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Reduce, Reuse...Ridiculous
Food companies’
efforts to cut down
on everything
leave nothing/or
the consumer
OPINION
As Americans, we are known for wast
ing just about anything we can get our
hands on. We waste food, water, pa
per, packaging, and natural resources
among other things. But change is upon us,
and it begins with food.
Food companies have seen the light and
are ready to take action against this waste
ful way of life. And they’re doing it the
only way they know how — by re
ducing. Some are reducing pack
aging. Some are reducing fat
(read: flavor). And both
types of reduction are
very nice by being
good for the environment and good for our
health. But some food companies are taking re
ductions a step further. They’re reducing the
product.
I can only imagine what the first product
waste management meeting was like.
“Hey Bob, why are we wasting
valuable Doritos when we can fill
half the bag with air. We have a
great supply of air, and we’ll
save 50 percent of the
chips.”
' It s brilliant, real
ly. Because, if
you think
about it,
we need
air
CHRIS HUTCHINSON/Emerald
just as much as we need food. This is probably
the reasoning behind the three-pretzel snack
bag they give out on airplanes nowadays. If the
oxygen mask doesn’t work, you can use that
pretzel bag instead.
Chip companies aren’t the only ones on the
cutting edge of waste management. Cereal
companies implemented the air substitution
policy years ago. In terms of other forms of
product reduction, two particular types stand
out in my mind.
The first type caught my attention when I
last picked up an Oats ‘N Honey granola bar
from the Campus Convenience Store. Appar
ently, the makers of this particular snack food
stumbled upon the new all-in-one reduction.
By making the bar smaller, the granola people
have managed to reduce product and packag
ing — the wrapper is tight fitting with no air
substitution — and reduce fat. If the serving
size is smaller, the fat per serving is suddenly
less. Brilliance again. You just can’t reduce
much more than that and still have anything
left to sell.
The other type of product reduction exists
not because of the producer, but because of the
distributor. Evidently, the people who are in
charge of the campus vending machines have
decided to jump on the waste management
train. Now, instead of getting a four-wafer Kit
Kat from a vending machine, the less wasteful
three-wafer version is available saving space
and food.
It has even been suggested that the three
wafer Kit Kat may actually reduce the chance
that the item you bought will get stuck in the
dispenser and not drop to the bottom of the
machine.
With the food industry taking the lead, this
country is finally on the road to reduction. Be
cause of these new policies, we have more air
available to us, less wasted food and more
space on the shelves. If trends like this contin
ue, the only thing we’ll be wasting is our mon
ey.
Laura Daniel is a columnist for the Emerald.
Her views do not necessarily represent those of
the newspaper. Laura can be reached at
moonpie@gladstone.uoregon.edu.
LETTERS
OSA neglected
After reading the Friday, Jan.
17 story regarding student resi
dency issues, I felt very disap
pointed. The Emerald's discus
sion of the complex issues
surrounding state residency re
quirements neglected entirely to
discuss the role of the Office of
Student Advocacy in student resi
dency problems.
OSA is an ASUO fee-funded or
ganization which represents stu
dents who have conflicts with the
University. We advise students
about residency requirements and
assist them through the process of
establishing Oregon residency. If
necessary, we will accompany
students through the appeal
process until their claims have
been fully addressed by the sys
tem.
In addition to working with
ASUO fee-paying students who
have residency issues, we also ad
vocate for students who have con
flicts with professors, receive hall
write-ups or need other assis
tance.
I encourage any students who
have questions about our services
to stop by our office in Suite 334
of the EMU.
Margaret Butler
Outreach Coordinator
Office of Student Advocacy
Crime was
attempted rape
In response to the article pub
lished on the front page about
the two “robberies” near cam
pus [ODE, Jan. 23), I would like
to ask who decided the first at
tack should be headlined as a
robbery.
The victim was choked while
the suspect tried to “force off
her rain pants.” Only after the
victim succeeded in screaming
to alert others did the suspect
run off with her wallet, brief
case, bike, etc. I am sure if you
ask this woman what crime she
thinks the suspect first intended
to commit, she will answer rape
and not robbery.
For the safety of all women in
the University area, this crime
should have been reported in
the Emerald as an attempted
rape. The paper claims to have
student interests and safety at
heart, so let us call this crime
what it was.
M.V. Carmichael
Linguistics
Science or cruelty?
I was truly disgusted when I
saw the article "Zebra fish stud
ies net $1 million grant” {ODE,
]an. 28). Oh yea! One million
more dollars to spend hurting
life. The fact that zebra fish are
not “higher-order organisms”
does not erase the fact that they
are animals that deserve respect.
Respect is not a life in a tank
with 50 others in rows and rows
being used for human greed.
Sarah Douglas, professor of
computer and information sci
ence said, “they breed quickly,
have rapid development and
have lots of babies.”
This shows how these inno
cent creatures are treated like
machines. These scientists’
thinking of zebra fish is distort
ed. So, congratulations!
Want more money to torture
the “higher-order organisms”
too, such as the three rhesus
monkeys, rats, mice, rabbits and
more that University researchers
hold captive on campus?
Chelsea Lincoln
Director
Students for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals
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