Sodexo granted extension

Despite campus controversy regarding Sodexo, the company will provide Luther’s food for the 2010-2011 school year, as Luther renewed its contract with the company.

The decision to outsource to Sodexo has caused controversy all year with faculty, staff and students.

Dining Services’ General Manager Donna Bauck stated in an e-mail that Dining Services spent 17 percent of their budget on local foods this year, a four percent increase from last year.

However, some consider the term “local” vague. Dining Services Production Manager Diane Narum, who purchases all of the food for the cafeteria, explained that Luther’s definition of local food includes anything within a 100-mile radius.

When purchasing food, Narum considers other factors as well.

“I look at whether it’s in a 100-mile radius first, then consider if it’s certified organic and sustainable and if it’s as healthy as possible,” Narum said.

Despite Luther’s 100-mile radius definition for local food, Sustainability Council Chair and Social Work Professor Craig Mosher explained that defining “local” is more complicated than it sounds.

“If you have a dairy farmer ten miles away that ships his milk to Rochester to be processed, is that local?” Mosher said. “It’s not as simple as drawing a 100-mile circle around campus.”

Still, Mosher is pleased that Sodexo has increased the amount of local food in the cafeteria.

“We were concerned they wouldn’t care about implementing local foods, but they seem very interested in that,” Mosher said.

Mosher also explained that eating local is not only about reducing a carbon footprint but supporting local businesses.

“Sodexo can plug local farmers into a large market, which helps the local farmers,” Mosher said.

One major question the implementation of local foods brings up is how this affects costs. Vice President for Finance and Administration Diane Tacke said the food budget has stayed the same for two years.

“Local food costs 25 percent more, and nobody wants to see board fees go up,” Mosher said.

Tacke says most of the costs have been reallocated, however.

“Going trayless reduced costs by $15,000-20,000 per year,” Tacke said.

Narum explained that local food, while still more expensive, has gotten more affordable recently.

“As we buy more, prices are getting more competitive,” Narum said. “When we started, local food cost about 50 percent more, and now it’s closer to 20-30 percent.”

Narum said she hopes to bring in even more local food next year as Sodexo works toward Luther’s goal of 35 percent local foods.

“All our shell eggs are local this year, but the scrambled eggs are purchased,” Narum said. “It takes a lot of labor to scramble eggs for 1000 people, but we’re hoping to have local scrambled eggs next year.”

Narum is also looking into a mill near Winona that sells seven-grains and wheats for baking as well as looking for sources for local dairy and turkey.

Tacke hinted that the cafeteria could see physical changes as well.

“Students will see new tables, chairs and lighting,” Tacke said. “Currently the setup works more like barracks than an environment where students can have conversations.”

Sodexo seems here to stay, but students will still have a voice in changes, according to Tacke. A third-party hired by Sodexo will be creating a Sodexo evaluation, which students can fill out at the end of the year.

“That feedback will help us set goals for 2010-2011,” Tacke said.