5 coronavirus things: Georgetown to provide dining allowance to on-campus students over winter break

In this special edition of 5 Things, Food Management highlights five things you may have missed recently about developments regarding coronavirus and its impact on onsite dining.

Here’s your list for today:

Georgetown University has begun providing students living on campus with weekly grocery allowances after concerns about food insecurity over winter break were raised, given the only campus dining location accepting meal swipes was slated to close between Nov. 22 and Jan. 25, leaving only two cash operations.

In response, the Office of Residential Living announced a plan to provide meal options for on-campus students starting Nov. 23.

“Funds will be split between flex dollars and debit dollars, with students receiving $105 in flex dollars and $70 in debit dollars each week,” a university spokesperson explained in an email to The Hoya campus newspaper. Students—who will not need to opt into the program—will automatically receive funds deposited directly in their GOCard accounts for each week they tell the university they are on campus during the winter break.

Read more: On-Campus Students Receive Dining Allowance, Mutual Aid To Offset Food Costs Over Winter Break

Related:Flavor of the Month: Lingonberry — Scandinavia’s answer to the cranberry

James Taylor, who had served as president of Delaware North Sportservice since April 2019, has joined healthcare staffing firm AMN Healthcare as its new group president and COO for physician & leadership solutions. Prior to joining Delaware North, Taylor spent 18 years with Sodexo in a variety of roles, including CEO, Healthcare in London; Division President, Healthcare; President, Senior Living; and Corporate Vice President. He also served as Director of Operations for Coca Cola in Dallas.

Read more: AMN Healthcare Names James Taylor as Group President and Chief Operating Officer for Physician & Leadership Solutions

A collaborative effort between the nonprofit REACH Project and the Texas A&M Foundation recently distributed care packages of meat designed to feed four to six people to some 200 furloughed Texas A&M dining employees. The university’s dining services provider Chartwells had furloughed the 375 dining service workers it had retained for the fall semester when the term ended Nov. 24. In a typical semester, Chartwells employs about a thousand but a significantly smaller on-campus student population meant fewer were needed this fall. Chartwells plans to bring the 375 employees back when the spring term commences on Jan. 20.

Related:34 Readers' Picks Best K-12 school meals in America

Read more: REACH Project, A&M Foundation provide food to dining workers

Central Michigan University has announced that it is signing a 10-year deal with Chartwells after ending its 25-year relationship with Aramark. Chartwells will take over management of campus restaurants, retail food outlets on campus and catering on July 1, 2021.

Read more: University cancels contract with Aramark, finds new campus food provider

While some tech companies have decided to let janitors and cafeteria workers go, most—including Nvidia, Apple, Facebook and Google—have kept contracted service workers on the books even though they are not working since most offices are largely shuttered, according to experts, workers and labor unions. Currently, about 88% of office workers in the Bay Area are working from home, according to UC Berkeley economics professor Enrico Moretti.

Read more: Despite shuttered campuses, some Silicon Valley tech firms still paying cafeteria workers, janitors

Bonus: 10 biggest K-12 school meal stories of 2020

Contact Mike Buzalka at [email protected]