Food Survey Looks At Sustainability

Students looking to comment on the crispiness of their popcorn chicken or the availability of cracklin’ oat bran in their dining hall on the recent biannual Harvard University Dining Services survey found themselves disappointed, after HUDS changed the format of the questionnaire from past years.

On this semester’s dining satisfaction Survey, HUDS focused primarily on sustainability, with 11 out of 25 survey questions relating directly to this issue. They also eliminated the section for open-ended response,s instead using a multiple choice format.

In the past, HUDS’ survey provided a forum for students to offer their opinions on the dining hall food, including a section for general feedback.

HUDS focused this survey on sustainability to “get a better handle on people’s understanding and interest of sustainable life,” said HUDS spokeswoman Crista Martin.

Some students said they were upset by the focus on sustainability.

“We all care about it,” Julio D. Montejo Jr. ’10 said “but it was overwhelming to spend so much time on sustainability when the quality of the food is what I’m really concerned about.”

Environmental Action Committee Chair Zachary C. Arnold ’10 called the number of sustainability questions on the survey “pretty intense,” but praised HUDS for paying attention to the issue. “They should continue expanding attention on it,” he said.

The other change in the survey, the multiple choice format, was implemented for the convenience of easily cataloging the data; long, written suggestions were too difficult to translate into results, according to Martin.

“We try to ask questions that will help us make programmatic decisions,” she said, adding that students can comment on the HUDS Web site blog or on the feedback cards in the dining halls.

HUDS publicizes the survey by ensuring that an e-mail is sent to the House lists, Martin said, though there is no link to the survey from the HUDS website.

While some students interviewed said they did not know of the survey, especially freshmen who are not yet on House lists, others said they were aware of it but had no interest in filling it out.

“I’m fairly satisfied with the food here” said Margaret M. Wang ’09. “I feel no need to review it.”