5 things: Boston University eliminates group seating from dining halls

Each Friday Food Management compiles a list that highlights five things you probably missed in the onsite foodservice news that week and why you should care about them.

Here’s your list for the week of February 15:

Boston University has removed household seating options from all its dining halls and students are now only allowed to eat meals at single-occupancy tables. Household seating options were meant for students to sit down and dine with members in their specific “household” such as roommates and floormates, but the change was made to minimize socialization that could lead to the spread of coronavirus. The university said the decision will be reassessed later this month

Read more: Household tables removed from BU dining halls

Vanderbilt University Campus Dining gave all students on a university meal plan a $20 daily supplement for three days between Feb. 17 and 19, approximately enough to pay for two daily campus meals, in order to tide them over during the campus dining interruptions caused by the winter storm that hit the area. The stipend can be used at any Grubhub merchant or Taste of Nashville restaurant and will expire at the end of each day.

Related:5 coronavirus things: Remote classes leading to overweight kids, pediatricians warn

Read more: Students on meal plan to receive daily $20 ‘Inclement Weather Plan’ stipend from Feb. 17-19

The school kitchen in Freer, Texas, was used to make hamburgers and french fries for the entire town after it had been without water or electricity for almost a week due to the recent severe winter storm that battered the area. The food, along with bottled water, was dispensed to cars at curbside and school staff and volunteers also fanned out to deliver food and water packages to residents unable to come to the school to pick it up.

Read more: Freer ISD opens school cafeteria to make free meals for the town

Autonomous checkout solution vendor Standard Cognition is working with retail operators like Circle K and Compass Group—which recently opened its first campus location using the technology at the University of Houston—to outfit hundreds of checkout-free stores, with a goal of more than 50,000 stores in the next five years. Standard's system uses no facial recognition, letting shoppers remain completely anonymous, and can be installed in existing stores without making any changes to layout, shelving, lighting or inventory management processes.

Related:5 things: CDC says schools can safely reopen for in-person learning

Read more: Standard Cognition raises $150M, teams with Compass Group and Circle K on autonomous checkout

One kitchen employee of the Clear Fork Elementary School in Ohio was terminated and two others suspended after being charged with stealing food for personal use, and one was also accused of using school kitchen equipment to butcher a pig and deer meat for personal use. The three women said they had permission to take home food that would be thrown away or that they paid for out of their own pockets, according to sheriff's office reports.

Read more: 1 school cook resigns, two others suspended in kitchen theft, butchering case

Bonus: Viewpoint: The five essential service points for food service operations

Contact Mike Buzalka at [email protected]