Student Union

The Campus Services Committee is working to create dialogue on campus about how to improve dining services related issues we are facing this semester.  We need to increase efficiency on the South 40, extend hours and decrease congestion in the DUC, and find ways to extend Village hours.  However, we need to do these things by paying attention to the budgetary limits that Bon Appetit faces in running 14 cafeterias on campus and providing us with top-notch food.

I am planning to set up an open forum with dining administrators who will listen to students' concerns and have a chance to explain what they are doing to improve campus dining.  They work hard for us, and are trying their best in this difficult transitional year as the South 40 is in limbo.  Watch for when this forum will happen and please attend.

Until then, there are three ways to express your ideas, concerns, and suggestions about dining services.  I also encourage you to read my op-ed in StudLife this week which explains some of the problems Dining Services is facing and what we can do about it: http://www.studlife.com/forum/2009/09/09/ideas-or-opinions-on-campus-dining/

(1) Send an email to dining@su.wustl.edu with your ideas and concerns.  These will be shared with administrators and my committee.  (The email address may not be fully operational until Thursday, 9/10/09)

(2) Twitter about it at WashUDining, password: dining.  Start a conversation there!

(3) Come to a Campus Services Committee meeting on Mondays from 5-6:30 in the SU Conference Room.

I'm looking forward to great, level-headed, creative discussions to spark innovative solutions to the logistical dining problems we are facing this semester.

I grew up around lots of good, wholesome, and natural foods, so this year on Senate I've been trying to make Wash U healthier. 

I had the opportunity to join a sustainability and campus food committee this year. It's been a goal of mine to make the typical meal here healthier. To do this, I've joined up with a couple friends who are similarly inclined, Joey Stromberg and LIz Kramer.

Together we have been drafting a quantitative system for evaluating the foods served on campus. For example, we look at Organic, Fair Trade, and whether it is local or not. Its goal is to persuade Bon Appetit and Aramark (which operates some food service at the Med School) to make their food purchases healthier and more sustainable. They have been very responsive. Each day the food on campus is getting more green and less covered in various 'cides that are meant to kill things.