The Sustainability Council held an open forum Monday night with members of the food service committee and the general manager of Sodexho for student to express their concerns with food service on campus.
“There’s a huge difference between perceived student opinion and actual student opinion when it comes to dining services,” said Erin Hough, a member of the Sustainability Council, which organized the event.
“So the point of this forum is to show that there are student opinions out there that perhaps aren’t being heard,” she said.
The main topics of discussion at this forum were using local foods, having organic options, having more vegan, vegetarian and restrictive diet options and having student representation on the food services committee.
Nori Yamashita, the general manager of Sodexho on campus, said that one main issue in implementing these changes may be the cost.
“I can’t just pass the costs on to the customers,” he said. “Some I can, and some I can’t. We must look at each case and see if we can make it work.”
Hough has been working with Sodexho to figure out options for costs and said that it has been a big worry with the economy.
Hough pointed out during the forum that Colorado College serves 40 percent local food in their dining halls, including all local fruits and vegetables.
Although CC’s meal plan costs slightly more than DU’s, Hough feels it would be beneficial to the local economy.
“We’re in the same region, we can use the same sources,” she said.
Another issue Yamashita and Sodexho have with using local foods is liability. He said they must be cautious of who their food sources are, in case someone were to get sick.
Many students attended because they were dissatisfied, including sophomore, Daniel Kahn.
“We pay a lot of money to eat here, and I don’t feel I’m getting my money’s worth,” he said. “We’re forced to be on a meal plan, and it’s not fair if students are dissatisfied.”
Another issue that many students discussed was the lack of alternate options for those with restrictive diets, such as vegetarianism.
Dillon Doyle, a sophomore, brought up the issue of cross contamination in the kitchen; if there are cheese and pepperoni pizzas, the same pizza cutter may have been used to cut both slices.
“It’s disrespectful to those who can’t have pork or are vegetarian,” he said.
Another vegetarian student noted that there is a lack of non-meat protein options in the residence dining halls.
Neil Krauss, chair of the Food Service Committee on campus, and Justin Prince, director of Housing and Residential Education, also attended the forum and, along with Yamashita, were open to the suggestions students made at the forum. They said that they would be willing to implement changes that were reasonable.
“If we can make it work through the system,” said Yamashita, “we would be happy to make the changes.”
