This week I had a lot of little projects. Of course I have
to touch on sesame. Manufacturers have been contacted and are starting to get
back to me. I have learned a couple useful things from this; it is not enough
to just organize, you must strategically organize and communication is
complicated. It should be easy to just contact people and ask if there is
sesame in their products, but its never that easy. We are coming along nicely
though.
I also got to spend a lot of time looking at NetNutrition
and menus. On NetNutrition I had to check that the traits matched properly. So
the gluten free menu should not have gluten icons next to their menu choices,
chicken should not be marked as vegetarian, and mushroom risotto should be
marked as vegan not vegetarian. There were mistakes like this that I had to
correct in CBORD, but it was an easy fix. Looking at menus we checked to make
sure that the menu is varied and properly ordered. Examples of what would need
to be fixed are stir-fry two days in a row, different kinds of mashed potatoes
every day, a missing side, or a weak vegetarian entrée. It is important to have
multiple people check the menus because everyone catches different things and
sees the menu from a different perspective.
A big project of the week was looking into food waste
products. I made a spreadsheet with different products and product details.
There are various different types of food waste management products that
produce various different materials such as gray water, slurry, dehydrated food
waste, ground up food waste, natural gas, and a soil amendment. We then met
with a local expert to discuss options, limitations, and how to move forward. A
lot depends on what the community and different entities decide to do. Getting
a product that produces natural gas wouldn’t be wise unless a fleet such as the
busses switches to vehicles that use natural gas. A lot of what CDS does depend
on the sewage system. Gray water takes a lot of energy to process and other
material may produce energy but there must be an agreement or understanding
before ISU sends large amounts of this material into the sewage system. There
are issues that come with composting as well. No one likes the stinky dirty
compost bins, and that is a lot of food waste to find a home for. It seems that
there is no one solution right now and Bloomington Normal will have to come
together to come up with a solution.
On Thursday I got to meet with Jennifer, the Procurement
Manager, to work on ordering. It was great to shadow her and go through the
whole process of walking throughout the facility, seeing what was needed to
order, and then placing the order. The process itself is fairly simple thanks
to CBORD and the incredible organization, but it truly takes someone who knows
the operation to place a great order. I say this because Jennifer knew the
actual needs versus what the computer thinks the dining facility needs.
Jennifer understands things like; since it’s the summer less product is needed,
we don’t need to have every single kind of cereal on stock, even though CBORD
thinks we will need another case of potatoes there should be enough from the
one we have, and when more chemicals actually need to be ordered. I’m glad I
got the opportunity to shadow Jennifer.
Dianne and I spent a decent amount of time reading up on
FARE and how to pay better attention to how allergens are treated across
campus. We then met with Tammie, who works at Disability Concerns, to discuss
how people with allergies are accommodated. We also discussed participating in
FARES evaluation and training program. It was wonderful to meet Tammie, and it
just goes to show how important cross-campus connections are. 
This weekend was an extra good one because I got to meet up
in Chicago with my mom. I’m logging quite a few hours on the train, but I think
I will start traveling by train even more now that I am getting used to it and
truly appreciating it. The first thing that we did once we met up in Chicago
was got lunch. Of course we had to try some deep-dish pizza. It was certainly
not New Haven pizza, but I love all pizza just the same. The rest of the day
was pretty laid back. We walked through the parks and of course got pictures by
the bean. I highly recommend going under the bean and not just snapping a quick
pic from the distance. We also walked along the lake and the river, which are
both beautiful. One thing I miss while at ISU is being by water. I look forward to a week on the lake once I
get home. Before we parted ways we grabbed some delicious Chicago popcorn for
the train ride. It was a great way to end the week. I am so happy that I get to
spend the summer exploring a different part of the country while learning about
what I love.
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