At Wednesday evening's Duke University Student Dining Advisory Committee meeting, student representatives discussed the state of dining on Duke's campus with Grayson Crabtree, training representative and customer service coordinator, and Toni Apadula, student health nutritionist for Duke Dining.
Here are the five biggest takeaways from the meeting:
Il Forno’s small pasta option
The Il Forno renovation over the summer led to the removal of the small pasta option, leaving students with only the regular-size pasta.
The bigger option is now the only one available because “pasta sizes are standardized,” explained DUSDAC Co-Chair Allie Rauch, a senior. The standardized sizes are necessary for the use of Net Nutrition, an online resource to check the nutrition facts of Brodhead Center food options.
Net Nutrition uses University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill graduate student interns to do quality assurance and weigh the items to make sure the net nutrition information online is accurate.
Fresh produce on campus
In a recent survey of more than 500 students, the vast majority were “unhappy with the amount of produce options” on campus, said sophomore Zac Johnson, Duke Student Government senator for services and sustainability.
One option DUSDAC considered was coordinating with Durham Co-op Market, which offers an array of ethically sourced seasonal produce. DUSDAC also discussed the possibility of bringing in Buoy Bowls, a popular Durham açai bowl food truck, as another option to include seasonal fruits.
“We will leave it up to our DUSDAC co-chairs,” Crabtree said.
What happened to Domino’s delivery?
On the Fix My Campus Facebook page, students have been talking about the departure of Domino’s pizza from the Devil Deliveries lineup.
“[We’ve been] getting a lot of heat for Domino’s leaving. That was Domino’s decision,” said DUSDAC Co-Chair Annie Roberts, a junior.
Domino’s was one of the most popular vendors on Devil Delivery, formerly called Merchants on Points, until it was removed as an option this year. Domino’s wanted to raise its delivery fee to $3.99, which was considered too high for Devil Delivery.
Devil Delivery raised its delivery fee by 17% for this academic year, but it is still cheaper than Domino’s proposed delivery charge.
Sazón after dark?
DUSDAC members addressed student interest in having a food option open later in the Brodhead Center. The committee is considering the possibility of keeping several of the most popular vendors, such as Sazón and Il Forno, open later to expand the number of food options students have past 8 p.m., when most Brodhead vendors close.
The great food point tax misconception
Crabtree also addressed the misconception that students are taxed twice for each purchase on food points—once when students purchase their food plan and then again each time they buy food on campus.
This is not the case, she said—the tax is in the initial cost of the meal plan so students are “paying for tax ahead of time,” rather than twice.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.
Paige Carlisle is a Trinity senior and a staff reporter for The Chronicle.