Opinion

BRICE: Is Sodexo a better food providing than Aramark?

Taylor Brice

Magic Johnson’s SodexoMAGIC at Grambling is awesome. I love the idea. 

SODEXO is really bringing out a lot of creativity from our cafe. 

I was very impressed when we had things like chives in the mashed potatoes and discovering that I could add capers or zucchini to my pasta. 

As a foodie most advancements in food excite me. 

The upgrade in the food displays are very appealing. The fruit water is a favorite of mine. The salad and potato bar are really doing it for me I have to say. They are even giving us fresh bacon bits. 

The Cafe is going the extra mile. The chefs come out sometimes and serve something new and the first week there were people giving out food to taste to see if there was anything the students would like to add on to the menu. The staff members are much more friendly as well. There are several new stations and everyone that works at them are usually smiling. The portion of food I get now has increased also. Other than the heat, the overall experience of the cafe has improved. 

There seems to be an increased effort in the upkeep of the cafeteria and in the presentation of the food. My favorite stations right now are the healthy food options and the pasta line. The healthy food station always makes a grilled chicken with what I assume is a sauce from different cultures.

 They bring new styles to the vegetables as well. The line to get pasta has not changed but the food has definitely gotten better. The vegetable options for the pasta are so much fresher than they used to be. The noodles aren’t stuck together anymore either. I like the fact that we are using real plates now and not the styrofoam plates. That’s another element of presentation and effort that I like. The fact that we’re getting real dishes means someone is taking the time to wash the dishes.

I also feel like there is an increased effort to fix the problems that the student body is bringing up. The straw issue was a quick fix and it was only a big issue for a couple of days before it was fixed. 

The only concern I have about the cafe now is consistency. Usually when school begins the cafeteria does an amazing job. Everything tastes great and there is an increased amount of effort to clean things and have a great presentation on the food. 

I feel that now that we are a few weeks into school the cafe is losing consistency with these things. The plates and silverware are still real but the little things like bacon bits are not there every day. 

The fact that we have a 24/7 Cafe should also mean we have nice food options all day every day, and this was the case the first two weeks of school but now in between meals the only things that are available are waffles, toast and pizza. 

The Cafe is making adjustments but mostly everything about it has improved.