News » Archives » August 2011

On August 10, 2011, Chef Donald Miller, Notre Dame Food Services Executive Chef and Jocie Antonelli, Notre Dame Food Services Nutritionist and Registered Dietician, presented the benefits offered by summer fruit:  Fruits are one of the five main food groups.  This group is full of vitamins, minerals, fiber, enzymes, phytonutrients, and more.  In fact, fresh fruits (and vegetables) are so full of nutrients, it is almost impossible to count by hand.  The Handbook of Phytochemical Constituents of Generally Regarded as Safe Herbs lists nearly all fresh fruits and vegetables as having roughly 10,000 nutrients!  This is why we must eat our fruits and vegetables, rather than trying to rely on taking vitamin and mineral supplements. …

Notre Dame Food Services dining halls reached record counts* again during the 2010-2011 academic year.  The combined efforts of both North and South Dining Hall served over 2 million meals last year hitting an all-time high of 2,140,000 meals served.  This number is up by 20,000 meals from the prior year.  These meals are only a portion of those served by Notre Dame Food Service with a multitude of restaurants, catering, vending, and religious houses all increasing this total.  Our participation continues to rise.  Last year’s increase included over 5,000 meals used by faculty and staff and an increase in student athlete participation through training tables.  Marc Poklinkowski, General Manager of South Dining Hall, attributes this rise to the economic pressures facing today’s student.  “We’ve actually seen a total increase of 100,000 meals compared to three years ago.  The first couple of years of increases was directly correlated with the economy.  This past year, both dining halls have concentrated on quality, and have also improved our variety various ways.  Students have responded positively to the changes, and we’re seeing that result in even higher counts, even with an economy that is slightly improving” says Poklinkowski. …

Notre Dame Food Services is proud to announce many accomplishments from the past academic year in the area of sustainability.  We continue to make great strides in waste reduction and sustainable purchasing.

Over the course of the 2010-2011 academic year, the amount of trash that we discarded decreased by another 16% in our largest dining hall.  This is after a reduction of over 50% from the 2008-2009 year. This can be attributed to continually increasing recycling efforts and our work to dispose of food waste through the water treatment system where it is considered composted.  …