letter to admin - need extra sets of eyes

Dr. Burley told me to post the letter to the admin so far to show to class. I only got to change a few things.. changed the survey/petition facts to bullet points and changed "I" in the beginning to "we." I made the margins smaller too but it's still a little over a page. Any suggestions for things to take out/edit?

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Dear President John Crain,

            My name is Bonnie May, and I’m writing to you on behalf of Reconnect, our environmental and sustainability student group on campus. 

We are writing to you to propose an exciting change for our school that will improve the image and community of the university as a whole, as well as fulfill our bold mission statement: “… to lead the educational, economic, and cultural development of southeast Louisiana.”  This change combines all three of these elements, as well as others, and it is one simple change: Food.

The Real Food Challenge (realfoodchallenge.org) is a national campaign where students work together with their campus dining representatives, faculty, and small farmers to increase access to local, sustainable, and “real” food at their universities.  This task has numerous economic, educational, social, health, and environmental benefits. Supporting small local farmers puts more money into the local economy than purchasing from industrial farmers from far away would, which would allow our university to support the local community it belongs to.  Food that is driven shorter distances also maintains more of its nutrients, is fresher and tastier, and consumes fewer fossil fuels.  Furthermore, allowing students to get to know where their food comes from and the farmers that grow the food allows students to gain a stronger sense of community and pride for their school.  Creating this simple change would provide an applied, hands-on learning experience for students where they discover how food is connecting to all of these issues.

The Real Food Challenge’s overall goal is to shift one billion dollars of university food budget money to community-based, sustainable, fair, and humane food by the year 2020.  As of now, over 300 colleges already have their own farms and other farm-to-cafeteria initiatives, and about $35 million dollars of annual university food budgets have already been shifted towards obtaining more local, sustainable, and fair food.  Here are some examples of schools who are achieving “Real Food” successes:

·               Pacific University in Oregon purchases local cage-free eggs, local grass-fed beef, fair trade products, and produce from local, sustainable farms.  

·               At Arizona State University, 35% of their food purchases are local. They also receive much of their food directly from farmers through monthly farmers markets and CSA’s (Community-Supported Agriculture).  

·               The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill sources approximately 25% of its food from local farms.  They have won numerous awards for sustainability, earning an “A“in Food and Recycling on the College Sustainability Report Card.  

There are many other examples of schools that have successfully shifted toward acquiring more real food and honor small farmers proudly.  We would like Southeastern Louisiana University to be one of them.  So far, there haven’t been any universities in Louisiana have succeeded in the Real Food Challenge. Southeastern Louisiana University would be the first in the state, and a leader in the region.  With Louisiana’s rich agricultural history and long growing seasons, it would only be logical for our school to reap the benefits of having fresher, healthier, and more sustainable local food that puts money back into our local economy.

On October 24^th, Reconnect and Dr. Burley’s applied Environmental Sociology graduate class hosted a farmers market for National Food Day. Students were able to purchase fresh vegetables picked that very morning, less than 150 miles away from southern Louisiana and southern Mississippi. The farmers that participated in Food Day were the Pointe Coupee Farmers Cooperative and the India Springs Farmers Cooperative. Students were very enthusiastic about this event, and many expressed interest in having more farmers markets on campus or having more local food in the Caymen cafeteria.

·      Of the 274 students surveyed, 230 of them said they would be willing to pay slightly more for more local produce in the cafeteria.

·      226 said they would attend a regular farmers market hosted at Southeastern. 

·      We have also collected 1079 signatures from students who are interested in Southeastern Louisiana University getting more real food on campus.

We have many students on campus who think this is a great idea for Southeastern, and we hope that you do too and support it.  Something as simple as changing food can have a big positive impact on our school and on our university as a whole.

Thank you for your time, consideration, and hopefully your support.

Sincerely,

Bonnie May, president of Reconnect