Members of the Duke University Student Dining Advisory Committee sampled options from the Chai’s Noodle Bar and Bistro food truck as they consider adding it to the food truck line up for the 2014-15 academic year at their meeting Monday.
The truck—run by the same venue that currently operates under the Merchants on Points program—offers selections that vary greatly from their delivery options, featuring tacos, Asian buns and hotdogs for $3.50. The truck started really pursuing business in September, said Bill Shahady, the co-owner of the truck, adding that, thus far, the sales are going really well.
“We want to keep the prices as reasonable as the prices will allow,” he said.
Several committee members expressed concern that the menu does not offer a selection of gluten free options, but Shahady said that the menu could be evaluated to include more gluten free and vegetarian dishes.
“We make everything to order,” Shahady said. “We ordered it, and then we put it on the grill.”
Typical contracts with Duke Dining operate from July to June of the next year, so DUSDAC does not need to make a final decision about Chai’s for some time, senior Chris Taylor, co-chair of DUSDAC, said.
Representatives from the Nutrition Education Task Force—a student group focusing on nutrition and healthy dining at Duke—presented concerns about the lack of healthy options on campus.
“This is a new student group this year that is focused on nutrition education around campus,” dietitian clinician Kate Pilewski said. “This is a brand new group, so we are definitely still growing.”
Junior Melina Smith said she hopes the task force can act as a mediator to make information provided by Duke Dining more accessible to the student body.
She noted that some freshmen are very concerned that the staff of Marketplace lack knowledge about the nutrition and ingredients in their foods.
Toni Apadula, another dietician clinician, said that many of the ways in which Marketplace publicizes its nutrition are controlled by the Bon Appetite service.
Senior Jocelyn Wells noted that she was shocked to see a soup option that was over 900 calories being served in the Penn Pavilion, adding that she does not think the University should be condoning such options.
Apadula said that the calorie count, however, was probably inaccurate and could have resulted from someone miscalculating the nutrition information.
“We have been working to put together standardized information for nutrition across campus,” said Robert Coffey, director of dining services.
Smith said that the Nutrition Education Task Force was concerned that as Duke Dining increased the numbers of food tucks on campus, they added many unhealthy options with very few healthy choices.
“I actually think it would raise business and increase revenue if they had more healthy options,” freshman Victoria Trombley said.
Coffey said that in the next few days, the salad bar in Penn Pavilion will increase from 16 different options to 32.
Nutrition Services is also in the process of printing a booklet that will show students a week of healthy on-campus dining options that fit into each level of the meal plan, Pilewski said.
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