5 things: Dietetic interns take over supervising college dining hall stations

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:

Last fall, dietetic interns at the University of North Carolina Greensboro School of Health and Human Sciences embarked on a new on-campus opportunity—Dining Takeover—in which the 16 interns took turns stepping into a supervisory role in the school's Fountain View Dining Hall as part of their food service rotation. While undergraduate nutrition students have regularly worked in the dining hall as part of their coursework, this was the first semester for interns to completely take over two food stations for a day—the plant-forward focused Rooted, and Delicious Without, which serves foods free of the top nine allergens.

Read more: Dietetic Interns Take Over UNCG Dining Hall

Better, healthier food: That was the focus at McCracken County High School in Kentucky, where students in the culinary class served lunch on a recent Friday. The students got the chance to practice their cooking skills and build new menu items that school leaders hope will help students eat more and waste less.

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Read more: Culinary students serve lunch at McCracken County High School

George Washington University has finally opened the doors of its new dining space in Shenkman Hall after supply chain issues had pushed back the reopening originally scheduled for last fall. Upon Shenkman’s reopening, student meal plans will transition from the current Dining Dollars program to a meal swipe program with unlimited and block plans based on a student’s class year in the spring. The renovated dining venue includes an all-day breakfast station, an allergy-free Pure Eats station and a Teaching Kitchen.

Read more: Shenkman Hall dining facility opens Sunday as GW implements new meal plan

As of this past December, every school in the Evanston/Skokie School District 65 in Illinois has a composting program in which students sort their waste into landfill, recycling and compost bins while stacking their compostable trays on the side. During the last academic year, students composted 77,955 pounds of food, eliminating more than 34 metric tons of carbon emissions by keeping waste out of landfills.

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Read more: After 10 years of advocacy, all District 65 lunchrooms begin composting

Pearl River Community College in Mississippi is giving many of its students a new option to get hot meals on all its campuses through a new food truck operated by its food provider, Aladdin Campus Dining. Offering a menu of hamburgers, chicken tenders, tacos and other foods, the truck will initially serve students in Hattiesburg and Poplarville but is intended to eventually also travel to the school’s Hancock County campus.

Read more: New food truck to serve hot meals at all PRCC campuses

Bonus: 16 eye-opening breakfast items to wake up your menu

Contact Mike Buzalka at [email protected]