How you get what you eat in the MU dining halls
by Jessica Petzel, posted Nov. 29, 2007
You may be surprised at the amount of planning that goes into getting the food on your plate in the MU dining halls. In the Campus Dining Services offices above Plaza 900, many decisions and plans are made before you can eat a meal on campus.
You may also be surprised at the reasoning behind decisions made by CDS; the executives create policy based on the best interest and choices of students.
CDS buys 90 percent of its food from a distributing company called U.S. Food Service, said Andrew Lough, CDS marketing specialist. CDS used to buy from Allen Food Service, which was a family owned company based in St. Louis that worked with local growers. The Allen family sold out to U.S. Food Service, and MU’s contract moved with the merger.
CDS uses a big food provider for a number of reasons.
“It’s how can we get our food at the best possible prices,” said Steve Simpson, associate director of CDS. “Also, we can buy at greater quantities than we could by ourselves.”
A large supplier also ensures guaranteed delivery times with guaranteed amounts of each item. CDS has a computerized food production system, which knows when to order a certain item. Simpson said usually everything is delivered 48 hours before it is cooked and available to students. But if, for example, chicken breasts need three days to thaw, the system knows to order the chicken three days before it is served.
Another advantage of hiring a large provider is the variety of foods, tastes and styles available, Lough said.
“You just don’t grow avocados in Missouri,” Lough said. “[We] just wouldn’t have some products if we didn’t ship them in.”
While CDS primarily orders from a large producer, it is taking steps to make use of local providers. An example is the “Taste of Missouri” dinner held earlier this semester. At the dinner, everything served was grown and produced in Missouri. Also, most of the apples used this calendar year were grown locally, Simpson said. He said it is a goal to move toward locally produced products, yet there are challenges.
“For someone to supply us with fresh grown tomatoes, it’s not pounds, it’s tons,” he said. “If they could, it’s for a very short window. To a certain extent, it’s unfeasible.”
There is the consideration, however, of MU being part of a larger community.
“At some point, we all have to get a social conscience,” Lough said. “If by going the local route, by doing it a little bit, we’ll get a farmer who is willing to work with us. We are a lot more interested than we were five years ago.”
CDS determines both a food provider and what foods to buy from the provider by using specs, Simpson said. Specs are very detailed specifications of what CDS wants in a particular food product.
Specs are created first by determining what is acceptable and what is not. From there, CDS can determine preferences.
Another element that goes into specs is the consideration of what the product is going to be used for, said Eric Cartwright, executive chef. For example, is the barbecue sauce going to be an ingredient to make meatloaf or is it going to be a condiment for burgers?
“Color, flavor, consistency, texture, appearance, we even get into packing,” Cartwright said about creating specs.
There is also the consideration of special events, such as the recent Hogwarts Dinner and Thanksgiving meal.
“Special events steer what we need and become what we are creating,” Cartwright said. “Where are the creative juices from the chefs flowing?”
Student preference also plays a large part in where dining hall food comes from.
For example, Simpson said the dining halls offer a certain type of coffee because of student outcry. CDS also serves cage-free eggs.
“A big enough group really wanted that change to occur,” Simpson said. “They weren’t marching the streets, but they did care about the issue. It was pricey, but we use so few eggs that we made it work.”
CDS also involves students by maintaining a relationship with the Residence Hall Association and the Missouri Students Association, which they consult for things like taste tests and determining other student preferences.
“If we use enough of an item, we’ll take it to students,” Cartwright said. “We can sit in a room and evaluate, but at the end of the day what do students want to eat?”
At the bottom line, all of CDS from the advertising department to management to the chefs want to produce the best food and services for students.
“At the end of the day, if it’s not at standard, then we’re not going to offer it, or we’ll pay a little more for it,” Simpson said.
