Food Committee Meeting Minutes
September 28, 2009

The meeting began at 6pm in the Timmerman Room.  Those in attendance were:  Jim Wilkes , Kimberly Smith, Ernest Servantes , Lana Urbanek , Paul Riser, Kyle Wych , Sarah Turner , Alicia Boone , Rogers Brown, Danielle Gaitan , Deanna Zapfe , Chad Batey, Brandon Boylan, Keith James and Kade Leinqi.  

This was our first meeting for the '09 school year.  Everyone in attendance introduced themselves.  The purpose of our meetings is communicating to the students at TLU what is going on in their foodservice.  Jim asked everyone if 6pm is a good time for everyone to get together.  Everyone was in agreement of the time and place.  

Hein:  

1. Dining Hall surveys will be here at the end of October.  We will be conducting the surveys in the foyer at Hein.
2. On October 20^th, it is Visiting Chef Night.  The visiting chef will be from New Orleans and will be serving New Orleans cuisine.
3. October 1^st, 12^th and 26^th are Carving nights at Hein.  These specials have taken the place of steak nights.  All the students were pleased w/this change.
4. October 28^th will be our celebration of Halloween.  We will have this special during the evening meal and late night.
5. We have observed returning students eating at all the different stations this semester but the freshman are dining at the pizza and burger stations.  One of our committee members said that possibly the lines at the other stations are to long, so freshman will get in the burger/pizza line for faster service.
6. We are going thru twice as much ice cream at Hein than we did last yr at this time.  We did have a special request from Danielle for Fire and Ice ice cream if it becomes available.  We also had a request for a Banana Split Bar one night over at the innovation station.
7. To go meals are on the rise this semester.  One of the committee members contributed this to possible conflicts w/the students class schedule.
8. Hein is now open at 7:15am for breakfast.  There are a bigger number of students here at that time than last year.
9. Brandon Boylan, committee member, passed on a big thank you to all the dining staff for being so nice to the students and their requests, even when they are very busy.  Kudo's staff for you customer service!!
10. Reminded everyone of the comment board that is in the dining room  Please encourage the students to use this.  Sodexo does respond to this and we do listen.   Please list your name and a phone # that we can get back with you for a more personal response.
11. Some students have been requesting soy milk.  We can get soy milk from the snack bar and have a sign out that it is available.  If we have a great need for this, we can order it and keep it here.
12. Paul Risor, committee member, asked if we have sweet tea available in the dining room at Luckys or at Hein.  We are checking in to that and see if we can move something off of the drink station and make room for the sweet tea.
13. Had mixed emotions regarding the Tortilla soup at Hein.  The recipe does call for squash to be included.  Paul Risor liked the tortilla soup without the squash, while others did like it in there.  Several commented on the soup seems to be better this yr. than last.
14.  Some members asked about the Tabasco sauce at Hein.  Chef informed them that if we are out of it out front in the dining room, please ask our staff and they will bring more out of we have it.
15. De Y Seis was a big hit again this year.  The students enjoyed the authentic Mexican cuisine that Chef Ernest prepared.
16. Paul Risor asked why students can not eat in the dining room and then take a togo plate with them.  Jim told the committee that Meal Plans B,C and D bought a specific amount of meals.  Therefore, they can swipe their cards again and it takes off another meal.  Meal Plan A is an unlimited meal plan, they can enter the dining room as many times as they want to.  If a student on Meal Plan A were able to swipe for other meals, we would be furnishing meals to to the entire campus.

Luckys:  

1. Dining room surveys will also be coming out the end of October.  We will be doing these surveys in the Dining area at Lucky's.
2. The new program "Simply to Go"  is a big hit w/the students.  The staff at Lucky's  can't keep the cooler full. 
3. Deanna said that she does miss the Oreo Cookies and Pudding cups that we used to offer in the Grab and Go cooler.
4. We are selling more bottled water at Lucky's this yr so far.  The sales on the energy drinks has declined.  One of the committee members said that this could be from all the information that is out now regarding the safety of energy drinks.  Jim said there are 6 or 7 different drink options that are not moving.  We may do a survey to discuss what drinks students prefer.  We will talk about this at the next food committee meeting.
5. The students asked about replacing the fries on the combo meals w/the grape and cheese cups that are on the Simply to Go cooler.  These items are not interchangeable. 
6. Deanna requested some Tazo tea flavors.  We will ck on their availability.  She requested the following:  Berry Blossom, Apple Cinnamon and Passion Pomegrante..
7. The students really enjoy the Baja Station at Lucky's.  Kudo's on the taco salads.
8. The comment was made the the burritos at the Baja station are always a different size.  Some are small w/very little product inside and some are larger w/ more product.  Jim will talk to Erica about more consistency at this station.
9. Pizza sales at Lucky's are not doing well this yr.  Hein Dining hall is the "pizza place" this yr.  One committee member suggested having the pizza order station be at the grille and not at Sub Connection. There will be LTO's at the grille.

The next food committee meeting will be held on October 26^th at 6pm in the Timmerman room.  Hope to see you there.  Bring a friend!!