Alternative Food Systems

Funds will be used to purchase food, as well as paying staff’s wages and managing the spaces of stores on campus.

Like with the current system, money for the food system will come through students purchasing meal plans. There may also be money raised from grants or donations that are given with the intent to help the food system. The biggest risk with funding is that we may not be able to sustain the amount of money needed for catering the whole college, since Aramark already makes a net loss on Evergreen’s catering.

The most important factor for finance is whether a new, self-operated system will be more or less expensive for Evergreen and its students. The most important thing Aramark does for Evergreen is assume losses; Aramark charges the college less than it pays for our catering, so we would either need to find a way to spend less money than Aramark does or find another caterer who would assume the costs.

Management team

Meredith Espinosa- I’m good at thinking through logistics and focusing on what’s most important for us to focus on to get something working. Finding which bottlenecks are most critical to fix helps keep the team working and being productive, instead of wasting time on unnecessary issues.
Katy McQuillan- My skills are in making connections, following leads and asking questions.  I also recognize the importance of developing a sense of camaraderie amongst my team members and maintaining harmony.
Taylor Fraker- I am good at facilitating discussion, posing alternative views, and keeping tidy notes. I will do my best to help the team stay nimble, organized, and well-documented throughout the project.
Carlos D. Otero Acevedo- I have experience in writing and timekeeping. This will allow the organization to clearly state it’s mission, strengths, operations, etc. And I will also make sure we stay on task.

Advisors

Our advisors include our two professors from our program “Alternatives in and to Capitalism”: Sarah Williams and Peter Dorman. The former has committed to providing us with direct support when asked, while the latter has provided us with questions that will guide us in our documentation. We are also being advised by Rhian Peterman, Culinary Entrepreneurship Developer at Evergreen State College.

Ownership & Structure

Self-Op Food Systems is co-owned by Meredith Espinosa, Katy McQuillan, Taylor Fraker, and Carlos D. Otero Acevedo. Each of us has a 25% stake. We are a non-profit organization.

Locations & Facilities

Our company would not need a physical location, per se. Rather, we would facilitate the supply of food into the locations where Aramark currently does. This would include the Greenery, Einstein Bros Bagels, Batdorf and B

Technology

Depending on the food system that would be instituted in the college, it may be necessary to acquire some for of point-to-sale system, as well as a system to simplify inventory.

Equipment & Tools
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Depending on the way provide food to the campus, miscellaneous material may be necessary, such as menus, cutler, plates, etc. More long-term materials, such as tables and chairs are already provided by the college.

The market for this will be, of course, the Evergreen student body. With approximately 3,600 undergraduates, we need a food supply system that can keep up with the demand of a few thousand hungry college students. While a meal plan is not mandatory for all of them, it is essential for students living in the kitchenless residence halls. Even outside of meal plans, places like Einstein Bros. Bagels and the POD Market get a lot of business from students using standard payment methods, so there’s plenty of places to focus on.

Our Solution

Aramark is in conflict with the ideals of the Evergreen State College. This is why the objective of our group will be to increase the ethical accountability and fiscal responsibility of the college. To do this, we will facilitate the integration of a new food systems. This will include providing the college detailed information on different paths that are available to ranging from alternative vendors that more closely align with Evergreen to it’s own self operating food system.

Current alternatives

The existing food system superstructure on campus is monopolized by the Aramark corporation. This represents the sole source of competition for any means of food access and distribution. The Eggplant Collective is a student run organization managed by S&A funds and in some regards could be considered a source of competition as it does take in money that may otherwise be funneled into the meal plan based dining systems throughout the Evergreen campus. The campus bookstore is also a self sustaining operation that does not fall under the Aramark umbrella.
Aramark’s hegemony gives them an advantage; their activity on campus is subsidized by their ethically questionable contracts in private prisons across the west coast. The magnitude of their infrastructure allows them to facilitate large scale transactions with entities like Sysco. However, Aramark is also making strides to localize its food sources, seeking to improve its public image. This represents a form of competition in and of itself as Aramark attempts to tap into the available local agricultural community, a community we also seek to cooperate with as we present alternatives.

Our advantages

First and foremost, our solution wouldn’t have the ethical dilemmas of financially supporting a prison contractor. That should speak for itself. Beyond that, a new contract could avoid the lock-in that Aramark has imposed on any catering or credit/debit card transactions. Without those lock-in clauses, any organization could take credit cards on campus without having to pay a tithe to Aramark, and club meetings could advertise having food without being forced to cater through Aramark.