The food committee unites with Sodexo representatives to make improvements to pre-

existing food services and develop new offerings at U.N.H. Students can voice their

opinions and ideas to Food On Demand's head chef Danny Hernandez, Sodexo's general

manager Gordon Hayes, and student ambassador Dan Simpson ("Sodexo Dan").

"[At meetings] we can liaison with students, good, bad, or ugly about the program. It

gives them the opportunity to ask questions about why certain things are set up the way

they are," said [Billy or Simpson], "It creates a nice mechanism where we can talk about

things that aren't necessarily working."

The committee started last year in collaboration with the Undergraduate Student

Government Association. Since then, the committee has begun to pursue new ideas to

entertain and educate students.

Students voiced a variety of ideas: topics ranged from grocery shopping off-campus to

learning how to prepare healthy meals on campus.

The bulk of the meeting was dedicated to learning about how U.N.H. tries to give back.

Simpson and Hayes discussed establishing a program to deliver Sodexo's uneaten food

to a local food bank. Student volunteers would work with Sodexo to bring (and

potentially serve) hot food to a location on a routine basis.

Sodexo is not only charitable, but also innovative and environmentally-friendly. Oil that

is used in the kitchen is collected and eventually cleaned before being recycled into

biodiesel.

The professionalism carries on into the kitchen, where Sodexo "…incorporates safety

and sanitation," Simpson explains, "that's very important. Everything has to be so

organized because it is easy to contaminate."

They are careful to run operations like a restaurant in order to be efficient and protect

those who have food allergies. Those with more severe or unique allergies can contact

Sodexo to have their needs fulfilled, including ordering meals ahead and developing

plans for them.

Catered events and themes were discussed at the meeting, including the Buffalo XIII

Challenge taking place at WoW Café on Wednesday, October 19. For $10, students can

see if they can handle eating 10 Buffalo XIII sauce-coated wings in only four minutes.

The founder of WoW Café will be travelling from New Orleans to attend the event. It will

also be emceed by a local radio host. Students can win tee shirts, have their name and

photo put on a wall of winners and compete for grand prizes including a Beats speaker.

Sign-up dinners will also be offered monthly for one meal swipe and three dollars or

thirteen dining dollars for guests that aren't on a meal plan. The variety of offerings

spans from past dishes such as bacon cheeseburger bites and mussels with tarragon

sauce to Southern-style coleslaw and caramelized bananas.

If you want to get involved in the creative process of cooking on campus or want to learn

about Sodexo's work, contact Sodexo Dan at [email protected]. The Food

committee meetings will be held approximately every three weeks in Food On Demand.