By Rebekah Abdul-Wahhab
After 18 years of service, SUNY Plattsburgh has bid farewell to Chartwells. A shocking revelation to many students and a disruptive change to an ever changing dining experience for meal swipers.
Colleges and universities across the country and the world act as small societies for its attendants. With walkable streets, free community centers, dormitories and dining services that accommodate students at a fixed price. SUNY Plattsburgh has recently moved in a new direction, away from Chartwells and towards Sodexo–and the new Cardinal Way Culinary Co. A company that boasts expansive food options and accommodations, with updates to Clinton Dining Hall and The Nest.
But are these changes benefitting the student body they strive to please? For some students, the answer is yes. Senior Ngozi Permaul and Sophomore Natalie Sabino, have praised the new menus.
“The food is cooked through more, I feel more satisfied when I eat,” Permaul said. He also stated that he wishes the quantity of the food matched the quality.
“The portions feel so small, I have to use more meal swipes to feel satisfied,” Permaul said.
Sabino expresses that she thinks Clinton has improved greatly, “In the past I would see more pizza and burgers at Clinton,” Sabino said.
Sabino said she remembers a recent meal that included meat and cooked vegetables, and healthier sides that not only herself but more students wanted last semester.
Sophomore Angela Martinez Castro has experienced both food locations before and after the change, and said she misses the fresh salads of the popular food stall, Crave.
“The thing I do miss is Crave. They used to have caesar salads with air fried chicken,” Martinez Castro said.
Castro said she notices that there aren’t many salads on the menu this semester.
Natalie Sabino also remarked on this.
“They removed Crave and they had a salad section, the only place in the Nest last semester that offered salad bowls,” Sabino said.
The open set up and location of The Nest at the center of campus puts it at an important stop for many students coming and going across campus buildings for classes. The need for students to have a frequented eating establishment that provides a filling, yet healthy meal is paramount.
Are these changes the full extent of what this new dining service can offer? How do they intend to address these issues in real time? Especially when students are thrown into navigating a new menu without the assistance of a comprehensive menu and ordering service?
The departure of Chartwells also brought about the end of Boost, a reliable food ordering service on campus. Students could use Boost to order ahead of time between busy schedules, as well as browse the menus of the Nest’s food options.
The introduction of the new service, Daily Cafe, has come with many challenges for students. Many students have yet to hear of the app itself, while others like Ngozi Permaul struggle to add their campus cards on the app to use it.
“I feel like a deer in headlights when I have to order something at the kiosk because I’m unfamiliar with the menu,” Permaul said.
This inaccessibility can leave students like Bethany Short feeling unaccommodated. Short is a transfer student in her senior year who hardly eats on campus because she sees very few options to support her vegan diet.
“If there are options for me, it’s usually a side or just a vegetable,” Short said. “Why would I waste money putting it into cardinal cash when I can’t even have anything.”
According to Short, having an idea of what the new food services can offer her ahead of putting money into cardinal cash, or spending time online at kiosks is something that would allow her to maximize time and money.“With my restrictions, I feel like seeing the services before relying on them as food sources is definitely important to me,” Short said. She said this has stopped her from trying the new menus the Nest offers.
These new changes, highlights and drawbacks paint a picture of a new food service still working out the kinks of their operation. The kinks in question? small portions, long lines, and a deep disinterest from students in campus food services.
Time will only tell if Sodexo can satiate student concerns.
