Kitchen Cabinet
September 19, 2016
Steve Kjellgren, Brady Kelley, Mark Hanson, Jeri Miller, Margo Druschel, Jen Donkin, Michele Rusinko, Alan Meier, Lisa Heldke, Jessica Braun, Chuck Niederriter, Paul Matzke, Molly Yunkers
Who is missing? – international students – check with Jeff Anderson, athletes, who else?
– Those with food concerns – cultural, health, allergies
History of Kitchen Cabinet
Advisory committee to the dining service & Steve Kjellgren. The group has done a lot of good work over the years- 12 or so years. Gustieware, composter, big hill farm are just some examples. Aim is to think about mission of college & how dining service can play a role. People teach & learn in the cafeteria. How can dining service do that most effectively? Each brings concerns from their vantage point – with respect of food/dining. Members need to be ears / mouth piece for this group & the students.
KC Conversations
Wednesdays after this meeting 11-1 – Kitchen cabinet conversations – display mission & things we have done. Always a theme, table inside market place, new topic each month. Needs to be fun to pull students in. Paul is open/looking for ideas.
Sustainability
Chuck noted October is campus sustainability month – bring bikes, games again
October – working with PA’s – Jen/Paul – first week Nutrition focus on food
Chuck was invited by Margaret at Cargill foundation to apply for 3 year grant for more sustainability on campus – how do we build this on campus?
Big hill farm report
Tomatoes are coming in fast & furious – had late plant on purpose, not sure impact on produce quality, also receiving fresh produce from food hub – MVAC Mankato- peppers, carrots, zucchini
Coke Grant
Next meeting – report on status of Coke Grant program
Student Satisfaction Survey
Have not done in past due to good relationship with students, but with new leadership we want to get a baseline of student satisfaction with dining service. Steve has a survey from a private vendor he plans to use. The survey contains 15 questions and 2 separate scales – How are we doing and how important is it to you? He is aiming for 500 responses and the 3rd party will tabulate the results. Next year we can look at adding more free form questions based on info received this year. Question was posed what kind of information will be useful to go to the next level, are there multiple survey options and is the purpose for benchmark or to gather information?
The survey can be done electronically or paper form. Steve chose paper form to prevent sending student info to a 3rd party. With concern that students won’t complete the paper survey it was suggested to make one through survey monkey, but that would require creating the survey questions where the one that was purchased has already been tested. There was also concern with using an electronic survey that many students don’t use their email consistently. Steve asked for suggestions on how best to distribute the survey which will take place in November. Suggestions included – During kitchen cabinet week, during chapel, Paul could take to residence halls at hall council. There was concern regarding making sure students complete only one survey. Steve plans to do the surveys when celebrity chef of Cry Baby Craigs hot sauce will come to talk to students, he created his business on a whim. Will sample foods with his sauce – could give away gift cards
Food management magazine – GAC is listed as power player in MN – consistently meeting national rankings & its sustainability efforts. Steve was interviewed for the article this summer.
Fair Trade – October visit – equal exchange banana people are coming & bringing Annabel Cabrera. Their website has wonderful interactive video & she is featured – explaining reasons for fair trade & why they do it as well as difficulty in doing it. Wed, Oct 26 the Cop-op will be doing an event and the college will be working on that- should also promote at Kitchen conversations week before. Mankato has its 5th anniversary being designated fair trade. Also present at Nobel – Fair trade will have interactive table – fast facts look up, clothing, chocolate. All of the Nobel shirts are Fair trade.
Michelle gave example of a facility where she has gone to (for conferences) that has informational stands on the tables listing why they have free range chicken, cage free eggs, etc.
800 noodle bowls were sold for lunch Wednesday – Vietnamese student wrote letter thanking for the opportunity & that she came to Gustavus due to food ranking.
Jen Donkin – New dietitian in Dining & Health service was introduced to the group.
Small Group Exercise
Wait on group exercise to next month
Students – many did not attend – Steve will send a follow up email.