In Brief 2011-11-01

Harvard University has appointed David Davidson the new managing director of its dining services. Davidson had served as interim director since June.

The Alabama Supreme Court upheld a decision to throw out student lawsuits over mandatory “dining dollars” dining fees at three state universities.

Memphis City Schools has named former Baltimore Schools Director of Nutrition Services Tony Geraci its new director of foodservices.

Canteen Vending Services has acquired certain businesses of NCV Refreshment Services, the largest independently owned refreshment service provider in the Western United States.

Fletcher Allen Health Care of Burlington, VT, won first place in both the Sustainable Procurement and the Public Policy and Advocacy categories in the Annual Sustainable Food Awards competition held by the Health Care Without Harm Healthy Food in Health Care Program.

The U.S. Senate's Subcommittee on Contracting Oversight held hearings last month on rebates received by contractors supplying food to public institutions, including schools, hospitals, government facilities and the military.

Stanford University Dining has opened Arrillaga Family Dining Commons, the the first dining hall to be built on the Stanford campus in almost 20 years and a facility designed to serve as the flagship of the department.

Jazzman's Café & Bakery has opened its first-ever drive thru location at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, LA, outside New Orleans.

Flik Independent School Dining has named Christian Fischer its corporate executive chef. One of an elite handful of European Master Chefs, Fischer most recently served as corporate executive chef for Lackmann Culinary Services.

Chartwells Higher Education has rolled out its YouFirst guest service program across more than 200 college campuses nationwide where it manages dining operations.

Los Angeles Unified School District was awarded the grand prize in the 2011 Golden Carrot Award competition of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine vegetarian advocacy group for its efforts to serve healthy lunches to students. The runners-up were Greenville County (SC) Public Schools and SOAR Charter School in Denver.

Texas has stopped serving lunch to inmates on weekends at some of its state prison facilities. The reductions are part of an effort to trim $2.8 million in foodservice expenses from the budget of the Texas Dept. of Criminal Justice.

The Food and Nutrition Service Division of the US Department of Agriculture is requesting comments on an indirect cost study required by the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 to assess the extent to which school food authorities participating in the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs pay indirect costs. Submissions must be made by December 6, 2011. For more info, go to http://www.regulations.gov.