College boosts cuisine to get off the worst campus food list

Parent Cafe
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<p>
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Sick of perennially making the list of college campuses with the worst food, St. Bonaventure spent nearly $4 million last summer overhauling its dining hall and menu and greeted students in the fall with a whole new culinary experience...</p>

<p>"The facility is beautiful, and the food is 100 times better than what it was," said Curtis Middlebrooks Jr., 20, as he munched on clam strips. "There's so much more variety."</p>

<p>It's not the only campus concerned about its food. </p>

<p>Geneseo State College, for example, spent nearly $5 million in 2003 to turn an old dining hall into a two-story food court.</p>

<p>Fredonia State College last fall completed a multimillion-dollar renovation and addition to include a Starbucks, convenience store and a marketplace-style dining area...</p>

<p>There's also greater awareness among students about diabetes, food allergies and eating a balanced diet, compelling colleges to turn campus kitchens over to dietitians and chefs, who are dishing up a wide array of foods, from Thai to Latin to Indian, Smith said.</p>

<p>And don't underestimate what good food can do for a school.</p>

<p>"Colleges have realized a good food service program is a wonderful way to attract students," said Ginny Geer-Mentry, director of dining at Geneseo. "That's one of the things they want to see when they tour the campus."</p>

<p>At St. Bonaventure, Hickey Dining Hall hadn't been renovated since the 1970s and was overdue for a makeover.</p>

<p>School officials decided to move up the renovation timetable in 2003, when St. Bonaventure hit No. 1 on a list of campuses with the worst food...
Criscone is hoping the changes are a little more palatable for St. Bonaventure, which also ranks in the Princeton Review among hard-drinking schools.</p>

<p>"I don't think we want to be known as a party school with bad food," Criscone said."

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<p><a href="http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20070124/1063445.asp%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20070124/1063445.asp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>
[quote]
Sister Margaret Carney, president of St. Bonaventure University, concedes that the Princeton Review is is “a public relations problem” for the Olean-based college. More to the point, Carney sees the publication as inherently nonsensical in its method of review.</p>

<p>In recent years, Bonaventure has had the dubious distinction of being rated as having amongst the worst dorm and cafeteria food, even being put in the No. 1 slot in 2005.</p>

<p>Carney said that while the ranking caused the college to speed up “a number of changes we were going to make anyway” to food service, she doesn’t see the food service as having anything substantially “bad” about it. But once students hear or see their college attached to bad food, she said, random surveys of undergraduates by Princeton Review can result in a self-fulfilling prophecy.</p>

<p>At the same time, St. Bonaventure’s student radio station was named as the second-best in the nation, which, while heartening to hear, doesn’t necessarily make sense, Carney said.</p>

<p>“I am becoming increasingly convinced that the rankings machines make it almost impossible to present the value of an individual college ... in a truly representative manner,” she said.</p>

<p>U.S. News & World Report does solicit admissions and grading information for its rankings, and nearly every college complies with its requests — mainly out of the fear of being left out of the survey, and therefore out of the homes of high school seniors, they don’t.</p>

<p>While U.S. News’ methods are a bit more grounded in real data, University at Buffalo Provost Satish K. Tripathi said even that magazine’s methods don’t provide a clear picture of every university’s makeup.</p>

<p>“A statistic like time to graduation is a good one to keep track of, for sure,” Tripathi said. “But some students, especially international students and students with work study obligations, can’t always graduate on a normal track.</p>

<p>“For a public research university, especially, but for any school, you have to look at what its goals are, what its student makeup is ... those are things that don’t get measured.”
Anne Marie Olivo, a senior at UB who attended high school in Long Island, remembers reading through a “big book” of rankings she and her family got out from the library and looking through brochures sent by the colleges themselves when she was looking for a college.</p>

<p>“My mom was really interested in finding out about the dining halls, the cleanliness ... all those kinds of things,” Olivo said. Based on that information and some materials sent by a linguistics department, her family made a trip to Nazareth College in Rochester.</p>

<p>“It seemed like a fabulous department, until we got there and saw that it was kind of a tiny little shack in the woods somewhere,” Olivo said.</p>

<p>At UB, a conversation with a few people in the linguistics department helped cement the university as her main choice.</p>

<p>“I think I made up my mind, mostly, just by going and visiting the schools,” she said. “It was real people, who answered my questions and gave a real picture of what a department was like, that really helped.”

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<p><a href="http://www.news-tribune.net/schools/...l?start:int=15%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.news-tribune.net/schools/...l?start:int=15&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>For those interested in college food services, St. Bonaventure University works with Aramark Education Service. Before going to SBU, Criscone was director of food services at Vassar. ARAMARK Higher Education provides food services to approximately 500 colleges and universities in the United States - many of which have "Farm-to-college" programs that connect colleges and universities with producers in their area to provide local farm products. The scope of these programs vary greatly from campus to campus. On some campuses, local produce is used only for special dinners and events, while at others local fresh food is incorporated into cafeteria meals every day.</p>

<p>More info. on The Community Food Security Coalition (CFSC) and the National Farm to College Program, which works to help farmers, food service personnel, students, faculty and others to establish and maintain farm-to-college programs can be found at:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.farmtocollege.org/list.php%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.farmtocollege.org/list.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p><a href="http://www.nwf.org/campusEcology/dspGreeningProjects.cfm?iid=6%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.nwf.org/campusEcology/dspGreeningProjects.cfm?iid=6&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>I don't have any knowledge of St B, but I do think there is a continuing trend to improve college food, dorms and facilities. This is not just because we have somehow gotten a higher standard of living and become more demanding. This trend makes good business sense. For many, many years academic salaries were modest. Now supply and demand is driving up salaries and is a major reason for the skyrocketing costs of a college education. Improvements in food service are quick, cheap and really do seem to help improve the appeal of the school. Improvements in dorms will also occur but that will take decades. In the past, we have discussed the dorms and facilities of the SUNY system. I believe the 1970's prison architecture and small cinder block dorm rooms on the SUNY campuses contribute to the overall depressing feel. The food court at Geneseo or the new townhouse-style dorms go a long way towards improving the college environment. It has been a few years, but I don't think Binghamton has done much. The Binghamton administration should take a drive up the road to Ithaca College to see what should be done. IC is clearly a notch below Binghamton academically, but the campus has way more appeal. The food is excellent. Many of the buildings are old but they are clean and very well maintained. Upgraded lighting, paint and flooring really can make a difference. The whole campus has a good feel as opposed to the dismal, depressing feel of Bing.</p>

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<p>When it comes to the campus dining experience, the bottom line directly affects the price and terms of meal contracts and service. This article about Aramark campus dining at UNC Chapel Hill might explain why it no longer is quite so easy or cheap to satisfy the customer and keep prices down:</p>

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Like it or not, dining on campus is big business.</p>

<p>Each year Carolina Dining Services brings in more than $18 million* - the majority coming from students' pockets - from meal plans and Lenoir Mainstreet sales.</p>

<p>And while student opinion drives many of the department's decisions, nothing trumps the bottom line.</p>

<p>Mike Freeman, director of Auxiliary Services, said dining services operates on a tight budget. "We become the constant entrepreneur."</p>

<p>The department must pay for all overhead costs and renovations itself, with the only external support coming from $1.8 million from a $37 per semester student fee. With almost $20 million in expenditures in fiscal year 2006, officials are pursuing changes to fill the gaps.</p>

<p>The University is the only school in the UNC system that does not require meal plans for any segment of the student population, which poses the biggest challenge.</p>

<p>"If we don't perform well, students won't buy," Freeman said.</p>

<p>Aramark, an international food and hospitality company, governs most of what happens in the dining halls. The company signed a contract to provide food services to the University in 2001, making UNC one of about 600 schools employing Aramark, according to spokeswoman Julie Camardo.</p>

<p>As described by UNC Aramark representative Fred Bissinger, the University gives Aramark a specific budget with which to purchase food and hire workers.</p>

<p>The University reimburses the company monthly for their expenses. Aramark makes profit by spending less than the budgeted amount, up to 2 percent of the total.</p>

<p>But though Aramark usually beats budget, the company also must pay the University a $500,000 annual space fee. This sum severely cuts into Aramark's profits.</p>

<p>Freeman said in the sixth year of the 10-year contract, Aramark had made less than $100,000 total profit.</p>

<p>Bissinger, resident district manager for dining services, was sent to Chapel Hill in July 2006 to try and solve the financial woes. He said he has been with the company for 18 years and that his focus is singular.</p>

<p>"Food service is a simple business," he said. "All you have to do is satisfy the customer."</p>

<p>Dining today</p>

<p>During the past six years, dining services has lost about $1 million. Though the department is not trying to make a profit, dining cannot accept losses for long.</p>

<p>"I'm living on a dime right now, but I do have the money to pay," Freeman said.</p>

<p>To try to reverse these effects, several changes were instituted recently.</p>

<p>Meal plans, which had been a semester-by-semester deal, now require a year-long commitment.</p>

<p>The price per meal also rose, and several management positions were eliminated.</p>

<p>Dining officials determined that 5,000 meal plans must be sold and maintained for the year in order for the department to break even.</p>

<p>In years past, dining would meet that goal for the fall semester but would fall below the mark in the spring with nonrenewals. This drove the recent change to a year-long commitment.</p>

<p>Dining services sold 5,442 meal plans for fall 2006.</p>

<p>Students still can cancel plans, but it now costs $250.</p>

<p>One of the main causes, Freeman said, is food waste. He said more than four tons of food were thrown away last year. Though dining officials have experimented with smaller plates and serving tinier portions, it remains a problem.</p>

<p>"How do you approach this?" Bissinger said. "Do you stand at the conveyer belt and say, 'Think of all the starving children?'"

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<p><a href="http://media.www.dailytarheel.com/media/storage/paper885/news/2007/01/17/University/Campus.Dining.Debt.Spurs.Changes-2650526.shtml?sourcedomain=www.dailytarheel.com&MIIHost=media.collegepublisher.com&xmlsyn=1%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://media.www.dailytarheel.com/media/storage/paper885/news/2007/01/17/University/Campus.Dining.Debt.Spurs.Changes-2650526.shtml?sourcedomain=www.dailytarheel.com&MIIHost=media.collegepublisher.com&xmlsyn=1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>Colleges are working hard to keep their customers happy as this article about UCSD reports. So, although recent improvements such as broadened selections, a move away from transfats and to healthier, whole food options have boosted food prices, San Diego students like what the college food services are dishing up:</p>

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[quote]
“The prices have gone up a little, but I'd rather have good food,” said Burleigh Drummond, a UCSD sophomore eating a hummus and turkey ciabatta sandwich last week at the OceanView Terrace cafeteria.</p>

<p>If anything, several students said they would prefer even more healthful and varied options.</p>

<p>“If the food is not good, I'm not going to eat it,” said UCSD freshman Ariel Whitson.</p>

<p>The demand for higher-quality food has stoked sales for colleges across the country. On-campus student dining purchases rose 3.4 percent in the past year, according to a survey released this month by Food Service Director magazine.</p>

<p>And sales are projected to increase by 5 percent next year, according to food consulting firm Technomic Inc. As college dining services have become more business savvy, they've come under increasing pressure to boost revenue for schools, said John Lawn, editor-in-chief of Food Management magazine.</p>

<p>At UCSD, the dining facilities raked in $22.7 million in revenue last year, while spending $20.4 million. San Diego State's dining operation took in $17.2 million and spent about $17.1 million – far better than five years ago, when its costs exceeded revenue by more than $1 million.</p>

<p>No more all-you-can eat</p>

<p>College officials say they are using upscale markets such as Whole Foods and the restaurant industry as models, rather than other universities.</p>

<p>Many have shifted away from the all-you-can-eat system to more varied options, including grab-and-go meals and declining-balance meal plans that allow students to pay for individual dishes.</p>

<p>The grab-and-go market, which includes wrapped sandwiches, fruit cups and similar portable meals and snacks, has grown dramatically in the past two years.</p>

<p>USD provides grab-and-go options at all its retail facilities, and has seen sales grow 25 percent in the past year. SDSU officials say their portable food business has tripled in the past two years.</p>

<p>“Students today are too busy in their daily lives to sit down and enjoy a meal,” said Paul Melchoir, associate director of SDSU's dining service. “They eat on the run. They eat in classrooms.”</p>

<p>Another trend that college officials expect to have a big impact in coming years is a greater focus on environmental issues in college dining.</p>

<p>Many colleges, including several in San Diego, buy produce from local growers. That results in fresher fruits and vegetables, and it's better for the environment, officials said, because it requires less shipping and fewer fertilizers.</p>

<p>SDSU started a program in the fall that composts fruit, vegetable and meat trimmings from the cafeteria. So far, the campus has diverted 28 tons from the Miramar Landfill.</p>

<p>USD officials say they're considering switching from paper and Styrofoam packaging to materials that are biodegradable and made out of sugar cane.</p>

<p>“We're finding that the generation we're serving now really cares about these issues,” said Kim LaPean, marketing coordinator for residential and student services at UC Berkeley's Cal Dining. “They're asking us questions like, 'Where does the food come from? How is it grown? How far did it travel?' They're more curious about what happens to the food before it's served.”

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<p><a href="http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/education/20070223-9999-1n23transfat.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/education/20070223-9999-1n23transfat.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>Asteriskea,
I'd be very interested to hear how UNC students like their dining options today. When I was there back in the dark ages, the food was horrendous. Lenoir was old, dingy, and dirty feeling. I purchased most of my pathetic diet at the various student stores (sandwiches, chicken biscuits, donuts...) I hope they are providing better choices now, but if they're losing money it doesn't sound like it.</p>

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<p>“Campus Food From Around the Corner” highlights the growing trend to “buy local” fresh farm food, taking into account cost and quality, at Carleton, Kenyon and Berea Colleges:</p>

<p>

</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/11/01/local[/url]”>http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/11/01/local&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>and according to the latest going green report (the College Sustainability Report Card):

</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.endowmentinstitute.org/sustainability/CollegeSustainabilityReportCard2008.pdf[/url]”>http://www.endowmentinstitute.org/sustainability/CollegeSustainabilityReportCard2008.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Carleton is also in the midst of accepting bids from dining services companies, to the delight of the students who prefer the food at St. Olaf. Quality of food is just one of the criteria - using local vendors and composting waste are some of the others.</p>

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<p>When our S was weighing two competitive screenwriting programs, one at SUNY Purchase, the other in California (Chapman U), unable to visit either, he had to rely upon what others said and what he could read. When he read terrible reports of “virtually inedible!” food slop like an elementary school cafeteria at SUNY Purchase, and then read how Chapman students were delighted with their charming selection of Mexican, Asian, wraps, etc., it really made him weigh that. Food was practically the dealmaker/dealbreaker, as the money came up nearly equal due to need plus merit aid out in California. He’s a teenaged BOY and the thought of being stuck with unbearable food for 4 years really affected his decision. That SUNY Purchase program is very competitive and it was hard to tell them (when they called, surprised to be turned down), “I heard your food is terrible” and he gave no real reason to the questioner. But food did factor into his decision role, given two very fine programs in a specialty major. It just felt petty to him to discuss it like that. (I have no pride, by comparison).</p>

<p>My alma mater (Oberlin) began food co-operatives where the students determine the menu with professional guidance, then shop, prepare, serve and clean up their own meals, saving the parents on boarding costs. THen if you don’t like the food, well, you made it yourself so how much can you complain?<br>
While there were only 4 such co-ops in the l960’s, the movement has grown to some 20 co-ops, including vegetarian, vegan, kosher. The conventional dining hall cafeterias are also available, for a bit more money. These food coop savings to families equate to an on-campus job (8-10 hours weekly) yet are available to any student regardless of family income, high or low. If curious to learn more to apply to your situation, google up “Oberlin Student Cooperative Association” or OSCA. </p>

<p>Food and the environment (waste management practices around the kitchen, local vendors as FIrefly menioned in the previous post, etc) matter a lot to this generation. Colleges and unis are wise to pay it more attention. With a bit of thought and creativity, you can improve food offerings tremendously. </p>

<p>As a mom, I’m only concerned that the delightful Chapman food will be better than my home cooking. With my older 2, I enjoyed the chorus during home visits of “Mom, I miss your food at campus!” I don’t think I cook as well as what I’m reading about now, but maybe it’ll inspire me to improve at home :)</p>

<p>Re: U. of Buffalo, where I live now, I was delighted to read that account in Post #2. That campus always takes negative hits for its blah architecture, so it’s good to hear the food and learning are pleasing to that family!</p>

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<p>I am not all that surprised that horror stories about terrible college food can be a deal breaker when it comes down to the wire so I hope that the title of this New York Times article from 1989 isn’t the case “CAMPUS LIFE: SUNY; Some Things, Like Dorm Food, Never Change”:</p>

<p><a href=“http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE3DC1631F935A15750C0A96F948260[/url]”>http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE3DC1631F935A15750C0A96F948260&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>In defense of SUNY Purchase, it did make a top ten list for most vegetarian friendly colleges although it is no longer on the current list of nominees:</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.peta2.com/college/c_vegschools_2007.asp[/url]”>http://www.peta2.com/college/c_vegschools_2007.asp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“http://www.peta2.com/college/c-vegschools-winners.asp[/url]”>http://www.peta2.com/college/c-vegschools-winners.asp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Yale is on the list, and is the host for the “REAL FOOD SUMMIT: Students Mobilizing for Just and Sustainable Food in the Northeast” to be held over the weekend.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.yale.edu/sustainablefood/RealFoodSummit.html[/url]”>http://www.yale.edu/sustainablefood/RealFoodSummit.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“http://www.yale.edu/sustainablefood/food_menus.html[/url]”>http://www.yale.edu/sustainablefood/food_menus.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>And, if the dubious distinction of worst college food truly fits the bill there is always the hope that the Food Network will come to the rescue:</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.retrieverweekly.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=1957&format=html[/url]”>http://www.retrieverweekly.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=1957&format=html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;