Veggie Board

Preliminary Objectives [Fall 2009]

WE MADE A LOT OF PROGRESS LAST YEAR WHICH PROVES THAT WE CLEARLY DON ’T HAVE TO BE AN
OFFICIAL ORGANIZATION TO GET WORK DONE . THIS YEAR WE WANT TO FOCUS UPON PROMOTING MORE
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY TOWARD OUR CONSTITUENTS, DEVELOP OUR EDUCATIONAL KNOWLEDGE OF THE
VEGETARIAN AND WHOLE FOODS BASED LIFESTYLE AND TO GENERATE PROGRAMS THAT PROMOTE OUR
ORGANIZATION. OUR PRIMARY GOAL IS TO CULTIVATE STRUCTURED AND ORGANIZED LEADERSHIP SKILLS
FOR OUR ORGANIZATION AND TO USE THE VEGGIE BOARD AS A RESEARCH AND MAINTENANCE TOOL TO
COMPILE RESEARCH OF HOW OUR EFFORTS IN CONSTRUCTIVE COMMUNITY ACTIVISM IMPACT THE DIETARY
NEEDS OF OUR CONSTITUENTS WITHIN THE INSTITUTION SO THAT WE CAN IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF
STUDENT HEALTH BY PROVIDING RESOURCES THAT ENGAGE STUDENTS TO TAKE AN ACTIVE DISCIPLINED
APPROACH TO SUSTAINING THEIR HEALTH AND WELL - BEING .

Current Issues: community on the benefits of good

health and nutrition achieved with a
Restructuring the vegetable based diet. In order to
maximize our knowledge of the
Initiative vegetarian diet, we must learn first to

The Purpose of Restructuring is to understand the essential components

of maintaining a proper diet as well as
enable the veggie board to be more how to become better community
effective. By constructing the group in organizers and researchers, so that we
a more structured format, we can can monitor our food choices and
ensure that its members are actively analyze that data so that we can use it
engaged with the work we do this to create more accessibility options
year; that the board members and with our food options.
community learn something valuable
from this year’s research projects and
that any time spent will be utilized in a
way that will allow its members to use
this experience to expand their
knowledge of how to engage the
By compiling concrete health data on
our members and logging their food
input, we can better assess what
needs to be improved in our diets to
ensure a better quality of health and
develop strategies to increase
accessibility to a broader range of
whole nutrient rich foods in order to
help us sustain our lifestyles. This
should also prove to be an invaluable
educational resource to those
transitioning into a more vegetable
based diet and remove the stigma of
our vegetarian activists as being these
sort of—malnourished, angry and
misinformed activists.
While the group is initially founded to
enable campus vegetarians to gain a
better understanding of proper
vegetarian nutrition, and how to track
and monitor their health, our goal this
year is to be able to expand our focus
so that we can learn to identify and
utilize various community resources
that will allow us to learn how to
collaborate with other vegetable
enthusiasts within the community we
can learn from as well. The idea is
that collaborating with these
community members will enable us to
learn to be more effective community
organizers as well as be able to learn
how to meet the needs of our dietary
lifestyle through community meals
and programming. Instead of simply
struggling to fend for ourselves trying
to accumulate options in food service,
we must acknowledge the grim reality
that in light of the recent budget cuts,
it will be increasingly difficult to
expand our food options with the
budget allocated toward the “veggie
line” provided in food service.
While we commend the efforts of
Sodexho to meet the accommodations
of campus vegetarians, after reviewing
last year’s rough data of students who
stayed ill or went back to eating meat
due to a poorly nourished diet, we’ve
had to review what information will
now be an essential part of our
training about how to properly
maintain a vegetarian diet.
Unfortunately, based upon this
summer’s research outlining the daily
essential diet and allowances required
to properly maintain this diet, the
options provided by campus facilities
do not accommodate a sufficient
percentage of the daily allowances
needed to sustain a healthy
vegetarian diet. The usage of canned
beans, bleached flours and excessive
amounts of cheese strip away much of
the nutrient value that could have
been available, and based upon the
cost of the current meal plan, the
options provided aren’t sufficient
enough to enable vegetarians on
campus to sustain even the minimal
health requirements.
In order to solve this problem, the
board will have to do some extensive
cataloging of nutritional data mapping
out the food eaten by each of our
members so we can analyze the
measurable effects the current diet
has upon student health. In the
meantime we hope to work with
faculty, staff and off campus students
to program community meals,
workshops and conduct nutritional
workshops so that the veggie board
members who continue to pursue a
vegetarian lifestyle or want to
incorporate more whole grains and
nutrient rich foods into their diet will
learn the skills necessary to be able to
coordinate their own projects in the
future so that when they leave Berea if
they encounter other campuses or
communities with poor dietary options
that they will be educated and
prepared to coordinate this work
again. Our goal is to build up board
members nutritional and educational
knowledge to enable them to be able
to understand;
• how to organize community
cooking spaces,
• understand how these issues
impact human rights and food
justice issues,
• learn the value of community
organization and learn
strategies from educators and
community activists on the
most effective peaceful
methods of negotiation and
collaboration,
• learn to facilitate workshops
and meetings over stone soups,
• how to prepare basic food items
(ie bread, cereals, vegan stews)
that provide low cost, nutrient
rich meals that fulfill their
dietary needs,
• and understand the process of
how food to table production
works and which initiatives (ie
edible gardening) serve as
viable options to create
nutritional resilience in a
community or individual
household setting.
This year we plan to incorporate
applied research and community
organization to enable veggie board
members to expand our dietary
support base by providing community
awareness about our food justice and
accessibility issues with the off
campus and faculty vegetarians who
can offer their insights as to how we
can gain experience learning these
skills and teaching us also how to
prepare more wholesome vegetarian
community meals.
We envision that by cultivating our
understanding of these nutritional and
social issues that we can be more
informed about the sustainable
advantages of providing accessibility
to healthier food options. We hope
that this experience will also allow us
to be able to better educate our
campus food service providers and
administrators by sharing how we
catalog our nutritional information,
stats and acceptable recipes so that
we can share this knowledge so that
they have a better understanding of
how to best meet our dietary needs
within the parameters of the portion of
the budget allocated toward the
vegetarian line. We’d also like to
collaborate with other campus groups
and associations within the Berean
Community to share the benefits of
understanding how to be more
responsible for their own health
through scheduled events, programs
and the development of mini coop in
an accessible campus community
kitchen.
Planning Phase: This
year’s Primary focus
In order to conduct work more
efficiently and ensure accountability,
we need to organize a steering
committee for these 4 areas who will
be responsible for facilitate a monthly
meeting used to generate research,
compile data, and keep track of
committee members progress to
report to veggie board members in a
general meeting once a month. The
following chair positions will be held in
these offices:
General Assembly
Meetings
We will have a stone soup gathering
once a month, on a date determined
by the group, to eat and update the
general assembly of the veggie board
on the progress, questions, or
concerns of the various works
performed by the committees,
network with other campus groups
and celebrate a job well done.
(Perhaps if we find a good venue we
can screen a movie or play some
music). During each general assembly
meeting it is our goal to also present
one speaker that will engage us about
an alternative grassroots method of
community organizing and
development. The Membership
Committee would be responsible for
coordinating the speakers for the
event and contacting members about
ideas for the agenda and the theme
for the menu. The Programming
• internal affairs: leadership and
membership development
• ensuring proper maintenance of
health through nutrition and
community organization
• pr & communications
• membership: recruitment and
assessment
• external affairs: food service
• programming
Committee would be responsible for
finding a venue and securing
reservations and setting up for the
event. The Public Relations &
Communications Committee would be
responsible for sending out the
approved invitations for non members
and keeping active members updated
via email and Facebook and on the
veggie board blog (which has yet to be
designed). The steering committee
would be responsible for organizing a
calendar of meeting times based upon
the selected meeting times and
scheduling a meeting time for the
general group to meet. The
programming committee would be
responsible for making sure that the
evening itinerary is set with a program
of speakers, committee updates, and
entertainment for the evening.
Quorum
Just like we need many kinds of foods
to keep us healthy, we need many
kinds of people to participate in this
program for it to be successful.
Everyone has something valuable they
can bring to the table, so in order to
encourage participation a Quorum for
will be set for general assembly
meetings. We will need one prepared
member from each committee
represented at each general assembly
meeting (prepared meaning that this
committee member should have their
report ready and submitted
electronically prior to the general
assembly meeting) with one person
representing no more than two
committees at a time. The quorum of
committees will be determined by the
established committees and submitted
by the committee chair as the
committee quorum for that term.
Failure to meet quorum will result in
the establishment of a make-up date
for the committee meeting. If the
make-up meeting does not reach
quorum the committee action should
be then suspended or turned over to
the steering committee at that time.

Committees

Committees will be assembled and committee chairs elected within the first full
month of the school semester. Each committee is designed to serve an important
function of the veggie board and will be selected by board members in order to
ensure that the veggie board will be able to best serve the needs of its constituents.
Each committee will be conducted in a manner that will best accomplish the
objectives established by the bylaws, but implemented in the best way the
committee members feel would be effective. Each committee will have its own set
of officers, which will include a committee chair, a scribe, and liaison to work with
campus and community officials, and compile reports on their progress associated
with each committee’s listed function. The meeting times for each group will be
determined by the appointed members of the committees and each committee will
meet no less than once a month with the exception of the steering committee that
will meet bi-monthly to track monitor the progress of the group as a whole. Below
are listed the various committees and their responsibilities.

Preliminary Directives

steering committee the organization,

officers and will be
responsible for
allocating
officer positions within
the committee, duties,
and ensuring that
monthly reports are
submitted to the
general assembly for
Steering review. Because the
Committee steering committee’s
primary objective is to
The committee chairs maintain and monitor
will serve as the the internal affairs of
steering committees
will be responsible for
analyzing and
cataloging the
committee information
and deciding how best
to cultivate the
leadership qualities and
community
development of the
board members, and
track the progress of
the organization of the
whole. It will be the
responsibility for the committees are • Making sure we
steering committee to responsible for get those things
get together once a coordinating and labeled: (i.e.
month over dinner (at a trouble- shooting any using laminated
time which will be potential problems that note cards on
specified upon the may arise that inhibit velcro) to post
decision of the group) the committee from on the line
to organize the being able to perform • Compile a list of
information in a way its duty. approved recipes
that can easily be for sodexo: so
shared with other The steering that we can
interested members committee is also provide a more
and create avenues of responsible for the balanced
accessibility between mentoring and amount of
the campus officials leadership options to
and the veggie board’s development of their ensure
constituents. fellow veggie board everyone's
members providing dietary needs
The steering assistance with are being met.
committee will also be nutritional information, • Keep and
responsible for health questions, maintain a log of
outlining a code of resources such as ebt, service issues so
conduct, and setting etc. They will be that we can
guidelines for when responsible for putting measure
further action or group together the structure response time of
initiatives will be for how to best catalog when comment
orchestrated (i.e, information such as: cards are left
guidelines for writing and how soon
comment cards, or • menus: so that the issues get
recipe requests). we can addressed so
Disclaimer: before any accurately that we can
board member signs assess the assess how
something in the name Sodexo options consistently
of the veggie board, it • How to set up a these issues are
should have the catalog of being addressed,
approval of a nutritional and know where
committee officer or information the deficiencies
member of the steering • Ingredient and recurring
committee. Otherwise, cataloging: issues seem to
just sign your own making sure that lie.
name on comments the nutritional
and requests. information and This group will serve as
ingredients are the activist core and
The steering updated, have the least contact
committee will be accurate, and with administrators and
responsible for consistently will focus more upon
assisting any accessible for the internal operations
committee who needs students to of the veggie board
additional help with the access. and how to best
projects that the develop this program
to help students research, messages or workshops on
understand how to and invitations in a way vegetal health. This
better impact what’s that best promotes the committee will also be
being offered daily and goals of the responsible for
how to use this organization and its maintaining a
experience to develop constituents. This relationship with the
essential research and committee will also be other food groups on
organizational skills responsible for making campus and
they can use to be sure that all in house collaborating with them
better community publications are to find opportunities for
leaders. accessible to all group us to participate by
members and providing “suitable”
compiling data from vegetarian options for
the committee reports, their food events.
external vegetarian
associations, coops, or Assessment
relevant news about
Committee
vegan nutrition and
health into an
electronic newsletter.
Ideally we want this
information available
Public Relations and documented, so
that it can be reused
& and applied once we This group will keep
Communication leave our tenure here track of member bios
s Committee at Berea. and health data,
The Public Relations & including food logs,
Communications Membership illnesses, dietary
Committee is Committee backgrounds, and
responsible for major changes in diet
generating and (ie if someone decides
managing the content to go vegan, or back to
of any facebook, blogs meat because they are
or other literature for not getting enough
the for the veggie nutrients in their diet).
board. They are This group will also
responsible for the collaborate with the
organization of this other committees to
material into print and provide data needed to
electronic The membership track the improvement
communications and Committee will be or deterioration in our
are encouraged to find responsible for the members’ health due
creative ways to recruitment of on and to their dietary
disseminate off campus restrictions.
information; design participants, staff,
facebook ads, faculty and community All group members will
electronic newsletter members that are be asked to contribute
and laying out blog interested in learning health information and
space to publish board or leading discussions food logs to this
committee to help us The Campus Affairs This committee will
log and assess Committee will be the work very closely with
nutritional, health and primary committee steering to understand
energy patterns of our working as liaisons with what needs to be done,
members so that we food service and how the work needs to
can determine in the campus administrators. be done, and tracking
spring what services This committee will be members and what’s
are lacking, so that we responsible for going on with them so
can work upon coordinating that we accomplish our
improving our food appointments, sending goals and get the most
options, overall health, liaisons to attend from this experience.
and the immune meetings with them as
system resiliency of needed on nutrition
those living upon related info. Internally, Programming
vegetable based diets this committee is also
within the Berean responsible for keeping Will be initiated by
community. The track of the group members. These
analysis made by this documentation and were previous areas of
committee will be used publications, knowing interest and members
as an educational which members are are encouraged to
opportunity to also doing which work and facilitate programs
address current keeping the regarding these issues
accessibility issues to membership listed, etc.
whole grains, committee updated
vegetables and with that info in an • community
supplements, or other accessible common cooking space
resources needed to profile. The committee • edibles
ensure proper health. will decide how best to gardening
This group will also do that. The key role of project: from
provide a specific this committee is to food to table
report contrasting the make sure that we • nutritional
health data of the have that info, and that workshops
vegetarian students we know who to get a • food justice
comparing the overall hold of. This • meetings: stone
health of those living committee also keeps soup
on and off campus to track of members’ to name a few….
be provided to the deadlines and tasks
administration for the and is responsible for
upcoming year (2010- keeping the meeting
2011). minutes reports and a
calendar of committee
Campus Affairs meetings and events
updated. This group
will work with the must
find a shared server to
keep this info and
make it accessible to
students.