Dining Services has been striving to make Murray State’s dining areas more convenient for students since last semester.
Lately, they have been concentrating on Fast Track and Winslow Dining Hall by turning to students for food recommendations.
Tim Bruce, department chef and manager at Winslow, said Dining Services is working to gather more suggestions from students in several ways.
Bruce said Dining Services has placed a recommendations box in Winslow and Fast Track for any students who have something specific they would like to see on the menu.
Dining Services is also encouraging students to post suggestions on their Facebook page. He said the recommendations will hopefully be implemented by the end of Spring Break.
Keawanna Houston, junior from Carbondale, Ill., is a Fast Track employee and said they get recommendations from students almost every day.
“The most international suggestions so far have been for Mexican churros and an item called Pocky’s, a popular Japanese snack food,” Houston said.
Paula Amols, director of Dining Services and Racer Hospitality, said they are open to any suggestions, but have been hoping for recommendations concerning international foods to be served at Winslow.
Amols said Dining Services has reached out on several occasions to international students who have asked for more options, but they have not gotten much of a response.
“What we have been hearing more recently is requests from some of the Middle Eastern students for Hallal food in Winslow,” Amols said.
Winslow has also made a recent upgrade concerning its fish menu. Dining Services is currently acquiring their fish through a new vendor called Sea to Table, a company that until recently, dealt mostly with restaurants.
Amols said the fish Sea to Table sells are caught by local fishermen and are caught in a sustainable manner.
“The company can identify exactly which boat and which captain caught our fish, and they provide us with that information which is displayed on the serving line,” Amols said.
Although the prices are higher than the fish Dining Services used to buy, they are willing to spend more for the sake of quality and sustainability.
“It is worth the expense for a quality, healthful fish, and it is nice to be able to support local fishermen around the country,” Bruce said.
Poached salmon, caught in Alaska, was recently served and proved popular.
Said Bruce: “I think the student’s knowledge of this and their recognition of its quality has definitely boosted the amount of fish we serve.”
Story by Alex Berg, Staff writer.