Berklee: Divest From Aramark, Invest In Community
Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music’s dining halls are currently run by Aramark - a main supplier of CoreCivic, one of the largest privately-funded prison systems in America. Aramark, as a food service provider, profits from the abuse of our incarcerated family, sources from Big Food corporations that contribute to environmental destruction and locks out local farmers, fishers, and food businesses in the process.
Berklee gave Aramark $7 million in a single year. That 7 million comes directly from us, the students, and our families. Berklee has remained contracted with Aramark for the past 20 years, and it is our collective responsibility to hold them accountable for their affiliation with the prison industrial complex and lack of equity within our local food economy through their partnership with Aramark.
Ending this contract, and investing in a self-operated dining system that prioritizes students, workers, our local and global food systems, and community at large is the future. Sign here!
Petition by
To:
Berklee College of Music
From:
[Your Name]
To Berklee leadership,
We are a coalition of students and faculty from Berklee College of Music and Boston Conservatory at Berklee and Massachusetts community members who, upon learning of the atrocities Aramark is responsible for, demand that Berklee ends all contracts with Aramark and transitions to a self-operated dining system.
Ever since the Black Lives Matter uprisings from the summer of 2020, Berklee has repeatedly stated its mission to fight against systemic racism in its campus. Yet, for the past 20 years, Berklee leadership has chosen to contract with Aramark ‒ a main supplier of CoreCivic, one of the largest privately-funded prison systems in America. Aramark, as a supplier, is responsible for the abuse of our incarcerated family and profits off of their abuse. The contradiction of Berklee having million-dollar-contracts with a company that does business within the prison industrial complex, is too loud to ignore. Part of creating “a campus climate that is anti-racist” is ending the contract with Aramark and investing in a self-operated dining system that partners with local Black, Indigenous, and POC food producers & food networks.
A transition to a self-operated system would open Berklee’s dining halls to local businesses and food workers, an industry that is particularly affected by the current COVID-19 pandemic. Student funds, which are currently going to Aramark, would invest within the local food economy, and in turn give students increased autonomy in curating menus and dining options that suit them and that are worth their dollars.
This is not a new concept. Before merging with Berklee, some of Boston Conservatory dining used to be self-operated. Tons of universities across Totaunt (Greater Boston area) have made the switch successfully, such as UMass Amherst, Westfield State University, Boston College, and recently John Hopkins University. Local POC-centered food businesses and networks like the Boston Ujima Project, Commonwealth Kitchen, City Fresh Foods, Henry P. Kendall Foundation, and Farm To Institution are present and available to help our campus make the transition. Berklee Uprooted & Rising and other students are present to aid Berklee in this transition as well. This initiative is true community building.
With love & solidarity,
All people who wish to create a better world
[Sources to Text: www.tinyurl.com/BerkleeUNRPetition]