After eating in the  Cornell Dining Halls for about a year and a half, I had so many questions about how the food was prepared every day, the amount of time it took to prepare the food, and how the dining halls managed to organize their menus for each day. Chef Daniel and Paul Muscente were able to offer us some valuable insight on how Cornell dining functioned every day and the hours of labor and thought that it took to prepare meals for thousands of students on a daily basis. I was surprised by the mass scale at which Cornell produced its food which was about 10,000 meals every day. In order to support such a large undergraduate population, the dining staff was comprised of both students and non-student food service workers who were willing to put in hours during the food rush hours  to support the heavy influx of students. During such rush hours, students invariably formed long lines behind the specialty stations that offered the best meals of the day. Therefore, many students inquired if Cornell Dining had a feasible plan to reduce the long lines during rush hours; however, Muscente suggested that only students could help reduce the lines by waiting until the line had cleared up instead of diving right into a long line. The lines were going to form no matter what day of the week it was, but the students had a choice to skip the line for the time being or follow what everyone else was doing. I found myself thinking about the times when I would just blindly go into a line without even knowing what food was being served on the other end . Such experiences made me more aware of the fact that following large groups was not always the best idea and sometimes it was better to join the less crowded line.

During this talk, I learned that Cornell has been actively trying to promote healthy eating on campus by cutting out deserts and rationing meat in the dining halls. Paul stated that 3 years ago, one could find  3 different pies, cakes, and cookies in every dining hall, but now there are only one or two dessert options at the most to encourage moderation. Chef Daniel stated that he and his team have been trying to include more veggies and whole grains into the food at Rose and ration the protein because it is wasted a lot of the times. Many times people take a lot of protein and end up throwing it away because they feel like indulging in ice-cream, waffles , french fries , etc, but they don’t realize that the protein is the most expensive and hard to prepare item on their plate. Instead of offering large quantities of meats and protein to students, the dining staff is trying to mix the protein with vegetables and healthy grains like quinoa to offer a more balanced meal.  College students tend to eat irrationally when they see a plethora of good food in front of them; therefore, it is important that they are carefully choosing what they eat. I realized that I eat more healthy when I have fewer choices of fried and starchy foods to choose from. Therefore, I support Cornell dining’s efforts to reduce the quantity of unhealthy food being served everyday and replacing it with healthy alternatives.