Dining services looks to cut down waste

Photo courtesy of MCT Campus

Whitney Gibson

The Hub and Eastway make thousands of meals a day, from sandwiches and soups to pork chops and pasta. But, what happens to all that food after those restaurants close?

Einstein’s Bros. Bagels is the only restaurant on campus that completely disposes of its food at the end of the night.

“It is Einstein’s Bros. Bagels company policy to throw away the food after a certain amount of time,” said Richard Roldan, director of Dining Services. “The franchise backs its policy of only serving fresh flavors at all times.”

Phoebe Mason, senior speech pathology and audiology major, said she wasn’t aware of this. “I think Einstein’s should rethink this policy; it’s wasteful,” she said. “Plenty of college students would be willing to eat day-old bagels.”

This is not the case for the other food places on campus. Subway, Jump Asian Express, Damon’s, Nathan’s, Arthur Treacher’s and Shake Wrap & Roll’s food is made to order, which helps to eliminate waste.

As for Eastway, the food left over at the end of the day is recovered and arranged for pick-up by Campus Kitchen.

“We send the food to Beall Hall for Kent Social Services to come retrieve,” said Dennis Bean, assistant director of Dining Services. “Our goal is to not have food go to waste.”

The Campus Kitchen is located on the second floor of Beall Hall. The program is run by student volunteers who work closely with the chef to prepare meals for Kent Social Services. So far, thanks to donations, Campus Kitchen has made over 80 meals a week. They serve these meals every Thursday night.

“We like to work closely with Kent Social Services,” Roldan said. “We give what we can to avoid waste.”

Contact Whitney Gibson at [email protected].