UeaT

Dear UeaTers,
On behalf of everybody at Food Services, we would like to welcome you back to U of T. We hope you had a fabulous summer, and are excited to start the fall term.
You will see, over the course of the year, that we are bringing back our popular events from last year, and adding some more exciting events and initiatives. The 2010-2011 year will be a very exciting year in the world of food on campus.
To start the new year, we would like to remind you to lug your mug. By using a reusable mug for your hot and cold drinks, you are helping to eliminate paper cup waste on our campus. As a token of our appreciation, we offer a 25 cent discount on any coffee or tea (hot or cold) purchased in a reusable mug.

Last year, the St. George campus saved 120,385 paper cups from ending up in landfills! That equals $30,096 saved by you! This year, we hope to save a whopping 200,000 cups from ending up in landfills, and we can only reach this goal if you bring a reusable mug to campus.
Participating locations offering the Lug a Mug discount are:
The Buttery –Trinity College
McLennan Physical Labs Cafe
Innis Cafe - Innis College
Kelly Café – Kelly Library USMC
Law Café – Flavelle House (Law Faculty)
Medical Sciences Cafeteria - Medical Sciences Building
Mega Bites - Bahen Centre
OISE Cafe - OISE
Pharmacy Cafe – Pharmacy Building
Reznikoffs Cafe - Morrison Hall (UC)
Robarts Cafeteria - Robarts Library
Sammy's Student Exchange - Hart House
Second Cup (Koffler) - Koffler Centre
Second Cup (Rotman) - Rotman
Second Cup (Sid Smith) - Sidney Smith Hall
Second Cup (Woodsworth) - Woodsworth College
Sid's Cafe - Sidney Smith Hall
Starbucks (AC) - Athletic Centre
Starbucks (MSB) - Medical Sciences Building
Starbucks (Robarts) - Robarts Library
Understudy - Gerstein Library
Veda-Sandford Fleming Building
Veda-Multi-faith Centre
Help U of T reduce waste. Do your part, Lug your Mug.

  If you are taking classes or working at the St. George campus this summer, consider yourself lucky! Majority of our cafeterias and eateries will remain open during the summer...(not to worry, the summer will arrive, eventually). The hours for each location are different, so be sure to ask your server about their summer hours.
All of these locations are open to the U of T public, and accept cash payment.

• Alumni Cafe
• Starbucks at the Athletic Centre
• Mega Bites in the Bahen Centre
• Chestnut Tree at Chestnut Residence
• Understudy Cafe in Gerstein Library
• Second Cup at Grad House
• Sammy's at Hart House
• Innis Cafe
• Second Cup inside Koffler Student Centre
• Starbucks at the Medical Sciences Building (MSB)
• MSB Cafeteria
• Tim Hortons at MSB
• Audrey Taylor Dining Hall at New College
• OISE Cafe
• Second Cup inside Pharmacy Building
• Starbucks inside Robarts Library
• Subway inside Robarts Library
• Robarts Cafeteria
• Second Cup Rotman
• Veda inside Sanford Fleming
• Second Cup inside Sidney Smith
• Sids Cafe
• Tim Hortons inside Sidney Smith
• Reznikoff's Cafe at University College
• Wymilwood Cafe at Victoria College
• Second Cup in Woodsworth College

To find out what each location is serving, download the SUMMER MAP HERE.

Tomorrow (Saturday), a mob of buyers will enter G’s Fine Foods with empty reusable bags in their hands and cash in their wallets. They will purchase food items like they do on any other Saturday, and they will feel good about it. Why? The wonderful people at G’s Fine Foods have promised to use 100% of the money they make on Saturday towards increasing environmental sustainability in their store. They will also connect with Local Food Plus and their environmentally-awesome list of local farmers to provide fresh food for their shoppers. In return, the Carrotmob has promised a mob of customers to their store on Saturday.

 

Since G’s Fine Foods is so close to campus, we recommend that you (and your friends and family) join in the festivities tomorrow. There will be music, an after-party and a mob of environmentally aware people…fun!! And the best part is that your dollars (which you were going to spend on groceries anyways) will support an LFP farmer who treats the livestock on the farm with love, uses environmental sustainable practices on the farm, and ensures that all staff are paid a fair wage.

For more information on LFP farmers, check out the LFP website.

(Interesting fact: U of T is the first University to become LFP certified!!)

 

Not quite sure what a Carrotmob is?

The Carrotmob Toronto blog explains: “Carrotmob is an emerging form of activism. This is not a brutal fight – this is about partnership for change. Carrotmob is community organized consumer power that partners with businesses to reward them for their socially and environmentally choices. A “buycott”, the anti-boycott, that travels in masses to help consumers see the change they want, and rewards businesses who are willing to compete and act for profits.”

 

How does this Carrotmob work?

“Buycotting allows consumers to vote with their dollars,” says event organizer Nico Koenig, a graduate student in the Adult Education and Community Development Program of OISE/University of Toronto. “Through Carrotmob, people are making a significant difference in the fight for environmental responsibility – and against climate change. In these hard times, Carrotmobs are economically feasible – all we ask is that people buy groceries they would already be buying. Every dollar counts!”

 

Why is it important for U of T??

U of T students are part of the Carrotmob organizing team as well as the “mob” that will hit up G’s Fine Foods at the corner of Bloor and Huron.

 

You can find videos, cartoons, discussions, and other cool stuff on their website:

http://toronto.carrotmob.org/

Dear UeaTers,

It was three years ago when I was sitting in the library, just like you, dreading the upcoming exam period. I had a short attention span coupled with terrible eating habits. When stressed, I ate donuts, muffins, cookies, croissants, chips, and twinkies (okay so I had a sweet tooth!). I was the stereotypical “muncher”. I would study for an hour, daydream for the next hour, eat a couple of cookies, check my Facebook for 30 minutes, go get a slice of pizza, and call it a night. My mouth had to be constantly chewing to make my mind work. Or so I thought!

 

My study-partner, however, was quite opposite. She fretted for two hours, made a “To Do” list, fretted some more, studied an hour, and ate nothing because she felt sick during exams. She was the epitome of a “starver”.

 

At this point, you may want to review your own study habits and figure out if you are a starver or a muncher.

 

On the last day of exams, I (4 lbs heavier) and my friend (4 lbs lighter) would crash, complain, and sleep for a week.

 

One night, two days before my Physics exam, I had my “light-bulb” moment (appropriate timing, no?). I woke up at 6am, went for a 15 minute jog, showered and got myself a nice big breakfast of eggs, oranges, toast and coffee. Suddenly energized, I grabbed a bag of blueberries and opened up the books. By noon, the blueberries were gone, my white t-shirt had one purple smudge, and I was 6 chapters smarter. I took an hour long break, had a nice meal of steamed veggies, mashed potatoes, and chicken breasts, yumm. And lots of water. Another four hours with the books, dinner and 5 more chapters later, I felt like a new man! (err, woman!).

The point of all this is that if I treat my body right, it functions well, specially during exams. On that note, read on for 10 simple ways you can change your eating habits and conquer those exams! 

 

 

1. Don’t wait until exam week to eat healthy. If your body is used to twinkies twice a day, it will not understand why you are eating an apple instead. You have to give it time and let your body get used to apples! So try to keep your diet healthy throughout the year. Yes you can eat twinkies sometimes, but allow your body to extract the goodness from fruits everyday…that will keep your blood sugar regulated, and you will not feel lightheaded or tired
2. Keep snacking. Nuts, berries, apricots, raisins, yogurt….eat something small every three hours! Again, it keeps your blood sugar and energy constant.
3. Try to cut back on coffee. If you must have coffee, go with decaf. Cappuccinos and lattes are the devil. Instead, ask them to fill half your cup with milk and top it with decaf coffee and very little sugar. Or try teas. They keep your stomach feeling like it’s full.
4. Do sleep. Eight hours, ten hours, whatever is normal for you. There is nothing as important as getting your daily sleep fix.
5. Drink a lot of water, Keep a bottle close at hand, and take a few sips every fifteen minutes.
6. Relax! Worrying will not make things go any smoother. Try meditation or yoga for a few minutes each day.
7. Exercise, for a few minutes each day. It helps bring up the motivation levels, clears out your head, and keeps your heart smiling (I mean pumping).
8. Do not skip meals. Even if you are a starver, you have to eat. Don’t let stress get in the way of your appetite. Your three main meals a day should be spaced out…and try to not look at a book while eating. A meal should be a way to wind down, treat yourself to something yummy, and not think!
9. Chew gum. It keeps your mouth busy and has very little or no calories.
10. Read Jessica Howard’s tips on how to eat during exams.

Best of luck!!

Easter is 5 days away. The stores are packed with chocolate eggs, and hollow chocolate figures of Bart Simpson, the Transformers and bunnies. Some of you may claim to be too grown up for Easter egg hunts….but we at UeaT encourage all UeaTers to indulge in egg decoration and hunts. Maybe even hold an Easter egg hunt across campus!

 

Before you set out to buy food colors and dyes for your egg decorating ventures, try out some natural dyes. You probably already have some of the ingredients needed.

 

Boil your eggs like you usually do, and leave them in the refrigerator overnight. Boil one cup of water with a small amount of your “color ingredient” until the water picks up the color. Strain the mixture, pour it over your eggs and cover for an hour. The longer you leave the eggs in the dye, the darker the color will be (but it will also seep into the egg, so it may not be a good idea to eat them).

The “color ingredients” can be a range of different spices, fruits, berries, vegetables, and teas. We like to use cherries (pink), blueberries (blue), instant coffee (brown), spinach (green), paprika (orange), grape juice (purple), cranberries (pink), powdered turmeric (yellow) and rooibos teas (orange). You can find a larger list here.

Send us your best colored egg pictures and we will add them to this space!

This video provides ten easy tips on eating healthy. Enjoy!

Adding to the last post, U of T’s Water Initiative is also underway. Campus partners encourage the use of refillable water canteens or bottles. There are filtered water stations in cafeterias, and water fountains in almost every building on campus. You can fill your canteen at any of these locations for free: save yourself some money and keep plastic bottles out of the landfills.

If you are almost convinced to switch to stainless steel canteens, check out The Good Human to be fully convinced.

Cheers!

What better way to welcome the spring than to go green! Green Day is coming up and we at UeaT need your help to reduce our environmental footprint.
The Lug A Mug campaign  is in its second year now, and continues to be a huge success thanks to the students, faculty and staff at U of T. 
If you haven’t already made the switch to reusable containers for your coffee or tea, now is the time to begin! You save $0.25 each time you purchase coffee or tea in your reusable mug; you help the University, the city, and the global environment; and given the funky patterned mugs that are out in the market now, you get to accessorize!

Dear UeaTers,
We are super excited to announce the

$5 MEAL DEALS.

You asked for affordable food options on campus, and we are bringing them to you. During March, you will be able to find a complete meal for only five dollars (including taxes) at one of the locations listed below.
On Monday, $5 will get you a Local Sustainable Burger (made with local ingredients!) with Small Fries and Fountain Pop.
On Tuesday, bring your $5 bill to Sid's Cafe (Euro Market) for a Sandwich of your choice, a Soup of your choice and a Fountain Pop.
On Wednesday, the staff at Howard Ferguson Dining Hall (at University College) will serve you a Veggie or Chicken Wrap with a Fountain Pop for only $5.
On Thursday, hop over to Veda in Sanford Fleming for their famous Stuffed Naan Sandwich (with chutney) and a Can of Pop.
On Friday, MSB is serving Pasta from the Pasta Bar, Garlic Bread and Fountain Pop.

Try it out and let us know what you think. Depending on your feedback, this program will continue into next year.
Enjoy!