Fried food options vanish as dining halls go healthy
Lauren Wade
Noticeable changes have been made this semester at PBA’s Common Ground Café. This restaurant-style eating option is no longer offering the fried food choices, such as chicken tenders, chicken tender wraps and French fries.
“The aroma of the fried food was not consistent with the mission of the Greene Complex,” said Abbie Rosemeyer, the general manager for Sodexo Campus Services.
“The Greene Complex, which houses two gyms, the fitness center and the athletic department, is more focused on healthy lifestyles,” Rosemeyer said.
This is not the only reason the changes have been made. Rosemeyer stated that after conducting customer satisfaction surveys and reading comment cards to get feedback, “the biggest complaint and need was for healthier eating options.”
“I don’t really miss the fried food this year because it messed with my stomach,” said Sophomore Emily Attard.
Last fall, Rosemeyer conducted focus groups that included Resident Assistants, Point 58 leaders, faculty and staff. In these focus groups, participants were given the opportunity to talk about the dining services, offer feedback and even propose new options for dining services this school year.
Returning students will notice that the only things different with PBA’s dining options this school year are the missing chicken tenders and fries from Common Ground and a bigger salad bar station in Frasier Dining Hall. One of the main things proposed in the focus groups was a new station in Frasier that was meant to replace the old salad bar.
The salad bar has now doubled in capacity and includes a soup station. Among the soup choices, one will always be vegetarian friendly.
Rosemeyer said that so far they “have had great feedback about the changes that have been made in the dining hall.”
Concerning the changes that were made at Common Ground this year, the Campus Dining Services have received both good and bad feedback. Rosemeyer said that they are trying to ride out the initial negative reaction received from some students and not make any rash decisions about changing the menu options.
“I like the new sub station, but I liked the pizza better last year. I didn't really notice the change in the fried food except for the French fries, I miss the French fries,” said Sophomore Rachael George.
The idea of the changes that were implemented was to create a hybrid sort of restaurant, which still has some fast-food options but resembles more of a Subway or Quiznos.
There is now a made-to-order sub sandwich station, where students can choose their own bread, cold cuts and vegetables to put on a sub. The pizza has also changed into a flatbread pizza, which is an increased portion from the old pizza but also has reduced calories and fat.
Common Ground now features multi-grain and whole wheat sandwich buns, seven different kinds of chips, both regular and baked, and new soups. Sodexo is now giving students the opportunity to be involved in choosing the menu options available in
Common Ground.
If the craving for French fries and chicken tenders is too strong to resist, there are splurging options for students. French fries are served in Frasier Dining Hall at the grill everyday for both lunch and dinner. Rosemeyer said she is looking into serving chicken tenders on a more regular basis at this location.
Student voting will determine the choice of signature salads and sandwiches for Common Ground. For the first few weeks of school, Common Ground has been rotating sandwich and salad options every day. Students are able to vote for their favorite sandwich and salad, and the winners in the voting will be dubbed the Sailfish Jack and Sailfish Jill sandwich and salad.
Rosemeyer is unsure of what is in the future for PBA dining, but she is focused on customer service and making the PBA students, faculty and staff happy.
“Part of what the future holds for Dining Services is based on student feedback,” Rosemeyer said.
Students can get more involved in what happens next with the dining services by filling out comment cards and completing customer surveys that are available on www.pbadining.com. There is also a Facebook group, called “What’s up with PBA Dining,” where students who join are able to voice their opinion.