lambert, “compostable is the next best thing.”
However, Handy and Taher have not been the sole force behind the green movement in Fresno City College’s cafeteria. The campus’s own Sustainable Action club has been an avid promoter of an eco-friendly campus. “We work for making a greener and freer campus,” stated club advisor, Professor Paul Gilmore of the history department. Although the club had a minor role in changing FCC’s cafeteria to a more earth-friendly business, the Gilmore said he is hoping the club can take it to the next level by making FCC a zero-waste facility. One of Sustainable Action club’s goals is to develop a composting program for the food waste from the cafeteria. The club also will work to get Pacific Café in on the act and begin using biodegradable products.
As for Handy, another of her goals is to have a cleaner, litter-free campus. “When I walk around, I see all this [litter], and I think if we can eliminate [Styrofoam] containers, maybe we can eliminate garbage,” she said. Something she can easily agree on is how infectious going green is. Handy said, “It gets you to start thinking.”