By Mike Trovato

Students on the University campus are rallying for change. They want reform, they want information, they want choices. Overall, they want to be heard. They want the thing that is most important in their daily life to be improved and enhanced: University food.

Students Amending Lackmann Associated Dining was created last January by three students hoping to be a catalyst for change. A forum for students to voice their opinions and concerns about campus dining, SALAD set its sights high on affecting major improvements to dining at the University. Last spring, SALAD held several tabling events in the Student Center Atrium, including selling “Waters for Quarters” to increase awareness of price markups, issues with the quality and variety of some of the food on campus and health concerns within the University’s dining facilities.

The club’s goals have been ambitious and broad. SALAD has made quality food, expanded variety, visible nutritional information and dining hall cleanliness the cornerstones of its platform. These main focuses were outlined in SALAD’s petition, which nearly 700 students signed, backing the push for all-around improvements in various aspects of University dining.

SALAD’s work this past spring sparked some immediate progress that is readily visible around campus, specifically in the Student Center Café as well as in Dutch Treats. Based on numerous reports of students’ experiences with inconsistent pricing, SALAD urged Lackmann to post exact price breakdowns for the products they sold. Within a week’s time the shelves in Dutch Treats, which had been missing price labels for several of the products they contained, were filled with tags marking the cost of each item.

The salad bar now features nutritional facts for the dressings offered, posted on the glass hood of the station. Tags reading “Vegan” mark products that are Vegan-friendly. This fall in the Student Center, a new sign is posted at the wrap station, which shows what comes with each order, and how much extra items cost. These are just some of the improvements that have come about since SALAD was created.

The growth SALAD has made in its brief existence has been positive, and the club’s work is nowhere near finished. If you look closely, there is an area in the Student Center next to the Mediterranean Market designated as a “Nutritional Corner.” A new addition to that corner this semester is a binder, which was created in a collaborative effort by SALAD and Lackmann, a product of meetings between the organizations. This binder lists the nutritional facts for each item sold at each station within the Student Center Café. It is SALAD’s vision to have nutritional binders readily available and visible in every dining facility on the University’s campus, which would outline the nutritional values for every single item sold in each facility.

SALAD has expanded its realm of focus thus far this fall, and was recently granted permission by SGA to use a portion of its budget money towards trips to other universities for benchmarking. Benchmarking is a way to compare two organizations by evaluating cost and quality of the products they offer. Typically, the end result of benchmarking is a case for changes for the sake of improvement. Essentially, the trips SALAD will take will allow them to further press for improvements. Rather than simply lobbying for “more variety,” evaluating other campuses will enable SALAD to make specific cases for exactly what things students would like to see brought to the University’s dining.

As with any cause, the catalyst for change comes from active support. SALAD has welcomed several new members to the club this semester, and is constantly looking to gain the support of the entire University community.

This Tuesday, November 11, SALAD is tabling in the Student Center Atrium, holding its trademark “Waters for Quarters” event. At this event, SALAD will be selling bottled water for just $.25 and $.50- a quarter for a regular bottle, $.50 for a sports bottle.

The Nutritional Corner in the Student Center by the Mediterranean Market.