5 things: College of the Atlantic tops 2022 Princeton Review Green College list

In this edition of 5 Things, Food Management highlights five things you may have missed recently about developments affecting onsite dining.

Here’s your list for today:

Princeton Review has released its 2022 Guide to green Colleges based on a combination of school-reported data and student opinion tabulating whether students have a quality of life on campus that is both healthy and sustainable, how well a school is preparing students for employment in an increasingly green economy and how environmentally responsible a school's policies are. The top five in order are College of the Atlantic, Dickinson College, UC-Santa Cruz, Chatham University and Bates College while Emory University, Cornell University, Colorado State University, SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry and UC-Santa Barbara round out the top 10.

Read more: The Princeton Review Guide to Green Colleges: 2022 Edition

Arlington ISD in Texas says it will not be able to offer its traditional Thanksgiving meals because of a shortage of turkeys and green beans. In addition, lunch menus have been reduced at the high schools from the previous 16 entree options to three, and the school meal program now posts weekly instead of monthly menus, with even those sometimes changing based on what the school has that day, says David Lewis, director of food and nutrition services.

Related:5 things: Urban School Food Alliance adds San Diego, Shelby County districts

Read more: Arlington school cafeterias scramble to feed students amid shortages, shipping delays

Howard University says dining employees have been laid off due to weeks of student protests against dorm housing conditions. "We're sad to report the occupation of Blackburn has led to an unintended consequence for the HU community," the college wrote on Twitter. "Due to the café being closed, some Sodexo workers have been laid off. We are committed to working with our students to avoid more repercussions like this one." Students claim that mold, mice, roaches and fleas are common in dorms, and have camped out inside the university's social hub, the Armour J. Blackburn University Center, for more than two weeks demanding change.

Read more: Howard University says student protests over housing have caused layoffs

HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital in Wisconsin says its community garden has produced more than 3,500 pounds of locally grown food during the 2021 growing and harvest season, all of which was donated to eleven area food pantries. Since 2013, when hospital volunteers began the project, more than nine tons of produce have been donated. This year’s harvest included 34 types of produce and herbs.

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Read more: HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital community garden harvests 3,500 pounds of food

In a move to deal with the current labor shortage, Sodexo at East Tennessee State University started closing the campus dining hall at 8 p.m. instead of midnight and allowing students to use a meal swipe starting at 8 p.m. at retail outlets Chick-fil-A and Roger’s Buc Mart on weekdays and at Starbucks on the weekends through the end of the fall semester. However, at least in the early going, the result has been long lines, an overwhelmed staff and product outages at the Chick-fil-A unit as students apparently are waiting until 8 p.m. to eat at Chick-fil-A rather than spend the same meal swipe at the dining hall.

Read more: Sodexo's Solution to the Nationwide Worker Shortage

Bonus: Massive new dining hall is centerpiece of campus dining at University of Illinois

Contact Mike Buzalka at [email protected]