UCLA administrators put an end to a student group’s lunch
program this week after they determined the group’s activity
constituted an illegal sale of food on campus.
Already about 50 students have signed petitions asking the
university to allow Nama Kirtan das, a monk of the International
Society for Krishna Consciousness, to continue serving food on
campus to members of the Bhakti Yoga Club. Nama Kirtan das has
brought vegetarian Indian meals to campus on Mondays and Tuesdays
for about three years.
After reading a Daily Bruin article about the Bhakti Yoga
Club’s program, Steve Fuller, Environmental Health Program
Manager for UCLA Environment, Health & Safety, sent an e-mail
to some UCLA staff telling them he believed the
organization’s biweekly food sales constituted a public event
that violated California law.
“I was aware of this ongoing event, but the group’s
leadership represented it to me as a private event for club members
only and not a food sale open to the larger community,”
Fuller wrote in the e-mail, dated Jan. 25.
According to the e-mail, student groups qualify in California as
Nonprofit Charitable Temporary Food Facilities, which can sell food
four times in one calendar year.
In addition to these four allowances, student groups can sell
food at community events where multiple organizations
participate.
Berky Nelson, director of the Center for Student Programming and
one of the recipients of the e-mail, said Tuesday that while he did
not know specific details of the Bhakti Yoga Club’s
activities, those who serve food on campus must comply with all
laws, including those that set standards for health and safety.
Terry Saunders, a CSP advisor, sent an e-mail last Thursday to
Milind Joshi, president of the Bhakti Yoga Club, telling him Nama
Kirtan das could no longer bring food to UCLA.
Nama Kirtan das said those who purchased the cuisine he served
on campus were generally members of the Bhakti Yoga Club who had
prepaid for their meals. He added that the food is served hot and
that all of it is prepared at the International Society for Krishna
Consciouness’s restaurant off Venice Boulevard, which meets
health and safety requirements established by law.
The purpose of bringing food was not to make money, he said. At
$4 for an all-you-can-eat plate, all revenue from the Krishna Lunch
went back into supporting the program, he added.
“This is a service for the students. … It’s
something they want and they choose,” he said.
Joshi said Nama Kirtan das’ visits meant he and other
students in the club could eat tasty vegetarian food on campus
twice a week.
The lack of vegetarian options on the menu at UCLA ““ where
raw salad dominates the meat-free menu ““ is the larger issue,
Joshi said.
With reports from Charles Proctor, Bruin senior
staff.