Students Voice Concerns about Food Services
Bluefield College students voiced their concerns about food services during a meeting hosted by the Student Government Association with Valley, the school’s food services provider, October 3.
The meeting was prompted by student complaints that were primarily voiced through Twitter. A number of Tweets expressed frustration with the quality of food, compared to the high price of a meal plan. The original Tweet even mentioned BC president Dr. David Olive.
“I thought it was pretty bold,” said SGA president Hannah Ingo about the original Tweet, “and I was talking with my friend and she was like ‘Yeah, she’s going to get things done.’”
Student Government members participating in the meeting included Ingo, treasurer Sharon Cobbler, and senators Tanya Pinette, Lexi Sturgell, Beri Bishop and Terrell Boston. Among the topics of discussion were the quality of food, problems with customer service, suggestions that would be helpful to students, faculty and staff, frustrations with food portions, and the limitations to items on the buffet.
“We had to limit portion sizes because of students filling up off of other lines,” said Stephen Fuller, Valley’s director of food services for BC. “If we were to give bigger portion sizes, a lot of food would be wasted.”
The SGA members also asked about the availability of Styrofoam or to-go cups. Fuller noted that Styrofoam cups cannot be distributed to students dining in the residence hall in order to reduce costs, but are available to students taking food to go.
“The biggest thing is to bring problems to their [Valley employees’] attention so they can fix it,” said Fuller. He also said that the food services employees want to please students and the college, but they can’t satisfy every want and need. He did note a few new things that might be pleasing to students, including the addition of Dip Box ice cream container, which students wanted to see back in the dining hall. The Dip Box contains about eight flavors of ice cream, which can be changed upon request.
Fuller encouraged students to share with Valley the things they’d like to see changed. They will work to do almost anything within reason, he said. SGA will be creating a video about a food committee, which should be released soon.