December 2009 Report

Simpson Dining Hall Meeting (11/30):

• Ongoing basic options:
  

- Tofu & hummus at the salad bar
- Hummus at deli station
- Hummus & pita bread every day near pizza station
- Rice daily

• Talked about various recipes from the books bought last year, from Sustainability Week, and the binder created last year
• Asked Simpson Dining to add:

- Faux deli meats to deli station (such as Tofurky & Field Roast Co.)
- Soy or rice cheeses for deli station (ex: Tofutti)
- Soy yogurt for breakfast in the morning (Silk brand)
- Vegan chicken nuggets
- Vegan mashed potatoes
- Vegan mac 'n cheese (continued from last year)
- Fake meat crumbles for Mexican bar
- Faux sour cream for Mexican bar

• Asked for Southside Market to add:

- Vegan chicken nuggets
- Faux deli meat
- Soy or rice cheeses
- Soy yogurt
- Faux sour cream
- Faux cream cheese

• Improvements have been made throughout the dining hall and in Southside, but some thoughts for the future:

- Better black bean burgers
- More vegan "fast food" things/ items that college students would typically eat and can make fast
- Thinking of replacing the Thai food from previous years that was available "to go" in Southside, etc. with something vegetarian/vegan friendly --> looking for new distributor currently
- Possibility of vegetable juice for breakfast --> buying a quality blender
- Cage-free, organic, or local eggs used more widely if they can be bought in bigger quantities (Simpson uses a pre-packaged egg mix for their food - difficult to make transition over to any of the above options)
- More vegan baked goods! (when they were introduced before by dining services they were a big hit, two cakes were gone in a half hour!)

• Dining Services will also be contacting the popular makers of the Sweet Miss Givings treats to see if they can use recipes so vegan baked goods would be available to students at all dining locations and markets
• Contact sushi distributor for more vegan/vegetarian sushi options through markets
• Fadila will give Lake Shore Dining some of the vegan cookbooks and the binder made last year with recipes so they can have a good support for their rotating vegetarian and vegan dishes

Meetings will resume next semester! Happy Holidays!

November 2009 Report

Simpson Dining Hall Meeting Minutes (11/2):

• Sustainability Week: 11/16-11/19 --> want to have more veg options at all food stations, not just the veg./vegan station
• Please e-mail Michelle, co-president of Oxfam, recipes for Simpson dining: mamiott@gmail.com
• Things we would like to see continue on the menu: Mediterranean wraps, apple dessert pizza, vegan chili, pasta (vegan - of various forms)
• Things we would like to see added to the menu: no cheese or soy cheese pizza with grilled vegetables, vegan cookies, vegan mashed potatoes
  

October 2009 Report

Dining Hall Meetings are split into three categories this year: Lake Shore Dining/Rambler, Simpson Dining, Water Tower Dining/Terry Food Court. Meetings are held as follows:

• Simpson Dining: Every Monday at 2:45 p.m. inside Simpson Dining hall near the offices. Meet with Fadila of Simpson Dining.
• Lake Shore Dining/Rambler: Meets every 2-3 weeks on Wednesday's at 3:00 p.m. in Rambler with Robert Bearman.
• Water Tower Dining/Terry Food Court: Meets every 2-3 weeks on Friday's at 3:30 p.m. in Terry Food Court.

Please e-mail Alexis (ascherb@luc.edu) to confirm meeting times.


Updates from Lake Shore Dining/Rambler Meeting:

• Focused mostly on Rambler Room vs. Lake Shore Dining
• Others in the meeting brought up the idea of more stir-fry, Italian, etc. (make your own type choices) --> Told that Mexican is what sells, so Mexican will be staying.
• Discussed the lack of space in Rambler, meaning no room for an extra vegetarian only cutting board/knife in the sandwich area --> Suggested that if the employee were just very careful to clean well between sandwiches (as sometimes they are in a hurry and forget) that would be a huge step in the right direction
• Discussed was the lack of good labeling. For example, the vegetables are all vegan (not cooked in butter), the beans are vegetarian/vegan, and hummus has always been available at the sandwich station. (I did not know this, and I doubt it is commonly known.) Since the meeting there are new signs in Rambler at the Mexican station & the sandwich station explaining which options are vegetarian and notifying students about the option of hummus.

Updates from the Simpson Dining Meeting (10/19/09):

• Organic food at Southside
  o Had started buying organic fruits, but the place they would buy from was unreliable. 12 out of a case would be rotten.
  o Apples at Simpson are locally grown.
• Added Pineapple juice
• Student Appreciation Day—October 26th
  o Free stuff
  o Vegan dessert! Yay!
• Trying to talk to the caterers in charge of the Finals Breakfast
  o Get more vegan options
• Damen Hall
  o Very few vegan items. Most usually unavailable.
  o Thai food @ Damen: No more Thai food at Damen because the restaurant lost its license --> Fadila will look into a new business to replace it, but apparently the license is a pain, and most businesses don’t think its worth it
• Systems Sustainability Class is going to be growing herbs next semester
  o Dining hall will use them for food (so I guess it’s locally grown, organic)
  o Class is looking for more Greenhouse space
• Pad Thai
  o Kids at the meeting really seemed to like Pad Thai
  o Have a Pad Thai a la carte, like the stir fry section
• Have a meat free week?: Probably with more vegetarian options but still have meat for those who want it
  o Serve foods that are a vegetarian take on traditional meaty dishes
  o Serve vegetarian-ish dishes. Like Lo Mein, or Pad Thai, etc.

April 2009 Report

Due to the close of the school year, meetings with Loyola Dining have stopped. They will pick back up again in the fall semester. Next year, we hope to:

• Have weekly or bi-weekly meetings with Loyola Dining
• Rotate the meeting locations with different staff members - one week at Simpson, the next at Lake Shore Dining
• Include more Water Tower Campus dining - have meetings downtown with staff

See you next school year!

Submit Your Recipes on LUC Website!

1. Click on this link

http://www.luc.edu/dining/recipe.shtml

2. Submit your recipe
3. Thanks!

March 2009 Report

Update from 3/30/09:

• Nutritional information placed in the pizza station of Simpson Dining
• Working on nutritional information for cereal, deli, and breakfast this week at Simpson Dining
  
• Will finish nutritional information for all of Simpson Dining by the end of the year --> complete and up at all times next year
• Standardized pizza at Simpson Dining: same quantity for every day of every type
• Created a special standard for vegans: no cheese, no sauce pizza
• Took out the coffee bar in Terry's at WTC --> put the coffee equipment through campuses such as at Rambler Room
• Submit recipes online?: http://www.luc.edu/dining/ --> I'm not seeing the link, though...
• We need more input on LSD options for vegetarians and vegans --> please send your thoughts!
• Divine Chocolate (fair trade) sold at Southside Market and Market 820 --> going to add to Union Station too
• Putting 100% juice other than OJ in Simpson Dining (ex: grade or cranberry)
• Earth Day: only vegetables and fish at Simpson Dining
• Reusable bags: SEA bags get 10% off at Southside and Market 820 totals
• Travelers Mugs: just started --> discount for those who use a travelers mug at the coffee bar in Rambler or the IC --> will have Loyola and Metropolis logos on the mugs

Nutritional information example.

Questions given to be answered at a later date for Water Tower Campus Dining:

• Terry's : cheeseless pizza, please?
• Terry's: tofu at the wrap station as an options + advertisement of such option
• Terry's: salad bar at the bar station (where the baked potato bar is, etc.)
• Terry's: vegetaran/vegan soup option
• Nina's: vegetarian/vegan soup option
• Overall: pre-made vegan sandwiches?
• Overall: vegan baked goods?

Example of now vegan pre-packaged Thai food!

February 2009 Report

Update from 2/23/09:

• Last week: Downtown Aramark representatives and Lakeshore Dining representatives came to the meeting and there was discussion of vegetarian/vegan solutions at both these facilities --> similar results as we are doing in Simpson Dining
• Lakeshore Dining is working on the creation of a vegetarian/vegan section in the hall --> more information TBA
• Terry Student Center Cafeteria is also working towards more vegetarian/vegan options --> more information TBA
• Label signs for food have been created! They will differentiate between vegetarian and vegan food items.
• The meat in the pasta at LSD is bacon!
• More options will be added to LSD as was done at Simpson such as: whole grain pizzas and waffles, edamame for salads
• Working on publicizing the efforts we have made thus far
• Check out the Facebook Fan Page for Loyola Dining (and become a friend to get updated on activities!): FB Fan Page
  

Update from 2/9/09:

• Simpson Dining Vegan & Vegetarian Menu Binder: daily menu schedule --> binder with recipes for chefs @ Simpson Dining
• Fadila purchased several books: Indian Food Made Easy, Vegan Soups & Hearty Stews For All Seasons, The Vegetarian Cookbook, Vegan With a Vengeance
• Tagged recipes in cookbooks the group thought would be good to start out with
• O.J. is now 100%
  
• 1/2 whole wheat and 1/2 white pizzas at stations - mix of both readily available
  
• 1/2 whole wheat and 1/2 white pancake mix -both readily available
• Flavored yogurt: strawberry --> ordered
• Mozzarella cheese is 2%
• Marketing Dept. is making labels with members of Green Floor in Simpson Hall
  

Update from 2/2/09:

• Fadila is purchasing several cookbooks for Simpson Dining including: How It All Vegan!, La Dolce Vegan!, Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, The Joy of Vegan Baking, Vegan with a Vengeance, Veganomicon, The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen, and The Garden of Vegan: How It All Vegan Again!
• Vegan Pizzas now to be made: no cheese, but sauce and grilled vegetables
• Oatmeal station with nuts, dried fruit, strawberries, brown sugar.
• Omelet and pancake station day on Wednesday's.
• Keep bringing those recipes!