An open letter circulated by the Glendon College Student Union is alleging that Aramark food services is providing unsatisfactory service at York’s Glendon campus. Signed by GCSU President Myron Khan, the letter includes testimonials from students and suggests ways in which food service can be improved. Suggestions touch upon food safety, employee training, pricing, communication, food options, and other feedback. According to Khan, students feel that filed complaints aren’t always accorded due importance. Referring to Glendon cafeteria’s inspection by the City of Toronto in September, Khan says necessary changes were carried out merely for the sake of meeting standards, despite students voicing concerns before the routine inspection. [su_pullquote]“I understand that it is difficult to solicit feedback from customers,” says Khan. “But it is very hard to hold Aramark at Glendon accountable for their operational changes because we simply don’t know exactly what is being done.”[/su_pullquote] According to Anthony Barbisan, director of YU-card and Food Services, Parking Services, and Campus Services and Business Operations, Aramark staff is always available on site to speak to students who have questions or concerns and provide an immediate response. Barbisan encourages students to contact Food Services to share thoughts via the feedback form on the Food Services website, sent directly to the Director of Food Services and regularly monitored social media accounts. “In addition, Aramark and Food Services have held information sessions both in residence and in the dining hall at Glendon,” adds Barbisan. “Aramark also recently launched a mobile app which includes a feedback feature called ‘Your Voice Counts’ which enables students to provide feedback and receive a response within 24 hours.” Moreover, Food Services will be hiring a Glendon Student Dining Ombudsperson to serve as a liaison between students, Food Services, and Aramark. Aramark is hiring a student marketing assistant to focus on communications at Glendon. Further, a Glendon Food Services Advisory Council, which will include student representation, is also being formed to serve as a forum for communication and should be in place in January. Barbisan confirmed that Aramark hired both a new food service director and an executive chef at Glendon late in the summer, responsible for leading improvements in dining services. “All staff, existing and new, have been undergoing various training programs to improve service quality and consistency,” says Barbisan. Khan says the effects of the new training won’t be evident until later on. “Either way, students are not necessarily aware of what changes are being made and because of that, feel like nothing is being done,” he adds. Barbisan says improvements are underway at Glendon including a new station which will periodically feature different foods, expansion of a station featuring healthy, homestyle meals made from scratch with one vegetarian or vegan entree daily, and additional gluten-free, vegetarian, and vegan choices at multiple stations within the cafeteria. In addition, all chicken served in the cafeteria is now halal and each station in the cafeteria offers a daily five dollar meal deal and starting in January, one of the existing stations will convert to a new international feature station providing different themes and menus each week. Joanne Rider, York media, says the City of Toronto noted certain areas for improvement at Glendon College’s cafeteria as part of a regular inspection on September 29.
“Cafeteria management and staff promptly addressed the areas of concern and on October 5, 2015, the city issued the cafeteria a complete pass, noting that all areas for improvement had been addressed,” says Rider.
Several students have alleged having contracted food poisoning at Glendon and one person took to Twitter to vent. Rider says one student contacted cafeteria management at Glendon, indicating she may have food poisoning. Toronto Public Health officials inspected the cafeteria facilities and were satisfied with all operation and production methods, according to Rider. Khan alludes to a case of food poisoning, stating, he cannot comment on the matter without further information.
Alex Kvaskov
Assistant News Editor
Photo By Krizia Tehrani
