Today we had a “block party” on campus and there was tons of food. We had about 200 students come out and eat but we had food for about 400-500 students. So imagine…..fresh food that was prepared by “dining services” for 400 students and leftovers that had not even been touched or uncovered. Instead of donating the food to one of the homeless shelters or community centers with food banks, they threw it away. When I approached the manager she expressed that she too understood our concern and that she wished they could give the food away, but they could not. As an auxiliary service that represents a state agency, they are not allowed to donate or give away anything paid for with state funds….although they “donated” the food to our student organizations for the event….This situation bothered me because of the issue of “liability”that kept coming up within my conversations with the staff as well as students and others. What kind of society have we become? We are willing to be wasteful to save ourselves from being liable for “potential” risk instead of helping others. We talk sustainability; it’s the new fad…yet these types of situations that I am sure occur daily all over the nation are just swept under the rug. What kind of integrity are we portraying and displaying and modeling for young people like those college students who literally stood there and watched pounds of perfectly good food get tossed in large garbage cans? They are our future and yet all they continue to learn is what not to do in order to keep them safe and free of litigation. We are paying an awfully high price (whether we know it or not) for this “freedom” that we have…..The true price of freedom is expensive if we look at how much avoiding liability is costing us….