Wed. Sept. 17 was a day for buffet for Plymouth State University students. Sodexo food services sponsored two on campus buffets highlighting local foods.
The first buffet ran from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. was right outside the Mountain View Snack Bar in the HUB Pawsway. It featured vegetarian dishes and many different foods than its dinner counterpart. The lunch buffet had such dishes as Butternut Apple Cheddar soup, Zucchini and couscous soup, couscous salad, fresh farm zucchini, red cabbage and a vegetarian quiche. A non-vegetarian meal was also provided. This option consisted of Canadian pork pie and an apple caramel dessert.
The buffet worked as the Mountain View Snack Bar’s meal exchange for the day. Those without meal plans could purchase the buffet foods with flex cash or standard cash.
Sodexo sponsored the buffet as a way to notify students about the vast food options available right in the state of N.H. and surrounding areas, as well as a means of supporting local growers and retailers.
“We wanted to try and support local farmers,” said Ginny Jordan, the Assistant Retail Manager of the Mountain View Snack Bar.
Later that evening, the second buffet was hosted on the back lawn of Prospect Dining Hall. The normal dining fare was abandoned and students were fed foods from local growers and merchants.
This buffet included many different local foods including soups, salads, entrees, desserts and beverages. Clam chowder, carrot and ginger salad, marinated beet and onion salad, cole slaw, mixed greens and vegetable salad, apple, pear, and walnut salad with maple dressing were all on the menu. Students were given the opportunity to pick and choose what foods they wanted.
The main course was a variety of different food options including egg salad sandwiches, baked haddock, venison stew, roasted chicken, herb potatoes, spaghetti squash and local bison burgers.
Pumpkin bread, apple pie, a blueberry buckle and watermelon were all offered for dessert.
Some students were not impressed with the foods being offered at the buffet, instead opting for the traditional meals at the dining hall.
“I liked the rotisserie chicken,” stated Shayne, a PSU student who wished to only use his first name. “The burgers were horrible, and I think that it’s ridiculous that we had to pay for fruit,” he added.
Locally grown fruit was available for purchase, which was different from the normal dining hall system.
“It was great, had a nice touch,” said Frank, another PSU student who wished to keep his last name anonymous.
Food for the buffet was bought by farms such as Black River Produce of North Springfield, Vt. Owens Truck Farm of Bonnie Brae Farms both from Plymouth, Saunders Produce of Somersworth, N.H. Dole and Bailey Chicken of the Northeast; Meadow Ledge Farms of Loudon, N.H. and Stoneyfield Farms of Londonderry, N.H. all provided food to the buffet. Swampscott Beverages of Newfields, N.H. provided drinks.
Several days later, on Tues. Sept. 23, Sodexo sponsored another buffet. This buffet was made available to student organizations interested in trying out the new catering menu.
“They do this every year to showcase new menu items,” said Raymond Valentin, Sodexo’s catering manager, “Right now the s’mores and dessert shots are doing very well,” Valentin added. Sodexo provided a “make your own s’more” station, as well as a display of dessert shots, a pudding and chocolate or fruit combination served in a small cup.
“We are also looking to provide more healthy alternatives like yogurt and fresh berry dessert combinations, especially when the warm weather comes,” said Catering Director Keith Botelho.
In addition to the soups, salads and other finger foods showcased at the event, Sodexo plans on adding more items to their catering menu over the course of the year, “We are planning on adding twelve to fifteen more items,” Botelho said, “Nothing is set in stone on the menu,” he added.
Botelho added that the mission of Sodexo on the PSU is to serve the students, “We do forty to fifty catered student events per year,” Botelho stated, “We would love to help the students more.”