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Articles Written for UMBC's University Newspaper: "The Retriever Weekly"

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Food Action Team (FAT) hopes to solve persistant food problems

Christopher Paul, Retriever Staff Writer, Volume 39, Issue 19, published March 1, 2005

The Food Action Team held its first meeting of the semester last Monday, February 21. Also known as FAT, the organization was created in response to the continuing problem of dissatisfaction with the food services here at UMBC.

         In 2004, UMBC student Chett Miller established the Food Action Team in hopes of introducing competition from outside vendors to reduce food prices and convince the food service providers to address consumer’s special dietary needs and religious convictions that continue to go unmet. It was also begun in part to address the concerns over the renewal of Wood Dining Services’ UMBC contract.

         Miller presented his agenda to four members of the organization. FAT is a student run organization whose goals are to improve the quality of food and service at UMBC, to introduce competition from the outside to reduce food prices, and lastly, convince the food service providers to address consumer’s special dietary needs and religious convictions that continue to go unmet.

         During the meeting, Miller mentioned that he has met with administration on these problems twice and will be meeting with them for a third time on Tuesday, February 22. “I receive the same speech from administration every time I meet with them. Administration claims that there is not enough space to support another food service.” This seems unlikely, however, given that the space Food for Thought used to occupy still stands empty.

         Currently, places to eat on campus include the dining hall and various eateries in the Commons. Additionally, there are a number of smaller options, including the OTC and the small café’ on the first floor of the administrative building. The problem that FAT is combating, however, is with quality, not quantity.

         Rella Kaplowitz, senior and psychology major said during the meeting that, “People who apply to UMBC are shown the campus but are never shown the dining areas. Once they get here the issues begin. Another problem is there should be provision made for students to work in food services as there are not that many jobs on campus and what few there are, are coveted.”

         FAT wants to build a case and present a proposal of what can be done in order to improve the food sources by creating a case study of other universities in relation to the food services they offer. FAT is also currently designing a new survey that will be presented to administration, demonstrating the particular consumer needs that are not being addressed by the campus food service providers.

         “Under the current contract with Wood Food Service, minor changes can be made every year, but major changes can only be made every five years. Every 10 years, the contract runs out and a new RFP is created for food service providers to bid against.” Miller said. Therefore some changes will have to be gradual.

         The organization has already heard the typical complaints from students. FAT is looking for input that is more insightful in order to structure an alternative to the current problem.

         Other issues with the food services stem from religious convictions and special dietary needs. There are no kosher meals available on campus except in the dining hall on special occasions and the needs of Muslim students still go unmet. Kosher food is prepared in specific way, with specific utensils, contains no pork and has been blessed by a rabbi. Offerings for vegetarians and people on low salt, low fat and low cholesterol diets also have few food choices.

         S. Janaid Hassau, freshman and Biochemistry major said, “The people who drew up the contract have no idea what the students want in the way of food services.” Handling of food is also inconsistent. Once, Hassau said, while ordering in the administration building, he had seen a food preparer make a concerted effort to not make hand contact with food, only to turn around and pick up sausages with her hand.

         For those who are disgusted with the inadequacies of the current food service system and wish to effect change can subscribe to the FAT listproc to find out more about FAT and future meetings. Go to https://listproc.umbc.edu/lpumbc/user/lists.cgi, click on “lpUMBC user” to the right of the menu, then click on “Listing of Lists.” Look down the Listname column for: fat. In the description column look for: The Food Action Team. Click on fat in the Listcolumn to subscribe.