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Way back when, there was no choice - you couldn't have light at night, and you couldn't have tacos on hot dog day.
In this day and age, we have options - McDonald's or Burger King? Mac or PC? Verizon or AT&T? Republican or Democrat? Coke or Pepsi?
Those options make themselves very well known - so much so that it can be called an assault on consumer consciousness.
This assault makes a vast majority of people unaware of other options - better options - that can make the difference between a mundane experience and a worthwhile one.
I want to share my efforts to make my community aware of better options - this is the story of the Student Vending Initiative.
In this day and age, we have options - McDonald's or Burger King? Mac or PC? Verizon or AT&T? Republican or Democrat? Coke or Pepsi?
Those options make themselves very well known - so much so that it can be called an assault on consumer consciousness.
This assault makes a vast majority of people unaware of other options - better options - that can make the difference between a mundane experience and a worthwhile one.
I want to share my efforts to make my community aware of better options - this is the story of the Student Vending Initiative.
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On many campuses around the country there are products and services sold to students by companies that are allowed to present themselves as the primary source (sometimes the only source) of a certain product or service for that location.
This does not have to be so, but it is a very common practice for many schools, especially small private schools that need the extra money from that corporate sponsorship.
There might be many ways that your school outsources services or products - like security personnel, cleaning crews, food service, vending machine operations, textbook sellers, coffee shops, etc.etc. - that need to have a competitive alternative. It is best to pick your battles wisely - student opinion is often inadequate to compete with legal liabilities such as safety and food regulations, so start with something manageable and stick through to the end.
My decision to start this project, actually wasn't my decision. A group of students on my campus formed a club called ReThink Coke after hearing Luis Cardona http://killercoke.org/ and Vandana Shiva http://www.navdanya.org/ speak about the atrocities committed by the Coca Cola corporation in South America and India.
As a club, they had used petitions and referendums to document the community opinion for four years - they did this well enough to prevent the president of our college from extending our 8 year long contract with Coke.
On my campus, Coca-Cola controlled all drink options in the vending machines and had prime placement in the cafeteria and campus store. The majority opinion was that there should no longer be vending machines and that Coke should be replaced by healthier options in the cafeteria.
Once Coke's contract had expired, the president of our college quit (along with the provost, the dean of students, and the head of facilities) and all the students working on the Rethink Coke campaign graduated. So Coke was allowed to continue operations, but no longer had an exclusive vending contract - this is where the fun begins.
This does not have to be so, but it is a very common practice for many schools, especially small private schools that need the extra money from that corporate sponsorship.
There might be many ways that your school outsources services or products - like security personnel, cleaning crews, food service, vending machine operations, textbook sellers, coffee shops, etc.etc. - that need to have a competitive alternative. It is best to pick your battles wisely - student opinion is often inadequate to compete with legal liabilities such as safety and food regulations, so start with something manageable and stick through to the end.
My decision to start this project, actually wasn't my decision. A group of students on my campus formed a club called ReThink Coke after hearing Luis Cardona http://killercoke.org/ and Vandana Shiva http://www.navdanya.org/ speak about the atrocities committed by the Coca Cola corporation in South America and India.
As a club, they had used petitions and referendums to document the community opinion for four years - they did this well enough to prevent the president of our college from extending our 8 year long contract with Coke.
On my campus, Coca-Cola controlled all drink options in the vending machines and had prime placement in the cafeteria and campus store. The majority opinion was that there should no longer be vending machines and that Coke should be replaced by healthier options in the cafeteria.
Once Coke's contract had expired, the president of our college quit (along with the provost, the dean of students, and the head of facilities) and all the students working on the Rethink Coke campaign graduated. So Coke was allowed to continue operations, but no longer had an exclusive vending contract - this is where the fun begins.
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Your wonderfully damned Joe.
When are you coming around here? Anna and Charly are celebrating Charlyween with us - you should come! Thanks for voting on this (you better have voted.) I'll call you soon.