Serveries offer better options
Trayless dining initiative saves over $70,000
Jaclyn Youngblood
Issue date: 10/23/09 Section: News
West Servery is not the only novelty in Rice's dining options this year. Money saved from last semester's removal of trays from the college serveries is being put toward more expensive, higher-quality and healthier beef and seafood options.
The new menu choices this year include all-natural, antibiotic- and hormone-free Angus beef, as well as seafood that follows the Monterrey Bay Seafood Watch Program guidelines, a set of recommendations for purchasing seafood from sustainable sources to promote thriving oceans.
Director of Residential Dining David McDonald said at the end of the last fiscal year, in June, the savings from removing trays in the serveries were substantial enough to introduce an increased food variety this semester.
In February, the Student Association passed a resolution for trayless dining in the serveries. SA President Patrick McAnaney said the model was based on a similar plan implemented at the University of Texas at Austin and other college campuses. The resolution was enacted campuswide in March. The trays are now being held in storage, McDonald said.
Since the introduction of the trayless initiative, Rice has seen a decrease of 11 percent in chemical and water use and a two percent savings. The savings, approximately $70,000, mean that the same amount of food can be purchased for 2 percent less, McDonald said.
"We're a zero-sum game," McDonald said. "Whatever money we can save, we put back into the food."
This has given College Food Services more money to provide students with Angus beef, whereas last year they provided students with non-Angus beef.
"Angus is the gold-standard," McDonald said in an e-mail.
The savings also enabled College Food Services to make a good-faith effort to buy farm-raised seafood from the United States and South America, which is more sustainable than the cheaper seafood that can be bought from places like Indonesia, McDonald said.
Currently, the serveries offer nearly 15 types of seafood, including tilapia and salmon, McDonald said. He added that due to the expertise of Rice's chefs, College Food Services can buy whole fish and fillet them on site, which causes less food waste.
The new menu choices this year include all-natural, antibiotic- and hormone-free Angus beef, as well as seafood that follows the Monterrey Bay Seafood Watch Program guidelines, a set of recommendations for purchasing seafood from sustainable sources to promote thriving oceans.
Director of Residential Dining David McDonald said at the end of the last fiscal year, in June, the savings from removing trays in the serveries were substantial enough to introduce an increased food variety this semester.
In February, the Student Association passed a resolution for trayless dining in the serveries. SA President Patrick McAnaney said the model was based on a similar plan implemented at the University of Texas at Austin and other college campuses. The resolution was enacted campuswide in March. The trays are now being held in storage, McDonald said.
Since the introduction of the trayless initiative, Rice has seen a decrease of 11 percent in chemical and water use and a two percent savings. The savings, approximately $70,000, mean that the same amount of food can be purchased for 2 percent less, McDonald said.
"We're a zero-sum game," McDonald said. "Whatever money we can save, we put back into the food."
This has given College Food Services more money to provide students with Angus beef, whereas last year they provided students with non-Angus beef.
"Angus is the gold-standard," McDonald said in an e-mail.
The savings also enabled College Food Services to make a good-faith effort to buy farm-raised seafood from the United States and South America, which is more sustainable than the cheaper seafood that can be bought from places like Indonesia, McDonald said.
Currently, the serveries offer nearly 15 types of seafood, including tilapia and salmon, McDonald said. He added that due to the expertise of Rice's chefs, College Food Services can buy whole fish and fillet them on site, which causes less food waste.
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