Sodexo's Big Event

Many students often take the dining services at Plymouth State University for granted. We go in, get food, sit down, and, eat it. When students are done they put their dishes on the conveyer belt and leave. The public does not see the behind the scenes of where the food comes from, who prepares it, who cooks it, and who cleans up afterwards. Each meal at PSU is prepared to have minimal waste, both in the kitchens and in the serving area. Recipes and proportions are all made in advance by the managers and kitchen staff. The dining services on campus produce over 3000 meals every day, like clockwork.

Annually, each branch of Sodexo has to have some sort of big event. The theme of these events is decided by each local faction. Some choose to make an enormous taco, others might decide they want a giant pizza picnic. This year, Sodexo at PSU decided to change it up and have a big salad bar for lunch. This was no ordinary Sodexo salad bar. Over 90% of the food was sourced right here from New England. The salad bar was debuted on Sept. 30, 2014.

This is why Sodexo’s event was such a big deal. Not only did it highlight the hardworking employees who took the time and effort for this big meal deal to happen, it also served as an opportunity to educate the diners and make them think about the process and journey their food takes before it reaches their plate and the extraordinary system that this is.

“Over 90% of the food used was sourced and produced in New England and a whopping 70% come from right here in New Hampshire,” said Ryan Mcqueeny, a Sodexo Manager. The budget was rumored to be four times more than used for the usual PSU lunch. The salad bar had everything from locally produced steak and fries to savory venison stew in a bread bowl. There were also countless types of vegetables, assorted salads of every variety, delicious local apples, and apple cider. It is not a true New England meal without pumpkin turnovers and frozen maple syrup candy pops made right in front of you.

The reaction to the freshly harvested food was overwhelmingly positive. The general consensus seemed to be that the meal was fresh and all around delicious. Many people were astounded by the variety.  “The food was delicious, better than normal. Everything was fresh and I would like to see food served like this every day,” said Matthew Doliver, a senior at PSU.

This presents the question of why all meals don’t consist of local foods. The answer to this is the price tag. Many of the folks eating said they would be willing to pay about 25% more to see all their food sourced locally. When asked if they would pay 50% more, many seemed shy away. However, there was still some support and willingness. Most people, namely students, were not willing to pay double for foods sourced from New England.

When asked what he thought about the event and serving locally produced foods Chris Mongeon, the General Manager for Sodexo, clearly stated that he would love to see more of the food sourced from the area, but he was willing to bet students would not want to pay four times more for their food. Mongeon was definitely in favor of reducing the company's carbon footprint as much as possible. “Over 10% of this food is already sourced locally. The milk and dairy products come from New Hampshire and New England, as well as the cage free eggs,” Mongeon said. Perhaps in the future even more meals can be sourced locally.

Another difficulty with sourcing food locally is New Hampshire’s short growing season. Items like eggs, milk, garlic, meat, and potatoes are available year around, but the majority of agricultural products in New England can only be produced in a small time frame, during the summer and early autumn months.

The event at PSU was an overall success. Many students left feeling full and satisfied, and the employees of Sodexo got to show off their fantastic cooking skills with the variety of food provided. Everyone got to experience the magic of good food and good people together, and that is why Sodexo’s big event was a big deal.

The dining services on campus will be celebrating food day with a raw smoothie and juice bar in the prospect hall on Oct. 16th and will be holding a food drive from Oct. 20th-27th to celebrate waste reduction week.  For more information, join the Friends of PSU dining event on Facebook.