Over the summer, major changes were made to UR Dining Services. Two types of changes were made – some were to continue to promote the Sustainability in Dining Program, others were to increase convenience, options and nutrition.
In response to lines at the Meliora Restaurant and the Club Express, hours were adjusted. The Meliora restaurant now opens a half hour earlier, at 11 a.m., and the Club Express now opens 15 minutes earlier, at 10:45 a.m., Further, Danforth Dining Center is now open all day, offering service from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Mon. through Thurs. and from 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Fri.
To increase awareness about the nutritional value of campus food, a touch-screen kiosk was installed in Danforth. Now, students who want to know the nutritional information of their food can find that information in two places: online and in the dining center. Also, all fryer oil on campus is now trans-fat free.
Finally, Dining Services also renovated the Nosh Kosher Deli in Douglass Dining Center. The new Nosh now offers more kosher options as well as kosher convenience products.
“They’ve definitely provided more kosher grab-and-go options for students this year,” junior John Elkin said. “They’re moving in the right direction, the steps have been good, and everyone has been really positive.”
The Sustainability in Dining Program, which is now in its second year, continues to be an important part of Dining Services, as well.
“Purchasing sustainable food for us means locally grown, organic and food purchased from socially just operations, which includes Fair Trade,” Director of Campus Dining Services and Auxiliary Operations Cam Schauf said.
A major concern on campus is Free Trade coffee. To continue to promote the commitment to Fair Trade Coffee Hillside is now exclusively Java City Eco-Grounds, a Java City that promotes fair trade. Also, Women’s Coffee Connection, a non-profit corporation that helps people in recovery from drug and alcohol problems now has coffee available in Danforth and Eastman Dining Centers.
Also, Dining Services is continuing to try and incorporate local food products. The Meliora Restaurant now features a different daily locally-grown item on the menu and the New York Apple program will be back again this year.
“It’s really reassuring to see all the improvements Dining Services is making,” sophomore Ashley Sinkin said. “That’s not to say that all problems are solved, but things are definitely moving in a good direction.”Grassroots cleans upMembers of Grassroots took to Genesee Valley Park on Saturday as part of a nationwide effort to clean up public parks.
“It was a good community service effort,” sophomore Josh Meiseles said. “We were trying to beautify the park.”
About 20 people participated, splitting into groups of three. One member of each group logged each piece of trash collected, another held a bag to contain the trash, and a third picked up each piece.
“We were out there for over an hour and a half,” Meiseles said. “We filled up more than five bags.”
Many types of debris were collected, including some items that were too large to bag. The biggest piece of trash that was cleaned up was an intact propane tank.
The event is an annual occurrence and members of Grassroots hope that next year’s effort will be even more extensive than this year’s.
“It was a good time,” Meiseles said. “I enjoyed making the park a better place.”Reporting by Bonnie Jarrett and Matt Majarian.
