I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl

Super Bowl to plant trees and make other greenish efforts 4

Photo: iStockphoto

The National Football League has announced that it will plant trees and take other measures to offset some of the environmental impacts of the most hyped sporting event of the year. This year's Super Bowl will be held in Phoenix, Ariz., on Feb. 3. As part of the greening effort, the organizers have said they're planting 9,000 trees in the state, though only 3,500 of them are actually expected to survive. The Super Bowl stadium and the adjacent NFL theme park will be powered with clean energy on the big day and an expected 65,000 pounds of leftover food from bowl-affiliated events during the week will be donated to area food banks, shelters, and soup kitchens. Not offset, however, are any of the emissions of anyone flying to the event, energy used by the media center and hotels, and energy from probably 98 percent of the country's plasma televisions that will be tuned in to the game. "We're trying to determine where the line is drawn between the organization managing the event and the individual when it comes to offsetting their emissions," said Jack Groh, director of the NFL Environmental Program. "We're trying to figure out at what point does this become someone else's responsibility?"

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  1. maui girl Posted 4:14 am
    07 Jan 2008

    Extra Food at the Super BowlSo I read that the Super Bowl folks are going to donate all the left-over food to the local food bank. That's great, but I was under the impression that this wasn't a good thing to do because it opens up the chance for people to sue if they got sick by eating it.
    I work at a hotel in Maui which throws away so much good food after every banquet. It makes me sick knowing that there are so many people who could use this nurishment. I've always been told they don't give it away because of the risk of getting sued.
     If anyone can offer advice or tell me how to get around this, I would love to reapproach the management of this hotel and all the other hotel companies that throw away perfectly good food out of fear of "getting sued." If anyone knows of any similar programs that could be implemented in Hawaii, please let me know.
    Mahalo!

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  2. jonnybliss Posted 9:16 am
    07 Jan 2008

    reply to Maui girlI was told by a friend recently that some states have legislation that makes companies/organizations not liable if they are donating food. A college dining service in New York stated the concern of getting sued, however it turns out that New York is one of the states with this legislation. So, it's our responsibility to show this legislation to them and ask that policies be changed. Good luck!

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  3. kelly90 Posted 8:20 am
    08 Jan 2008

    chance for people to sue if they got sick by eatinI don't see how someone is able to sue for getting sick from eating FREE food. Since it's not paid for, no liability should be present. IMHO

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  4. NFL Environment Posted 2:23 am
    03 Feb 2008

    Food Recovery at Super BowlWe always work with a local food bank on this project and their people are trained and licensed in food safety. It is true what you said about liability. Most states now have "good samaritan" laws in effect. Those laws protect donors from liability - and most restaurants and hotels know that.
    So we try to help the local food banks get past that barrier so that they can recover food from Super Bowl events and continue to recover food from other events after Super Bowl has moved on.
    Jack Groh

    Director

    NFL Environmental Program

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