Stav Stats

Eating in Stav Hall is an integral part of many St. Olaf students' days. One can read the paper over breakfast, review for a test with classmates over lunch and enjoy dinner with friends. By this point in the year, everyone has learned the system and can maneuver through the Caf, even during the rush hours, but why does Bon Appétit run the way it does? Randy Clay, Board Manager of Bon Appétit, explained the administrative side of St. Olaf's food service.

"We're all about transparency; we don't want to hide anything," Clay said. "The more students know about how we operate, the more they will appreciate what they get." He noted that he was not implying that students do not already appreciate the food.

According to Clay, who has worked at St. Olaf for three years, the school contracted Bon Appétit as its single-service food provider 12 years ago. This means that students pay their board money directly to St. Olaf, which in turn pays Bon Appétit, and no other food provider can serve in Buntrock Commons besides the student-run Pause.

"We have a very good relationship with St. Olaf," Clay said. "It's very symbiotic; we have the same goals and missions. St. Olaf prides itself on being a green, forward-thinking school as far as the environment is concerned, and Bon Appétit prides itself on being that kind of company."

The college is responsible for covering the maintenance, equipment and building costs, as well as determining the different meal plan layouts. Students have a choice of four meal plans, three of which cost $4,400 (Full Board Option) and the fourth of which costs $2,260 (Partial Board Option). The Full Board Option divides into three layouts: 21 meals per week with no additional Flex Dollars, 17 meals per week with $300 per year and 14 meals per week with $430 per year. The Partial Board Option allows 210 meals and $360 per year.

All students must sign up for one of these options unless they live off campus or obtain special permission from Residence Life. Most of these special cases were only approved to accomodate dietary restrictions such as allergies.

"The college views meals as an important part of each person's day, not only for nutrition, but also for personal growth through interaction with others," Director of Residence Life Pamela McDowell said. "When Buntrock was being designed, students were very clear that they wanted one location that students came together to eat in."

The board options have undergone many changes over the years, including the replacement of a 19-meal plan with the 17-meal plan three years ago, and there is a current Student Government Association proposal to give students more options.

"I wish there was a 19-meal plan, so people who just skip a meal on Saturday and Sunday can have a full week's worth of meals," David Liebenson ‘12 said.

Emily Shimkus ‘13 thinks that the set-up is relatively flexible and is glad that she does not need to go to any designated meal on any specific day. However, she thinks this flexibility could go even further.

"At some of my friends' schools, they just have a set amount of money to spend," she said. "It would probably be healthier to do that. It would be great if all our meals were like Flex Dollars."

"This [type of] system could help with sustainability," Kayla Peterson ‘13 said. "People would be more conscious of what and how much they buy. On the other hand, people may get upset if they spend money on something that they end up not liking."

Clay acknowledged that some of the Bon Appétit services in other university settings do provide this "declining balance" or "a la carte" style. However, Bon Appétit carefully considers which style of service will best fit each school.

"It's always been all-you-can-eat here," Clay said. "I've never worked in a declining balance system, but some of the management here has, and at this point we prefer all-you-can-eat. You can charge more and make it seem like you're serving a higher quality of food by putting a price tag on your entrée, but that isn't our goal. St. Olaf is one of the biggest operations in terms of the sheer volume of what we do – cooking from scratch in an all-you-can-eat format – for any Bon Appétit school."

One challenge of an all-you-can-eat format is that it makes costs more difficult to predict. Bon Appétit receives about half of the total price for each board plan, and Clay said Bon Appétit has no problem with this division of money. However, sharing profits does influence the price they can afford to charge for a meal.

"I do think they're justified in asking for $10," Shimkus said. "That's extremely reasonable for all the food that you can get in the Caf. They need to pay the cooks, servers and student workers and maintain their operational costs."

Students average a 70-75 percent participation rate in the meals allotted by their respective plans, and the kitchen plans their cooking according to this number. Because the board plan is an upfront payment, nothing can recompense for missed meals. Clay dismissed this notion and compared it with demanding money back from a professor for a skipped class.

"When we open the door for dinner at 4:30, we don't have food prepared for 2000 people," Clay said. "We batch-cook throughout the meal, but we cook from scratch, so it's hard to make big adjustments quickly. Students let us know when we run out but tend to ignore all the times that we got it right."

However, the St. Olaf administration and Bon Appétit encourage all student feedback. Bon Appétit utilizes comment cards as their main vehicle to hear student opinions on their food and service.

Clay hopes his responses can provide students with knowledge of how Bon Appétit operates and give them a better idea of the logistics that go into running a food service. Next time you set your tray on the conveyor belt, you will know what had to happen in the kitchen and the office to make your delicious meal possible.