We are at the two-month mark of the academic year, and student stress levels are at an all time high amidst midterm exams and papers. This tense environment creates the perfect conditions for students to air other grievances about campus life. Many of these frustrations seem to be directed at the Caf.

An ongoing poll on The Dickinsonian website asks students “Are you satisfied with your dining services experience?” As of Sunday, October 25, 81% of respondents answered “no.” Opinions about the college’s core food establishment were relatively mixed at the beginning of the year, but students who we checked in with for this month’s review offered multiple complaints. The Caf continues to bring in new food options and more sustainable practices, but changes of earlier this year and last semester, mainly the new dish washing setup and return system, obscure any progress. Can the Caf evolve past its enduring issues?

In the past few weeks the dining hall has upped its variety. The Specialty Salad bar featured an Autumn Salad to welcome the change of seasons with nuts, apples and dried cranberries as the featured ingredients. Dessert options expanded with the introduction of Yuengling’s Ice Cream, a product of alum David Yuengling ’84.

The Caf also celebrated National Coffee Day (September 29) and provided free caffeine courtesy of Sun Coffee Roasters, outside Old West for students heading to class. Dining Services selected Sun Coffee Roasters, which promotes sustainable fair-trade production, as its new supplier in August 2014.

Furthermore, the Caf increased collaboration with the College Farm to serve more local vegetables as well as beef. The Second Annual Farm Fresh Fare Dinner featured a sauté station consisting only of farm produce.

Despite these additions, students express discontent with the food selection and preparation. Margaret McGuirk ’18 is unhappy with Caf vegetables in particular, noting “they are either under-cooked or overcooked and always under-seasoned. I never usually eat a lot of the vegetables or sides on the main line.”

Grace McCrocklin ’16 echoes these thoughts, adding that she sees a lack of nutritious vegetables and sides altogether. “French fries should not count as a vegetable,” she confirmed. The incongruity of student opinions on Caf vegetables with the dining hall’s increased intake from the farm is further complicated when we look at numbers.

According to Dining Services, in the week of October 12-16, 232 pounds of vegetables were brought in from the farm. This number is broken down into 76 pounds of Spring Mix, 75 pounds of Turnips, 60 pounds of Bell Peppers, and 24 pounds of Spinach. The year-to-date total produce intake from the farm is a whopping 19,213 pounds, which is a shock compared with student nutrition complaints now and last month.

Beyond vegetables, other students sense issues with food quality. Casey Cliff ’16 commented that food which is left out for the duration of meals turns dry. Cliff adds “something like a rice cooker would fix the freshness issue” at the grain bar.

Former student manager Gloria Huse ’16 notices a trend in meal consistency throughout the week. “Meals are always the best on Mondays and Wednesdays (high traffic times) and not great on Fridays and Saturdays, since not as many people go to the Caf on the weekends.” She adds, “student attendance should determine the quantity of food, not the quality of the food and the selection.”

Another persistent issue is the dish return system and new dishwasher. From the student end, dish return appears “unsanitary” and “disorganized,”  Alxis Rodis ’18 asserted. From the employee point of view it is “inefficient” without a “standardized way for students and employees to handle dishes,” said current student manager Kiefer McDowell ’18. McDowell noted that the dishwasher is “slower and takes more employees to run” than the previous appliance.

The dish systems and food inconsistency remain the biggest sources of student protest. There is clearly a disconnect between the Caf’s attempts to innovate selection and operations and consumer reception of dining hall practices. The two sides are not on the same page, but there is hope for a resolution. On Tuesday October 27, Dining Services and Student Senate hosted a Q&A to begin a campus dialogue, which is essential for improvement in all food outlets- especially the Caf.