Since the economic crisis began last year, the administration has asked many sections of the College to cut back on spending. Academic departments cut down on discretionary budgets and the Association of Amherst Students (AAS) reduced student group funding. Many members of the student body, whose academic or extracurricular lives have not been greatly affected by these changes, have not noticed that these sections of the College have been given pressure to cut back. However, almost every student can point to one College service that has seen large cutbacks and savings: Valentine Dining Hall.

Valentine has always been a prominent part of campus life, used as a student meeting place, social hall and dormitory, along with its primary occupation of providing food to the student body. So, when Valentine was required to make changes to its dining services, many noticed. The early changes to Val were ancillary. Breakfast cereals were no longer available for dinner, certain specialty salad items were cut down, and disposable cups and temporary food containers were removed wholesale. These cuts have led a large portion of the student body to wonder what this year will have in store for their dining experience.

Over the summer, the Valentine staff worked hard to find ways to reduce expenditures while perhaps providing an even better dining experience. Charles Thompson, Director of Dining Services, spent many hours this summer with his cooks, staff, suppliers and student representatives figuring out ways to make Val run more efficiently and taste better. Thompson began by working with staff to restructure shifts, placing more people on the job during rush hours and less time during calm hours of the dining hall.

Also, Thompson has formulated a new dining strategy. Starting from scratch, Thompson worked with cooks to gather new recipes and attempted to “bring things to the menu that we were unable bring before” by cutting down on labor at other ancillary stations to put more “wow items” on the table at Valentine. Among these, Thompson mentioned new entrée salads, handmade sushi and calzones. Additionally, Thompson has introduced a new student mug program. The mugs, which were available earlier in the year and will be given out again in the near future, are meant to replace the role of disposable cups for students who would want to take cereal or coffee from Val to their dorms or classrooms. The mugs also include a deal at Schwemm’s, where students will receive a discount if they bring their mugs to fill with coffee. This mug program, along with the new compost station, is touted as an environmentally aware and financially responsible step that will cut costs, help the planet and provide students with convenience all at the same time.

Thompson is pleased with how the changes have gone so far. According to the response he has been given, these new items on the menu, mug program and compost trash cans have all met with widespread student praise. Jonathan Thrope ’10, a member of the AAS Dining Services Committee, also praised aspects of the new program. Specifically, he lauded the compost program as a “very good idea” that would help students become more conscious of wasting food by making them participate in the “physical act of throwing out their leftovers.” Both Thompson and Thrope emphasized that the most crucial thing for Val’s continued improvement would be continuing student involvement in the decisions of dining services. Thrope said that the “the dining hall staff are very receptive to student opinion” and that ultimately it is “just up to the students to speak up” to make Val a more cost-effective and delicious dining hall.