Keith Soster and Laasya Chukka discuss preparing for the climate emergency.

00:02 By recording this, I have permission to post this interview to the Story Corps website. Okay. Hello. Welcome, everybody. My name is Laasya and I'm a student at University of Michigan. And today I'm interviewing Mister soster, leader of sustainability and food service at M Dining. With a lengthy background in kitchen management and catering. Today we will be discussing the hypothetical situation of the year 2030, where Ann Arbor has successfully defeated the climate crisis. Here, Mister Soster will reflect on his work in the last decade, from 2020 to 2030, and what specific things and behavior changes attributed to this achievement. So my first question is, as a frequent customer of end dining, I'm aware that a lot of resources and work go into limited access, usage of materials. What are some specific initiatives or changes? Did your, did m dining in your neighborhood use as they prepared to respond to the climate emergency?

01:04 Yeah, some of the things that we've done recently, over the last few years is about six years ago, we went to trayless dining. When people have trays, they tend to fill up the tray because they want to put everything on their tray and then go sit down and not have to get back up and go grab some else. And we found that doing away with the trays reduced the amount of food that people put on their trays. And so that as well as reducing our plates, if you have a ten inch plate, people tend to fill up the plate. If you have a nine inch or an eight inch plate or smaller, then you can only get so much food on the plate. This allows our end users to eat what's on the plate, and then if they're still hungry, they can go back for more. But it's really helped to reduce excess food waste in all of our units. And when you think about reduction of food waste, it also helps reduce the amount of food that we're preparing, and it also helps reduce the labor cost associated with preparing that food. And so that's been a huge one for us. Our philosophy right now is tapas or small plates, which allows our students to try many different things. We have lots of different stations in the dining halls, and so you can try a couple of bites of one thing, and if you like it, then you can go back for more or custom make it and ask for more of that particular food. I think not only eating healthier, local, and sustainable food, I think those are important concepts. But it's also important to realize that food waste across the United States is about a third of all the food that's produced. And so alleviating that food waste is going to be huge for carbon neutrality and reducing emissions.

03:09 Yeah. As someone who eats a lot in m dining, I would say the smaller plates, it does make you sort of eat as much as you need and not really go back or get too much. Yeah. The second question would be, we talked a lot about the specifics that m dining employed or just like the idea of eating less and these specific initiatives. But one thing idea that's not really talked about, I would say, in the climate crisis problem is that about the vision created, sort of like a lot of the perspectives or specific behaviors you changed to sort of make a difference in m dining and also your personal life. So do you have any perspective on some things you did over this past decade?

03:55 Yeah, personally, I've looked at a bunch of different things. We know that single use plastic is not good for the environment. And so I try to use reusables at home. I try to eliminate plastic use 100%. So when I'm going to the store, taking my own reusable bags or turning down, you know, you run into the convenience store and they automatically want to put your stuff in a plastic bag. I think being thoughtful about those kind of things are truly important. And because of COVID and, you know, just our emphasis on carbonous neutrality, I started my own garden at home. I found that, number one, it's quite relaxing, or it's like therapy for me, but it also allows me to grow my own food, to be more invested in the food that I eat. And I think that's important. Grow local will help reduce food mileage comes with from across the country or from other countries. I know that things like pineapples and avocados can't be grown in our backyards, but the things that can be grown in our own backyard, I think it's important that we take those efforts to do that.

05:18 And another question I have is more on, like, interesting stories. You have lengthy experience in the food sector and will continue to do so. Do you have any interesting stories related to maybe experimenting with different behavior changes during the decade? Additionally, how would you say your experience in the food industry specifically changed your perspective on the crisis?

05:44 Yeah, I will say this. You know, students had asked us to do meatless Mondays to help reduce carbon emissions. And we had students that were upset about taking meat away from them, and they had paid good money for their meal plans. And so on those days, we do offer poultry or seafood. But the whole premise behind sustainable Mondays is to educate our community just one day out of the week, let's focus on sustainable behaviors. And so if we can offer a menu that has less carbon admissions, then it's a great step forward, and it allows the students to learn about maybe some foods that they wouldn't normally try. We have such a diverse community on our campus and lots of different cultures, and so being able to explore and experiment with different foods allows students to develop habits that we hope will last a lifetime.

06:41 No, definitely. I am actually vegetarian, so a lot of this meatless Mondays is one of my personal favorite things to look forward to in M dining. And I think a lot of friends, for people who've not eaten a lot of vegetarian food in the past, they've been telling me, these are a lot of cool new foods I've tried at M dining, and that is really nice to hear.

07:02 I think it's also in how you present the food. So let me give you an example. I don't care for tofu. Just the. I don't know. The consistency of it does not bode well with me. And so when I see a menu item that says tofu on it, turn around and go the other way. Right. And so we're not trying to deceive people, but if we can describe menu items that are more enticing and not use the words like vegan or vegetarian, then maybe people will be more apt to try it. So instead of a vegan burrito or vegetarian burrito, it's a burrito with Michigan black beans and red bell peppers, roasted. And, you know, we can use descriptors that may entice people to try the items, and then maybe they'll find that they actually liked it and it didn't have to do with anything to do with whether it was vegan, vegetarian, or healthy. They just enjoyed it because it was an awesome menu item.

08:04 Yeah, that I would say is definitely important, someone who actually goes and sees how a lot of the food is labeled. And my final question to wrap up this interview would be, what would some advice, what would be some advice you would give to the younger generation who are now facing in 2030, the next stage of the climate crisis? What would be some things to do, some behavior changes to have, and some behavior changes to keep?

08:32 I do want to say this. I think sometimes when you hear about the climate crisis, it can be overwhelming. And so my advice to anybody and everybody is small steps make a big difference. And so if it's, you know, I've gotten in the habit of always carrying reusable bags with me. I always have a reusable water bottle. I make thoughtful choices when it comes to food and try to eat small plates and be open to new ideas. All of those things, you know, reduction of food waste or composting at home, all of those things can contribute to the overall environment. And so adapting just small things can make a big difference for everyone. And so I just challenge everybody to think about what you can do and what's easy and then work your way up to some of the more challenging things and elicit support from friends. If you have others that are willing to hold you accountable and you're willing to take on endeavors collectively, like the garden at home, I've enlisted my family's help to help keep it clean. And we come up this time of year, we think about what we're going to plan for this summer. It can be pretty exciting. So just remember, small steps make a big difference.

09:59 Thank you. That was definitely a really valuable perspective. That's all the time we have for this interview. Thank you so much for your time, your valuable perspective, and to listeners. The goal of these interviews are to collect a diverse range of perspectives on the climate crisis. So if you have any thoughts on this or any thoughts on the premise and the climate crisis, please do share your perspective with the community as well. Thank you so much for your time.

10:26 Thank you.

10:27 Have the rest of your week. Thank you.