EatingWell changes flavor of campus dining

Alea Bell Guest Writer

This fall, people checking out at the All-Campus Dining Center (ACDC) and The Retreat were offered a letter entitled “To Parents from Campus Dining at Vassar College.” The letter, signed by Director of Campus Dining Maureen King, wasn’t about advertising any new changes, but was meant to raise awareness. “For instance, do people know that we don’t use oil with trans-fats? Or that we get our milk from local dairy farms?” asked King. The letter also mentioned the little-known facts that some chefs are graduates of the Culinary Institute of America (CIA), and that Campus Dining frequently sends employees to take classes at the CIA.

Campus Dining is also implementing some changes this year in the ACDC. “In the Retreat, students can see the food being made in front of them, and I think that’s part of the attraction,” said King, “but in ACDC, there’s that wall there.” In order to let students feel more connected to the food they are eating, Campus Dining has made the food preparation more visible at the dessert station and the Farm to Home station.

The changed ACDC menu is also intended to create interest in campus Dining, beginning with EatingWell Wednesdays. On Wednesdays, ACDC will feature healthy and nutritious dishes made from recipes found in EatingWell, an award-winning magazine, aimed at merging good taste with good health. This change is meant to break up the pattern of similar, standard dishes.

“We have a responsibility to make the food less boring,” said Director of Marketing Campus Dining Ken Oldehoff. “It’s like with The New York Times—I see recipes that I’d like to make, but don’t always have time. In the dorms, you don’t have the time or the materials.”

The changes needn’t create any fear of extra cost, however. Oldehoff assures that, even though “[Campus Dining] pays twice what we used to for milk,” the cost of meal plans won’t be affected.

Campus Dining keeps itself aware of the opinions of the Vassar student body, with the help of the Student Suggestion board in ACDC and the Vassar Student Association Food Committee that includes a representative from each dorm, as well as a student chair. Campus Dining will demonstrate its commitment to fresh food at the Local Harvest Dinner on Sept. 27, where Editor of Gastronomica, the Journal of Food and Culture Darra Goldstein ’73, and President of Hudson Valley Fresh Dr. Sam Simon will speak.