In Brief 2009-10-01

Sodexo has announced that it will source all of its contracted wild-caught seafood purchases in North America from Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)-certified fisheries by 2015. MSC operates a widely recognized sustainability certification program for wild-capture fisheries.

Haverford College and Bryn Mawr College will be combining their security and dining services, with dining services to be headed by current Bryn Mawr director of Dining Services Bernie Chung-Templeton and security services under Haverford's Director of Safety and Security, Tom King. Bryn Mawr's current head of Public Safety will remain in his position as will John Francone, Haverford's director of Dining Services.

The Yale College Council and Yale Dining Services have sponsored a series of four “Follow the Food” events in which groups of several dozen students visit local farms and producers to learn about where Dining Services sources some of its local products. The series of four visits, with transport courtesy of a bio-diesel fueled bus, included Rose's Berry Farm and Belltown Hill Orchards, where the students learned about local agriculture and how buying locally benefits the environment as well as the area economy.

More than 20,000 people rallied at over 300 Eat-Ins organized by Slow Food USA as part of its Time for Lunch campaign to encourage Congress to upgrade school lunches. The events, part potluck and part sit-in, took place in all 50 states on Labor Day. Organizers also gathered signatures for the Time for Lunch petition to advocate for changes to the Child Nutrition Act that would make school lunch menus healthier.

Berkeley (CA) USD has named Marni Posey to replace Chef Ann Cooper as director of nutrition services. Posey has been with Berkeley USD's nutrition services department for the past nine years, the last three as the district's manager of nutrition services under Cooper as well as her assistant. Cooper left Berkeley in June to work for Boulder Valley (CO) USD.

Washington University in St. Louis has debuted its WebFood pre-order program. WebFood lets students place online orders from food stations in the Danforth University Center at any time of the day or night. More than 280 students opened online WebFood accounts in the first few days of the school year.

Fast-growing Hiram College has opened a brand new $4.5 million, 18,000-sq.ft. dining facility. The food court style eatery is highlighted by a brick pizza and bread oven and a voluminous salad bar, as well as flat-screen menu display monitors. The school, which has has seen an enrollment increase from 720 to 1,150, in the past five year worked with design consultant Cini•Little International on the project.

Silver Plate Award nominations are due by December 4. As in previous years, operators can be nominated in different segment categories, including college/university, K-12 schools, healthcare and B&I/foodservice management. For more info, go to www.ifmaworld.com.

FOR BREAKING NEW BRIEFS GO TO: www.food-management.com