College dining hall doubles down on trayless service

After going trayless on Tuesdays, the Lincoln Quad cafeteria at Indiana State University has made the jump to daily trayless dining for the upcoming school year, isustudentmedia.com reports.

The change comes at a time when many schools have implemented trayless service as a way to cut down on waste. Sixty-six percent of colleges and universities have transitioned to trayless in all-you-care-to-eat dining halls, according to FoodService Director’s 2016 C&U Census.

Barbara Degrandchamp, Sodexo’s operations director at Indiana State, is excited about the change and foresees the university cutting back its food and water waste as a result.

“When you look at universities similar in student population size, they save an estimated 3,000 gallons of water per day,” she said. “We can expect similar numbers from this program at ISU.”

Degrandchamp believes that going trayless also will allow students to make healthier choices.  

“In order to get your lunch, you would take one or two plates at a time—in the past students would take three plates, multiple glasses and dessert all at once,” she said. “The use of trays tends to not only increase food waste, but also weight gain and waist size.”

While trayless dining is only available at the Lincoln Quad, the university hopes to implement it at other campus dining facilities.

Read the full story via isustudentmedia.com.