MSU students eating at Brody Square discuss the idea of a trayless cafeteria.
Universities across the U.S. are taking away trays in their dining halls to cut down on costs and food waste, and MSU is working to cut down on trays step by step at some campus cafeterias.
In the Big Ten, Ohio State University, Northwestern University and the University of Minnesota all have gone tray-less during the past five years, and the University of Michigan announced a plan this semester to phase out trays in its dining halls as well.
MSU likely won’t take out trays at all of its dining facilities because many are too large, Director of Culinary Services Guy Procopio said.
“You’ve got to remember size and scale,” he said. “Just the size and scale of (Brody Square) would make it very inconvenient for people to go tray-less.”
According to previous State News stories, Brody Square serves about 4,000 people daily.
However, Yakeley Hall went tray-less in 2008 and Culinary Services also is working to make Shaw Hall a tray-less facility after its renovations are completed in 2013, Associate Director of Residential Dining Bruce Haskell said.
Comparative cultures and politics senior Jill Jablonski said she frequently eats at Yakeley Hall and has become so accustomed to not having a tray, she doesn’t use trays at other cafeterias.
“I feel like (not using trays) is a really simple way to (help the environment),” Jablonski said.
Northwestern University has been tray-less for three years, but it was difficult at first, said Steve Mangan, district manager of Sodexo, which handles all of Northwestern’s dining needs.
Student opinions have dissuaded MSU from becoming completely tray-less, Haskell said.
Culinary Services experimented about two years ago with cutting trays at Holden Hall, but the experiment failed, he said. When the trays were rolled back in about two weeks later, students “stood up and cheered.”
“It comes down to customer service … so that’s why we went with a voluntary tray-less program,” Haskell said.
There are signs above trays asking students to consider going without one. About 20 percent of students volunteer to do so, he said.
Haskell also said he does not think going tray-less would save MSU much money on water costs since machines are still running to wash other dishes.
Marketing junior Rebecca Foster, who often eats at Brody, said she thinks going tray-less would be a bad idea.
“I know a lot of students only get to eat (at Brody Square) once a day, and anybody who lives off- campus and comes back on campus just to eat — we’ve got to load up for the entire day,” Foster said.
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