MU considers removing trays from dining halls

Proponents say removing trays will reduce energy consumption.

By Krissy Tripp

Published Nov. 6, 2008

If Campus Dining Services get student support, MU could be a trayless campus in the near future.

The proposal would remove trays from MU's dining halls. The theory behind it is that students could have a harder time eating with their eyes instead of their stomach by taking less food that they end up not eating.

"We will not go forward with this without student support," CDS associate director Steve Simpson said to the Residence Halls Association on Monday.

He encouraged students to talk to their peers and if the idea is well received, write a resolution expressing student support.

RHA President Bobby Wood is working with parliamentarian Mike Madden to create a resolution that will go to committees for consideration. RHA members haven't given any feedback yet.

Simpson said the goals of removing trays from dining halls include reducing energy consumption, post-consumer waste and beverage waste as well as improving student health.

CDS marketing specialist Andrew Lough said CDS is trying to improve sustainability efforts through their Earthright campaign, which he described as a mindset.

"The point of Earthright is to educate CDS faculty and campus students about sustainability and ask, 'What is our impact?'" he said.

The newest educational tool launched by CDS is the waste poster in every dining hall. The posters graph the average waste per tray in the dining hall. To calculate the waste, CDS collects 100 trays, empty or not, rids them of all non-edible portions such as banana peels, finds the total weight of waste and divides that number by 100.

Not all residence halls waste equally. Rollins dining hall had the highest waste count with 9.45 ounces, while Plaza 900 had only 4.3 ounces. MU didn't do this completely scientifically, Lough said.

"In order to rid of variables, we would have to serve the same thing in every dining hall, but in our follow-up study, Rollins did reduce their average waste," he said. "Hopefully students can see their numbers change and feel good."

He said there are too many variables to know for sure the cause of the change.

Lough said it's still too early to tell if the posters are helping students reduce waste because it's such a new idea at MU.

Other schools that tried going trayless reported a hectic first two weeks full of complaints, Simpson said. The complaints usually stopped after the first two weeks of adjustment, he said.

To combat a readjustment period, MU doesn't plan to try any changes mid-semester. Lough said CDS might implement the new sustainability effort in a couple dining halls next semester to test student feed back. Because some dining halls are ready for the change - Eva J's has a place where students can put plates and glasses, while Plaza 900 is equipped for trays, not smaller items - the change will likely come in bits and pieces instead of an immediate campus-wide switch.

CDS is also cautious about the move because it didn't work at all schools, Simpson said. The University of Kansas successfully opened its semester trayless, but at Harvard University, students disapproved and trays returned.

RHA Vice President Nate Ballance said he thinks the initial reaction of students will be not to like it, but they'll "get over it."

He said it's an issue of convenience that could potentially cut down on line time, food costs and waste.