True Balance station
Morgan Kilger/The Bona Venture
BY: MORGAN KILGER, NEWS EDITOR
Before the spring semester, the Hickey Dining Hall implemented a new allergen-friendly food station. The station was implemented due to a survey about the dining hall based on feedback from the St. Bonaventure community.
With the implementation of the station, other stations moved from their original spots and there were additions to the breakfast bar.
Students are shocked about the changes made.
“It’s [just] all different,” said Robert Hermannsen, a sophomore adolescent education major.
Upon returning from winter break, Hermannsen immediately noticed a change to the breakfast bar.
“It was weird at first,” said Hermannsen.
Certain stations, like the eggs and sausage, were moved in the middle station and the bagels were moved by the cereal station.
Hermannsen did not like the change. He found himself changing his eating habits.
“I used to always go to the same exact place every morning for breakfast,” said Hermannsen. “Now it’s like since they moved it, I’ve been getting [a] different breakfast.”
Kayla Bonin, a sophomore biology major, had a different experience with the breakfast setup.
Bonin thinks the new setup flows better than the previous arrangement, especially with the bagel and fruit stations.
“It’s definitely broken up more, and that’s nice because it’s not right next to the bagels,” said Bonin. “You’re not right on top of the people trying to make bagels and get their cream cheese and stuff [like that].”
The bagel station moved next to the cereal station and the fruit moved to where it sits during lunch and dinner.
The fruit station is now a breakfast salad bar, according to Nicole Clark, Aramark general manager.
“This now includes fresh cut fruit, seasonal berries, red/green grapes, honeydew, pineapple and cantaloupe, overnight oats, hard boiled eggs, flavored yogurt, vanilla yogurt, plain Greek yogurt, cottage cheese and canned fruit,” said Clark. “Toppings that include dried cranberries, raisins, granola, pepitas, toasted coconut, choc chips, sunflower kernels and brown sugar.”
Another change made to the food stations is a new allergen-friendly food station. The new food station is called the True Balance station, located opposite of the salad bar and where the pasta bar used to be.
This station is gluten free and is free from the top nine food allergens — milk, eggs, soy, wheat, shellfish, fish, tree nuts, peanuts and sesame. The main goal of the station is to prevent cross-contamination.
“The [True Balance] station was implemented based on what we received from the campus community,” said Clark.
At the station, students are served their desired portion by a trained associate. The menu at the station still changes daily.
The True Balance station is an encouragement for clean eating as well, according to Clark.
Bonin is not likely to get food from True Balance.
Bonin’s concern with True Balance surrounds the person serving her being able to hear her properly.
“Not serving myself isn’t my favorite part because sometimes it’s hard to hear,” said Bonin. “You’re trying to yell over music and everyone else talking.”
However, Bonin would utilize the station during low-rush hours.
With the implementation of True Balance, the pasta bar moved to where the Mongolian Grill used to be. This move has caused congestion on the left side of the food stations.
Despite avoiding the area, Hermanssen noticed some congestion and saw it as an issue.
“I don’t get pasta at all, but I can imagine [congestion] would cause a problem,” said Hermanssen. “[The stations] are going to collide, which was always a problem anyways, but in reality just changing where the lines are going.”
Besides common hour congestion, Hermanssen and Bonin agree that the entire area flows better.
“Everything’s not on top of each other,” said Bonin.
Despite enjoying most of the changes, Bonin and Hermannsen don’t like the lack of food options during low-traffic hours.
“It’s awkward because I’ll find myself being hungry after class and then I want to eat and it’s in the transition period,” said Hermannsen. “I grab pizza because they always have pizza, but it’s odd that there are such long periods of time where there’s just a couple options and nothing major.”
Hermannsen believes that food stations should open earlier or stay open all day.
Clark encourages students to submit feedback on the QR codes displayed on the napkin dispensers located on each table.
“We continue to make changes and student feedback is always welcome and is how we determine changes that need to be made,” said Clark.
kilgermi22@bonaventure.edu
