Roaches, Latin American food, dropped pasta: DUSDAC discusses dining issues

Duke University Student Dining Advisory Committee discussed a variety of student complaints regarding food on campus at its Tuesday meeting.

In a follow-up to recent criticism over the lack of Latin American food options, the committee discussed the results of a survey sent to students by junior Kristina Smith, vice president of services and sustainability for Duke Student Government, about potential Latin American food. DUSDAC and Duke Dining are still working to determine how to implement the potential new options.

Senior Julia Medine, co-chair of DUSDAC, noted that she had received a complaint regarding the transparency of the menu at Marketplace. Beginning next semester, there will be menus posted online that will allow students to see the options at Marketplace more easily, she said.

Medine also mentioned an article by The Chronicle that examined sophomore Annie Yang’s complaint of a cockroach in her Café Edens salad, which Yang posted about on the Fix My Campus Facebook group. The committee noted that there was a lack of communication between DUSDAC and Fix My Campus and agreed to reach out to members of Fix My Campus to better address student complaints. 

Another topic of the meeting was DUSDAC’s new newsletter, which has approximately 200 subscribers, Medine noted. She added that she would be sending out more information in the future telling students how to subscribe to the newsletter.

Committee member Maddie Manning, a sophomore, also brought up another student’s concern about Il Forno.

“It takes forever, but also, they don’t cook the pasta for that long when the line gets so long,” she said. “[A cook] dumped half of it on the floor when he was putting it into the container.”

DUSDAC also discussed the possibility of installing a restaurant similar to Quenchers in the Brodhead Center.

“It’s very hard to find fruit and veggies here just to grab and go,” said junior Emma Gabay, a committee member.

The committee agreed to look into both the Il Forno and Quenchers situations.

Toni Apadula, dietician clinician for nutrition services, told the committee about the upcoming Tea-laxation event, which will occur Dec. 11 at Marketplace and the Brodhead Center. The event will feature make-your-own herbal tea blends along with a number of herbs and spices.

Tea-laxation will also allow students to make jewelry out of healing stones, an activity sponsored by the Wellness Center. Additionally, Student Health will be giving away health care kits to those who attend.

“The idea is to give students a place to come and de-stress during study time,” Apadula said.

Aris Marton, assistant director of retail operations for Duke Dining, said that the Central Campus eatery Dame’s Express will close Dec. 18. Its replacement, Trinity Kitchen, has a soft opening scheduled for Jan. 8.

Correction: This article was updated to reflect the DUSDAC newsletter has 200 subscribers, not 120. The Chronicle regrets the error.

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