Food Sustainability Low Priority for Students

The results from the Harvard University Dining Services’ biannual satisfaction survey revealed ambivalence toward sustainability, giving both students and HUDS administrators plenty of food for thought.

The questionnaire, which was given earlier this month with results released Wednesday, allowed students to rank various aspects of their dining experiences on a spectrum of relative importance. As past surveys have found, students’ foremost concerns remained related to food and hygiene, with 96 percent of respondents citing the taste of the food as very important, followed by its freshness (86 percent), and the cleanliness of plates and utensils (81 percent). However, only 42 percent of students called the sustainability of their food very or somewhat important, indicative of what Dining Services’ Executive Director Ted A. Mayer deemed a sentiment of “message fatigue” regarding sustainability.

That students value the quality of their food much more than the environmental impacts of their dining habits contrasts greatly with HUDS’ commitment to sustainability, which Director for Marketing and Communications Crista Martins calls a “core value for us.”

This year’s questionnaire noticeably shifted its focus to sustainability­—with 11 out of 25 questions directly pertaining to the topic.

The revised questionnaire was the joint product of HUDS, the Office for Sustainability, and Environmental Science and Public Policy 10: “Environmental Policy,” a course which has also examined HUDS as a case study in past years.

Edward V. Kogan ’12, a student in ESPP 10, said that HUDS had charged them with determining awareness of sustainability as well as offering suggestions to promote student interest.

Martin said that survey results indicated a “balanced and broad spectrum” regarding sustainability, with some students being very interested in the issue, some not at all interested, and some people in between.

Evan D. D’Avolio ’12 agreed with the survey’s results, which found that 81 percent of students made food choices based on taste as opposed to 12 percent based on environment. “I like good food. I’d rather the food taste good than be sustainable,” he said.

According to the results of the survey, 21 percent of respondents called their knowledge of sustainable foods very or somewhat complete, a response that Kogan said was “a bit disconcerting.”

Kogan also recalled some students’ rancor toward the sustainability-oriented survey.

“In my opinion, that negative reaction only demonstrates the need for further informational campaigns. It highlights the extent of the problem, that people are not as concerned as they should be,” Kogan said.