Dining Service Negotiations are Now in Progress

by Ariel Whitworth 

Throughout the week, the College interviewed prospective dining company representatives in order to review and possibly change the dining contract. Currently, Oberlin has a contract with Sodexho-Marriot, which inspires a significant amount of student dissatisfaction. Companies will submit rough drafts of their proposals for the College on March 9. Three finalists will present their plans to the Oberlin faculty, staff and students later this semester. 
One concern involves Sodexho-Marriot’s sister company, which owns 16.9 percent stock in a prison company. “It’s a French company. They don’t understand what Americans see as disagreeable. The chairman of our board has, however, stated in writing that they are planning to divest themselves,” Dave Jehnson, a Sodexho-Marriot representative, said.
Senior Tyron Moore, treasurer and co-chair of the Oberlin College Labor party, said, “We are fighting for a dining service that does not support the corrupt and racist prison industry, that does not exploit its workers with poverty wages and respects the union here.” 
When reviewing the deal last spring, the College advisors decided to entertain possiblities for alternatives to Sodexho-Marriot. This could have a serious impact on the College because many companies offer vending and childcare in addition to dining services, and become an integral part of life on campus. The College is interviewing eight companies: Bon Appetit, Parkhurst, ARAMARK, Wood Dining, Creative Dining, Chartwells, Sodexho-Marriot and Aladdin Food.
Residential Life and Services Director Kim LaFond said, “We’re looking for the value and quality of food and the service that a company can provide. We have to see what our financial options are.” 
The companies vary in size, ranging from larger corporations such as Sodexho-Marriot and Chartwells to smaller companies like Aladdin Food, which claims customers can call and talk to the president at any time. 
The dining options also vary in their approaches. Bon Appetit claims to customize “high quality, creative food programs,” to meet clients needs, whereas companies like Chartwells feature smaller brand name cuisines and fast food companies like Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and TCBY. 
Jerry Marks, a representative from ARAMARK, said, “We try to work with people’s concepts of culture, and with the various regions that students come from. We’re a company with a vested interest. Good service is the most important thing.”
Students have mixed opinions about Sodexho-Marriot. In Oberlin vocabulary, having the “Stevies,” is synonomous with an upset stomach, and dinner conversation often revolves around the mediocre cuisine. 
Junior Molly Gebrian is more forgiving of College dining. “Institutionalized food is never going to be as good as home-cooked food, and people are going to complain about it, no matter what. The food is fine; we’re not going to get much better,” she said. 
The College originally signed a contract with a smaller company called Service Systems. It was bought out by Marriot. 
Jehnson defended the company. “We know the interests of the campus better than anyone else,” he said. Jehnsen also said that Marriot was intending to provide an extension of its current services, and would try to improve waste management and food quality in general. 
Students want a company that is flexible and environmentally conscious. One issue of concern among students is that local foods get business from the dining service. It is important to many students that the new dining corporation cater to vegetarian and vegan diets. 
Of the prospective dining services, Moore said, “None of the companies bidding come close to fulfilling those criteria. That’s why we are calling for an in-house service, with the students, workers and administration to organize the dining system in a democratic, not a profit-driven manner.”
Many corporations would like to consider working with the College to establish lower prices and possible off-board options. “You get 14 or 21 meals, but if you don’t use them, you waste them,” first-year Tennessee Grimes said. 
Most companies are unenthusiastic about the idea of local businesses like FORC (Federation of Ohio River Valley Cooperatives). Currently, Sodexho-Marriot buys very little from local farmers. 
ARAMARK shared a similar response to local markets. “We participate with smaller companies and towns, but smaller places do have liability. For instance, we don’t buy local meat,” Joelle Davis, an ARAMARK employee, said. 

Other companies, such as Wood Dining Services, were more responsive. Mark Klindera, a Wood employee, said, “We can consider using local foods, especially local produce when it is available. We will go to the nth degree for the client. The McDonald’s thing is not cool. Adding a local buyer would probably be easy. We have done experiments with compost in Pennsylvania, and we are willing to work with farmers so that even if their crop isn’t large enough one year, maybe we could let them plant more with a better idea of the demand.”

Another factor in the success of any new dining service is cooperation with the Oberlin Student Cooperative Association. OSCA’s six hundred person waiting list might attest to the popularity of less pricey, “home-cooked,” organic food and an avid concern with political and environmental consciousness. Senior and OSCA President Stefan Kamola said, “One thing that several dining companies have seemed curiously keen on is learning how they can help OSCA in its operations. It’s almost as if they overlook the fact that we are an independently owned and operated dining organization that has been autonomously run for 50 years. Since we rent our spaces from the College, we do interact with the College over matters of facilities, but it’s almost frightening how little understanding there is of the autonomy of our operations.” 
The entire process has left some students discouraged. “Oberlin students should learn to photosynthesize,” joked sophomore Pat Hayes.