Northwestern students are always talking about dining hall food. From ranking the dining halls to remarking on the abundance of cauliflower in Allison dining hall, students have strong opinions. Still, many don’t realize the complexity of the meal planning process.
Juan Aguayo is the director of operations for Compass Group, the food service company contracted by NU. Aguayo said the dining staff create biannual menus for the dining halls.
“Our culinary team writes and develops menus for each dining hall based on higher education trends, market trends and the needs and feedback of our Northwestern community,” Aguayo said. “Each dining hall’s executive chef makes adjustments to menus as needed based on product availability, seasonal offerings and special events.”
The dining staff also try to accommodate diverse dietary needs, according to Demetrios Kyprianos, district executive chef for Compass Group. The Pure Eats section in each dining hall serves foods free of the top eight major allergens and gluten, and the Foster-Walker Complex East dining hall only offers Pure Eats foods.
The food served at Pure Eats is prepared in a separate area with specific cooking utensils to reduce the risk of allergen cross-contamination, Kyprianos said.
The dining staff also consider the nutritional value of dining hall food when developing meal plans.
“We work closely with our campus dietitian, Maddy McDonough, to ensure that our offerings are not only nutrient dense, but varied in nature,” Kyprianos said. “Maddy runs several reports on our menus using our menu-planning software to gain key insights on macronutrients, sodium content, sugar content and more.”
Every few months, the dining halls serve a themed meal as part of NU Dining’s Cultural Series. Previous events have included a Hispanic and Latinx Heritage Month Dinner and a Lunar New Year Brunch.
The dining staff consider additional factors when preparing these meals.
“Our main priority when planning the menus for our cultural series is to provide an authentic menu experience,” Aguayo said. “We work with our culinary team as well as an array of student organizations for input and feedback for these events.”
Student input is an important part of the meal planning process. Aguayo said. The NU Dining team reviews feedback from the Dine on Campus website, ‘Happy or Not’ kiosks located in the dining halls, live student focus groups, dining committees and social media accounts.
Communication freshman Annika Nelson said she generally enjoys the dining hall food on campus.
“The dining hall food is not incredible, but it’s a lot better than what some kids have,” Nelson said.
Nelson also said there is not much variety in the food served because of the rotation of common ingredients on the menu.
SESP freshman Hope Jordan said she has noticed a pattern of a starchy food paired with a protein-rich food and a vegetable served at each meal. She said she would like more variety since she has noticed the cuisine is mostly American.
However, Aguayo said the dining staff aims to cater to a multicultural group of students at NU.
“We strive to provide diverse, inclusive, nutritious, delicious, sustainable meals that support our students and faculty, and also create community through food experiences,” Aguayo said.
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Twitter: @IsaiahStei27
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