WE WAHOOS are a proud group. Typically, we don’t covet other schools. The University has gorgeous grounds, superior academics, a great social scene, and top notch facilities. Nevertheless, my recent visit to Virginia Tech brought the University’s Achilles’s heel to the forefront: our idyllic Academical Village is sorely lacking an equally impressive student dining program, which still hovers somewhere between un-inspiringly mediocre and grossly unpalatable. However, hope still exists for a brighter epicurean future. Our dear dining program can transform from its current state of culinary comatose into a food connoisseur’s gourmand palace, through a series of measured reforms, budgeting, creativity and motivation.
The recipe for an excellent student dining program relies upon a combination of factors: Variety, quality, nutrition, creativity, accountability and student feedback and participation. Virginia Tech, which ranked number three for “Best Campus Food,” in the Princeton Review’s 2009 “Best 366 Colleges,” serves as the model of student dining perfection, with its restaurant-caliber quality. Virginia Tech’s newest dining facility, West End, in particular stands out. In an e-mail interview, John Barrett, Senior Unit Manager of West End, tried to explain what made their food so special. “We are a self-op, so there is not a contract company operating at Virginia Tech. Over 90% of the food is produced in front of the guest. Each dining center also has its own Executive Chef & Chef de Cuisine, who develop the menus and recipes that are used in the dining centers.” In response to student feedback, the school added lobster and 14 ounce ribeye steak as a daily offering. Of the 1,400 employees, over 800 are student workers, creating a much more involved student body. The school even flew selected students to Toronto and Chicago to study dining concepts that West End was interested in. Finally, the school provides a multifaceted approach to student feedback, employing not only comment cards, a student advisory committee and electronic feedback, but also mystery student diners who are hired to critically examine the dining program.
Our own dining program has been making baby steps in its progress towards excellence, with such initiatives to further green dining and sustainability. Fourth-year College student Robert Lassiter finds that, “Compared to other cafeteria food, such as the Marine Corps, I feel that the University’s dining is much better than the status quo and has a lot of selection.”
Every now and then, dining will even host a special theme night that shows off its capabilities: cheese soufflé! Crab cakes! Fondue fountains! Then it is always a devastating return to the typical fare the following day. Overall, development remains sluggish. Third-year College student Christine Bogan wishes that the dining hall had “a greater variety of offerings, such as ethnic food.” The biggest student complaints appear to be that the food menu is repetitious and second-rate. The University earns a sub par “C” in student dining from collegeprowler.com, which is its lowest grade besides parking.
Meanwhile, James Madison University and Virginia Tech are picking up honors from the Princeton Review’s 2009 rankings, winning 5th and 3rd, respectively. (The University did not rank at all on Princeton’s List of Best Campus Food.) It’s difficult to discuss this issue with administrators, and consequently to find appropriate solutions, when they don’t acknowledge the problem. In an e-mail interview with Nicole Jackson, the University’s dining marketing manager, Jackson dodged my more pointed questions about student dining, and instead discusses the positive aspects of student dining.
So what can the University do to regain our pride and prestige in our lagging dining program? First, University President John Casteen, University officials and professors should be required to eat at Newcomb for all 3 meals, Monday through Friday, until they can find the necessary time and money to devote to revamping the program. This should take approximately a day and half before they relent. Next, Aramark should endeavor to update and expand their archaic, limited menus at the University. James Madison, which operates with Aramark as well, has considerably more options per food station. For example, a comparison between a dinner at the University’s Newcomb and James Madison’s Festival shows that James Madison beats out the University’s food offerings by 67 dishes.
A final manner to improve upon the current system is to increase student’s participation. Nicole Jackson, the University’s dining marketing manager, said in an e-mail interview that she thought, “One of our greatest assets is that we listen to the students and we provide several forums for them to make their voices heard.” Students need to be more involved and pro-active in insisting on reform of the current system, by filling out comment cards or e-mailing dining@virginia.edu.
There has been plenty of ink spilt over the dining program, yet the food revolution has yet to evolve to a point where we can demand change. The old adage “you are what you eat,” continues to haunt the University, and until we can move from the burritos or salads into gourmet lobsters, Virginia Tech will persist in its dining domination.
Kendra Kirk is a Viewpoint Writer for The Cavalier Daily.
http://www.studentprograms.vt.edu/dining/
http://collegeprowler.com/university-of-virginia/
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