Over the last few weeks while comparing life in London and life in Iowa I have noticed that there appear to be less of an obesity epidemic here. While walking and taking public transport here there appears to be a significant decrease in the obese population compared to back home. While thinking about this I came up with several explanations for this. First, food sold in the UK could have less sugar and be healthier overall compared to food in the US. Second, people in London walk more than people in Iowa because driving is less common, leading to a healthier lifestyle. And last, healthcare is more affordable in the UK than in the US for most, this could lead to people visiting the doctor more regularly and creating a healthier lifestyle.
During the first week here in London I ate a chicken sandwich and fries from McDonald’s, I noticed a difference in how the sandwich tasted compared to one in the US. I also noticed the fries were salted less and contributed the lack of salt to the taste differences. I looked up the ingredients McDonald’s uses to make fries in both the US and UK and fries in the UK are made with significantly fewer ingredients. In the US the ingredients are potatoes, vegetable oil(canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, hydrogenated soybean oil, natural beef flavor), dextrose, sodium acid pyrophosphate, salt. Fries in the Uk consist of potatoes, vegetable oil(sunflower oil, rapeseed), dextrose(1). Although they have a similar calorie count, UK fries have less saturated fat than US McDonald’s fries.
In England for trips that are under one mile in length 81% of them are walked(2), compared to roughly 45% in the US for trips under one mile(3). This statistic did not surprise me, while here I have seen people walking no matter the time of day of where they are, but at home, it was rare that I would see people walking outside of a small area. It seems that London is a more walkable area for a few reasons. First, there are sidewalks along every street and there are other walking paths. Second, there are smaller shops that make it easier to find one within walking distance. Lastly, there are green spaces for leisurely walks, while I have been here I walk in Richmond Park 2-3 times a week. I think that if Iowa City adopted some of these ideas more people would walk and car trips would be reduced, and people would live a healthier lifestyle.
Roehampton seems to be focused on promoting sustainable living. They have automatic lights along paths and in buildings to reduce energy consumption, the campus has tons of green space and an organization called Growhampton promotes sustainable and organic food. Growhampton also runs The Hive which offers healthy and organic options. I feel that both Central and Roehampton focus on sustainability and have options for students to get involved with sustainability efforts on campus. One thing that I believe could be done at Roehampton is creating a compost bin that students could use for leftover food and food scraps instead of throwing them away. At the Union Bar, they serve drinks in single-use plastic cups and they serve some of their food in to-go containers, this creates a large amount of waste. To reduce waste from single-use plastics and to-go containers they could serve drinks in glass cups that would be cleaned and reused and serve food on either trays or plates if they are serving food that will be eaten there.
I believe that Central could create a student organization similar to Growhampton that focuses on getting food from on-campus through small gardens and the chicken coop that provides eggs and opportunities for students to learn. Another initiative that Central could take from Roehampton is the preservation of green space that helps maintain the campus’s natural biodiversity. The greenspace on Roehampton’s campus is full of native species that help animals and other species live in their natural habitat and promote a healthy ecology/biodiversity. These green spaces also provide students and community members a place to walk and relax. Central could do a better job of using its greenspace more effectively by planting native grasses, flowers, and trees. This would help bring native wildlife to campus and could help campus towards becoming carbon neutral.
Overall I think Roehampton does a great job of promoting sustainability, maintaining a green campus, and involving students in its efforts. And that Central could easily adopt some of their practices to improve campus life and reduce its environmental impact.
(1)Food Babe. “Food in America Compared to the U.K. (Why Is It so Different?).” Food Babe, February 28, 2019. https://foodbabe.com/food-in-america-compared-to-the-u-k-why-is-it-so-different/.
(2) UK Publishing Service. “Walking and Cycling Statistics, England: 2017” HMPS, August 30, 2018. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/736909/walking-and-cycling-statistics-england-2017.pdf
(3) “More People Walk to Better Health.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, August 6, 2013. https://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/walking/index.html