Meals in Dining Halls Too Costly, Badly Prepared, Council Investigation Discovers

Demanding better food at lower prices in the College dining halls, a Student Council report released last night attacked "widespread inefficiency in the preparation of food at Harvard that would never be tolerated in a restaurant that had to cover its costs without a guaranteed clientele."

The report concludes "that the quality of the food as served could be greatly improved by better preparation and more careful choice of menus, and that the rate could be considerably reduced without lowering the quality of the food."

The "appointment of a dietitian to be permanently attached to the staff of the dining halls," and "hiring of an expert in the administration of large dining halls to make a survey of the present set-up at Harvard with a view to improving its efficiency" are recommended by the Council.

Sees Big Rate Cut

If conditions were improved, the 21-meal rate could be reduced from $10.00 to $7.00 or $8.50, according to two estimates cited by the report, which goes on to say, "Quite possibly these estimated reductions are exaggerated, but they indicate clearly the substantial savings to House residents which could be effected through greater efficiency."

Prepared by a nine-man committee headed by Henry A. Burgess '40, the report was written in answer to a petition signed by 137 undergraduates which asked the Council to investigate the dining halls.

The Committee dealt with four main problems: "(1) the wholesale costs of food purchased; (2) the quality of the foods served; (3) the possible effects of reducing the number of extra dishes and second helpings now available; and (4) efficiency in the kitchens."

Postpone Student Walters

The question of whether board costs could be further reduced by employing student waiters in the Houses, or at least made to bear less heavily on students with small incomes, the Council held over for another report, although the matter was considered during the Committee's investigation.

Student waiting, the report said, "is a different matter and one tied up with the whole question of student employment. Before any findings can be reported further investigation must be made, and a poll of student sentiment held on the issue of student waiters."

The prices Harvard pays for raw foods, the Committee concluded after a study of comparative prices, are consistently below the market level, and "Harvard buys good quality food at low prices."

Find Cooking Poor

But the quality of the cooking did not so easily pass the Committee's scrutiny. In a comprehensive survey, the Committee found that certain vegetables are consistently returned to the kitchens uneaten, and stated that the root of the evil lies in poor choice of dishes "prepared with carelessness and incompetence."

The report stated that the economy to be effected by reducing the "extras" available in the dining halls would not justify the loss in variety such a step would entail.

After checks in all the House dining halls, the Committee found repeated instances of butter and bread, which had not been touched, being thrown away wholesale. The report cites one estimate that "10 to 15% of all the meat cut in the House kitchens is wasted through incompetent butchering."

The report concludes with the statement that "if the Houses are to remain attractive social units, and if the important idea back of President Conant's dinner-table education is to continue to be effective, students must not be allowed to fool, and with justice, that they are being overcharged for the food served to them.