be sure visit the post on the USSF page at https://www.ussf2007.org/en/forum/287, which details the problem and some solutions.

here's the post on the USSF site, but as the conversation continues, you'll have to visit the URL link for more info.

It has come to the attention of a few people in the Africa Tent, some friends at Wiser Earth, and others, that a disparity exists in the following areas:

* Recycling of food and waste byproducts
* Diversity of food vendors in the immediate vicinity of the Civic Center available to forum participants

Recycling
While there has been recycling of some waste in the Africa Tent, this has been limited to plastic bottles and some aluminum. Materials that could be recycled such as paper, other plastic containers and food waste are not being recycled and instead thrown away to rest in another landfill.

After talking with other forum participants, we discovered that recycling is not being done everywhere throughout the Civic Center site. Inside the Civic Center there are mainly small garbage cans, checked sporadically to ensure no overflows.

Diversity of Food Vendors
Because we are providing food to visitors and participants at the 4th Annual Bill Sutherland Institute for Africa Advocates, which is convening under the Africa Tent, we were told by the USSF/Civic Center that we had to use the vendor who is contracted to the venue by the City of Atlanta.

We have problems with this for the following reasons:

* Any bidding process which requires a company/business to select from a list of one is a monopoly and guarantees that the one company selected as the onlly vendor will make a profit.
* The exhorbitant cost that the Africa Tent partner organizations is mandated to pay on food and labor to one exceeds the market rate for other competitive restaurants and food vendors int he Atlanta area.
* The money saved by choosing a vendor who gives the same service at a less expensive price and diversifying the food vendor base could be spent on further supplementing the programs of said organizations under the tent
* In essence, the bidding process is a form of discrimination and apartheid. It favors vendors who can cater both large and small events, without considering the fiscal needs -- or even palates -- of different groups.

These practices stand in direct opposition to the values and objectives of the USSF and its convening groups. What are your thoughts about this and what can be done at the next USSF to address this problem?

For more info, come to the air-conditioned Africa Tent for more discussion and possible action about this economic and environmental issue. Stay tuned to the message board here and on Wiser Earth