Last week I spoke to the students here at Siena Heights to get their opinion about the food here, the things they liked and disliked.

This week I spoke to the Director of Dining Services Donald Bargo, to bring what the students said to his attention and see how he feels about it.

What do you have to say to students who say the food is bland, there’s no flavor?

Bargo: “We at one point had students say that food was too seasoned. We have over 661 students who come through here a day and we have to find a middle ground that suits all students and not just cater to one individual.”

Well what do you say to allowing students to have a seasoning station to allow them to add their own flavor to it?

Bargo: “Usually all someone needs is a salt and pepper, that makes a world of difference, but I don’t see why we couldn’t add one. There is a problem I see though, how many students really know how to use seasonings? Say one of them uses seasonings on something and they either use too much or don’t like it, what do they do with it then? They will throw it out, thus wasting food.”

What do you have to say about students saying the food is cold? Do you think it’s the food or the students timing getting to it?

Bargo: “It can be a timing issue, a lot of the stations here have different heating mechanisms depending on where you are in here. We use smaller pans, so that we can trade out more often, so not only to keep the food fresh but warm. Sometimes it can be the timing of when students come here, sometimes it’s just the way this place is designed. Some places are warmer than others, while others have air conditioning on it. We have regulation codes that specifically say we have to bring food out at a certain temperature, so it comes out hot”

What kind of changes do you have in store for this year and upcoming years?

Bargo: “Well a lot change here is student driven. Every year you have a group of returning students and a group of new students coming in. Trends change, tastes change, so when you are looking at making changes you have to take that in mind. So you can’t take a change from one year to another, what works one year might not work the next year.”

What do you have to say to the comment that there isn’t enough variety?

Bargo: “I’ve heard on the hand that students believe we have too much variety. Some rather have chicken fingers 3 days a week but we can’t do that. We have station with freshly made pizza, salad bar, a make your own sandwich station, the halo grill, and our hot line that is changing every day so I believe we have a great variety, I feel comfortable with what we have.”

Well you stated that students can drive the change, how can they express their opinion to you?

Bargo: “There is a board in the front right where you come in at, students can write down requests for foods or what they would like to change. We also have a drop box in front of Heartstone, where students can leave comments. They also can come to us and speak to us about things that are wrong. We do our best to meet those and take those in as long as they are making something reasonable. They have to give us something they don’t like and a possible solution for it.”

Bargo was very open to speaking about the meal selection and never took offense to comments from students.

As students, we have to voice what we feel. https://www.shuspectra.com/2408/news/whats-on-your-plate-part-two/ https://www.shuspectra.com/2408/news/whats-on-your-plate-part-two/ https://www.shuspectra.com/2408/news/whats-on-your-plate-part-two/Sitting back and complaining to each other about what we dislike does not help the problem.

Expecting something to change on its own is only going to keep us at a standstill.

If there is something you don’t like then you should bring it up, but don’t just complain about it. Bring it up with a reasonable solution.

I leave you with this quote which I believe fits the narrative, “Be the change you want to see in the world” – Mahatma Gandhi