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Story and
photos by Andrew High
 Gourmet
food and the power source of the future were on display at Elon's
Fall Sustainability Forum Oct. 8. People from all over the state
attended the forum's various events, but the one place most of them
made sure to visit was the school's Harden Cafeteria.
The cafeteria
served two complete organic meals billed as "The Battle of
the Chefs Goes Organic." The meals included beef and chicken
raised in the Burlington area. The dairy products and vegetables
used in making the meal were all purchased from small organic dealers
in the state.
Organic
meats, vegetable and dairy products are raised or grown without
the help of chemicals or steroids.
Larry Aldridge,
an Aramark food service director, said he was glad to accommodate
the planners to the forum. "They asked us to be a part of it,"
he said. "They wanted to know if we could include the food
as part of it. We're always willing to help with any projects going
on campus."
Food is synonymous
with sustainability
Elaine Stover,
a program director with the Institute of Cultural Affairs in Greensboro,
ate beef steak, sweet potatoes and salad from the organic menu.
A dessert of baked apple and ice cream, all organic as well, was
her favorite dish. "I don't know whether it was the organic
part or the preparation or the presentation but it was tasty,"
she said. "It was tastier than what you'd get on a normal cafeteria
line."
Stover said
she choose to attend the conference to gauge the progress of the
sustainability
movement thus far and the movement's impact on the region.
"We've
got to figure out how to ground this movement and make it work with
all of our practices," Stover said. "Food is synonymous
with sustainability. Considering the economy, the nutrients and
the energy it takes to produce food around the world, sustainability
is needed because of the enormous amount of waste in that system."
Hanna Cockburn,
an administrator with the Piedmont Triad Council of Governments,
added that sustainability in transportation is also part of the
big picture. "The work that I do is urban transportation planning,"
she said. "It's finding ways to implement sustainable concepts
into every step of the planning process so it's not an afterthought,
it's part of our core thinking."
Going solar with 'gourmet
electricity'
 If
James Getkin had his way, planning for urban areas would include
space for solar
power cells. Getkin works for Solar Village, a company that
specializes in installing the cells for private homeowners.
He said it
costs about $30,000 to convert a house to solar power. This also
includes a wind turbine which generates power from October to April,
when solar exposure is limited.
"This
is gourmet electricity," he said. "People who understand
the cost of nuclear power, the cost of coal-fired plants and carbon
emissions - what it costs to relocate New York City when the water
levels rise - that's how much that power costs. That's why I call
it black-market power. They're really stealing the environment from
us."
Getkin painted
a bleak picture of the future of power consumption, a problem he
believes can only be solved by immediate action.
"It's
either move to solar power or extinction," he said. "Renewable
energy doesn't produce the carbon. We are on a terminal path with
the mass consumption of fossil fuels. We've got to turn on a dime.
We need a new Marshall Plan where they just stop and say 'Stop building
cars and start building wind turbines.'"
The Christian Science Monitor had an interesting update on how
solar power is gaining ground in the energy market. And Business
Week carried an informative piece titled "Why
Solar Power Makes Cents" that is also quite informative
on the topic.
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