Students Split on HUDS Food Quality and Variety, Survey Shows

Just under half of respondents to a recent Harvard University Dining Services survey indicated they were either “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with dining hall menu variety and the food taste.

The semesterly survey, which featured 1,736 respondents this spring, or about a quarter of Harvard’s undergraduate population, sheds light on student satisfaction with the dining provider on a number of components, including friendliness of staff, cleanliness, and grill service. Approximately 94 percent of survey respondents were undergraduates, and the remainder included residential tutors who frequent campus dining halls.

Overall, about 67 percent of respondents said they were "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with their HUDS experience.

By Derek K. Choi and Brian P. Yu

Of the survey questions that focused on the food more generally, respondents gave their lowest ratings to menu variety. Around 27 percent of the respondents said they were either “dissatisfied” or “very dissatisfied” with the breadth of options in their dining halls. A plurality were satisfied, and 27 percent had no opinion.

Food taste had the second lowest rating when it came to general food questions—about 23 percent said they were “dissatisfied” or “very dissatisfied” with the taste of their dining hall meals. Forty-four percent said they were satisfied with taste.

According to HUDS spokesperson Crista Martin, the data indicates that the student body “sometimes has diametrically opposed tastes” when it comes to continuity of favorites and variety of new options. Students want dining halls to serve meals they are familiar with as well as encourage culinary exploration, Martin added, while HUDS must consider how to satisfy everyone.

“I think we have an incredibly diverse population, and they’re coming from all kinds of experience around food,” Martin said in a interview over the summer. But she noted that “people often have a misconception that because there is something they don't like, something that they don't eat, that means no one else does.”

Despite some dissatisfaction with food, students are “overwhelmingly” appreciative of dining workers, according to Martin.

Staff friendliness, appearance of staff, and speed of service were all given high satisfaction ratings. About 67 percent of respondents said they were “very satisfied” with staff friendliness, compared to 4.5 percent who felt the same about the taste of HUDS meals.

HUDS also polled students on their dining habits. Nearly three-quarters of respondents said they are occasionally vegetarian, with about 10 percent saying all their meals are meatless.

Students were also asked by HUDS how much time they have for lunch on a typical weekday. About 15 percent of respondents reported they have less than 20 minutes or less time for lunch, with 3.7 percent reporting no break for lunch. About a third of respondents reporting having more than 40 minutes to eat.

The survey also asked students about their cooking ability. Nearly 14 percent of respondents said they do not know how to cook, although most of those clueless cooks indicated they were interested in learning. By contrast, more than 37 percent of respondents said they “love to cook.”

HUDS also assessed how students access dining hall information by asking about the use of Omni, a mobile application rolled out by the Undergraduate Council last year. Of the students surveyed, about 25 percent reported they used Omni regularly in order to access dining information or order a bag meal, while more than 30 percent did not know what Omni was.

In addition to the survey, Martin said in an interview HUDS gathered consumption data based on the amount of food students eat at every meal. Over the summer, HUDS used survey data from the past academic year in addition to consumption data to craft new recipes and address student concerns.

—Staff writer Brandon J. Dixon can be reached at brandon.dixon@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrandonJoDixon.

—Staff writer Brian P. Yu can be reached at brian.yu@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @brianyu28.