Campus Food Quality and General Student Health at Duke University

Upwards of 6,400 undergraduates attend Duke University in Durham, North Carolina; that’s not an outrageous number as far as private institutions go, but it’s still more than a few mouths for the school’s chefs, dieticians and student employees to feed. Administrators have been careful not to base their campus dining halls and menus on head counts alone, though. They recognize that a college as celebrated and highly applied to as Duke attracts academic talent from all over the globe—a diverse group of pupils is essential to the college experience after all. There’s a lot to consider when it comes to mealtime for the Blue Devils, from nutritional needs to ethnic cuisine and beyond. More than a meal. That’s long been the university’s dining slogan, and we’re here to tell you about the many ways they live up to that commitment.

Like many leading-edge schools, Duke has made a transition towards sustainability with their dining efforts. Let’s take a look at some quick facts that should be of interest to eco-conscious and health-minded individuals:

• 17% of Duke’s food purchases in the last two years have been sourced from local partners (this includes 6,000 lbs. from the campus farm).
• 100% pre-consumer composting is in effect at all dining locations (over 300,000 lbs. were composted in 2012-13).
• Styrofoam and bleached paper products were banned from all dining locations in 2014.
• Tray-less dining and reusable mugs have eliminated excess waste.
• Coffee is either Fair Trade or Direct Relationship.
• Recycling of cans, plastic, glass, paper and cardboard.
• Food donation programs help stock pantries through the Urban Ministries of Durham.

Many schools stop here when it comes to how transparent they are about a drive toward clean, healthy eating—that is if they have those initiatives at all. Duke takes things one step further by coordinating different events that invite students into the conversation. Their Local Lane Series, for example, invites local farmers to educate and familiarize students with their products. True to its name, Chef’s Chatter lets students have some personal time with chefs to better understand how local products are being incorporated into their everyday meals. If it’s not obvious already, Duke has a very innovative and delicious approach to eating.

Students seem to agree on the great variety offered in the halls, as well as at campus food trucks (which do accept dining plan points if you were curious). There’s a general acknowledgement that the school strives to offer choices beyond the basics, though they certainly have those covered. What about those evenings out with friends when you’d really like nothing more than to sit down at an off-campus restaurant? Through a program called Merchants on Points, the university has partnered with several establishments that work with a student’s food plan. Such interconnectedness is rare for other universities—you lucky Blue Devils!

The one common complaint about the program appears to be that freshmen are required to eat breakfast and dinner at the Marketplace every weekday, in addition to brunch on Saturday and Sunday. What’s the problem with this? It can be tiresome to eat such large quantities of dining hall food again and again. True to that rambunctious college spirit, students are all about options and first-year plans can be restrictive. There’s a silver lining, however, and it ties into a much larger picture for the university. Yes, mealtime is for just that: eating food that energizes and enriches the soul. The non-delicious component of that equation is actually just spending quality time with your peers—friends new and old. Duke is just as committed to nutrition and tasty culinary endeavors as they are to making the experience a welcoming one socially. Some of your happiest college moments could very well be over a cup of Fair Trade coffee on a weekend morning with your best friends, talking about exams studied for and upcoming plans. We give Duke’s dining program a resounding YES.

Ryan James is a ’13 alumnus of Ohio University’s College of Arts & Sciences with a bachelor’s degree in writing and media. He currently works as a copywriter for a Fortune 500 e-commerce corporation based in Columbus, OH.