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experience. And because we are screening the residents carefully, we are making certain that the seniors in each community are in similar age groups and come from similar religious and social backgrounds. These people will walk into the new community with a ready-made group of prescreened friends just waiting for them, so there is never any reason for anyone to feel isolated.”
    A hand went up in the back, “Isn’t that kind of discriminatory? I mean—to put people from the same religious and social background in the same community—it sounds kind of like segregation to me. What about diversity?”
    “Actually, the communities are racially diverse. But they are comprised of people sharing common social and religious identifiers because seniors have a hard time adjusting to new situations. Think about it—we promote diversity in schools so that children will experience many different lifestyles and ideologies because those experiences will help to make them more rounded adults.  For seniors, the challenges are quite different. The isolation, anxiety and panic which are an unfortunate part of aging are often associated with being cut off from what has been safe and familiar. We want to create a protected, emotionally-comforting environment where every person can thrive.
    “We also want to create a physically healthful environment. Each community features a dining hall with menus specially prepared by a nutritionist. Each meal is designed to be appetizing as well as properly balanced.  By providing seniors with a proper diet, we believe that we can reduce some of the chronic diseases which we tend to observe as they continue to age.”
    Another hand went up, “What if they don’t want to eat at the dining hall? Is there a grocery store or something in the community?”
    “There are stores and shops in the community, but there is not a grocery store, per se.  The units do not have kitchens, so there is no food prep going on in the units themselves.”
    “But what about people who like to cook? My grandma’s a great cook.”
    “Perhaps, but the Smart Seniors community is about creating solutions for a wide range of challenges. Grocery shopping and cooking leads to food spoilage and waste. According to the EPA, in 2010 more than thirty-four million tons of food was wasted in the U.S.—that was almost fourteen percent of total municipal solid waste.” At this she clicked a slide which showed an animated landfill with heaps of wasted produce and meat. “Less than three percent was recycled; the other thirty-three million tons was thrown away.  Today, food waste remains the single largest source of municipal solid waste going into landfills and incinerators.  It is also is a major source of methane which we now know has a massive impact on climate change.
    “The Smart Seniors Communities generate virtually no food waste. Each meal is pre-portioned and nutritionally-balanced.” Some of the students frowned a little at the thought of no more home-cooked meals from elderly parents or grandparents, and Janice tried to put her comments into perspective for them. “Look, Grandma may like to make spaghetti, but if most of her spaghetti is going to end up at the landfill producing methane gas that is going to destroy the planet, should we allow her to keep making spaghetti, or should we take her to a great new environment where she can eat pre-portioned spaghetti? I think that’s pretty much a no-brainer if you ask me.”
    “So she can still have spaghetti and meatballs—she just can’t cook it herself?” followed up the person with the grandma with culinary skills.
    “I didn’t say anything about meatballs. The spaghetti that Grandma is going to get in the dining hall is going to be vegetarian. Most of the meals are. Vegetarian lifestyles are more healthful and much better for the environment.  Residents can expect to have lean protein about once a week, and really, that is just a concession to the fact that