University spends $3.5M to enhance food on campus

UB’s Campus Dining & Shops (CDS) wants people to know why UB is ranked the healthiest college in the nation – and it’s spending $3.5 million to do it.

New and returning students were greeted by renovations, improved menus and expanded eateries on campus this week as UB’s dining services launched a multimillion-dollar initiative this summer. Between changes like a new Starbucks in the Health and Sciences Library and local produce substitutes across all three campuses, CDS is aiming to give students more bang for their buck when it comes to meal costs.

“We listen to the students and want the students to taste-test,” said Jeff Brady, the executive director of CDS. “It’s all about them since this is all for them.”

Brady said he noticed each incoming class of freshmen holds campus food to higher and higher standards. The CDS staff of more than 1,400 people tries to meet those standards through a healthier ever-changing menu and a wide variety of fresh foods.

GrubHub, an online food delivery company, ranked UB No. 1 in healthiest colleges in the country, according to the Time Lab, Time Magazine’s open-source data visualization site. GrubHub analyzed the delivery orders and saw of college students in the study ordering salads as side dishes and asking for light salad dressing, UB students were the majority. St. John’s University and University of California Davis were ranked No. 2 and No. 3 respectively.

UB’s Food Service program was voted No. 1 in SUNY University Centers according to a SUNY Student Opinion Survey in 2012. CDS also won two national awards in the42nd annual Lloyd E. Horton Dining Awards Contest, according to Brady.

CDS centered its new menus on taste-testing sessions with students and faculty over the summer. They brought out 10-15 new dishes and voted on the best dishes based on taste, presentation and price. The taste-testers were about 65 percent students and 45 percent faculty and staff.

Once CDS enhanced the menu, it started working on the atmosphere.

Seasons, a new fresh café and organic juice bar in the Center for the Arts, is one of the new additions.The juice is made with whole fruits and blended right in front of the customers. A colorful chalk-drawn menu made by an art student displays the many juices and other light breakfast options.

One of the newest and largest renovations occurred at Perks in the Ellicott Complex. The ice cream and coffee shop has been modernized into a spacious spot for students.More than $400,000 has gone into the Perks renovations, which includes remodeled seating areas, a touch screen ordering device and a Starbucks menu.

The popular demand for Starbucks products on campus led CDS to put one on the third floor of Capen Library and in Abbott Hall on South Campus. Both will open Jan. 1and are accepting Campus Cash, dining dollars and meal credits.

But Starbucks isn’t the only addition to South Campus.

After a flood of positive responses from students regarding Champa Sushi in the Student Union, CDS decided to bring one to Harriman Hall. The café now offers sushi and black rice – a healthier rice made with vinegar.

New open-air coolers with LED lighting were also implemented in the cafés in Harriman Hall and Capen Hall to keep the food colder and allow students to grab it quickly and get in line.

Even with all the new changes, students feel there is room for improvement.

“I like the food in general,” said Anna Drewitz, a sophomore architecture major. “I just wish there was a fruit bar, like an Edgy Veggies for fruits.”

Adam Mitcheson, a sophomore computer science major, thinks adding more Starbucks locations is a great idea, but since he doesn’t spend too much time in the library, he may not be a popular customer.

“I would like to see a bigger Tim Hortons, I don’t like the long lines,” Mitcheson said.