Culinary Services at the University of Saskatchewan is taking steps to make dining on campus healthier, localized and more sustainable for students, staff and faculty alike.

The invention of three new breakfast cereals produced on campus from Saskatchewan-based products has been a project in the making for a few years now. The cereals were finished in the spring of 2015 and are only one of the new developments for this coming year.

George Foufas, the associate director of consumer services for U of S Culinary Services, has been a part of this initiative.

“We worked with the Food Centre on campus to create our own recipes and they’re all lentil-based cereal made from products from Saskatchewan. They are actually made and produced at the Food Centre on campus,” Foufas said.

According to Culinary Services’ website, serving up local food is part of finding solutions to both reduce waste and to lessen the U of S’ environmental footprint. Students who dine at Culinary Services’ locations can take an active part in this process simply by consuming these food products.

The new cereals have replaced other commercial cereal products prevously offered, and demand for the new product seems to be consistent with dwindling inventory. Students who eat at Marquis Culinary Centre appear to be appreciating the healthier breakfast option.

“These are much healthier for students as opposed to what the other cereals had to offer,” Foufas said. “We’ve actually gone through our first bulk order of cereal and we’re going to be ordering our second bulk order, so it seems to be something people are enjoying.”

Buying from local sources is something Culinary Services aims to do in order to reduce the amount of time that food spends travelling to campus and to support the local economy. Other retailers that Culinary Services purchases from include Prairie Meats and Charlie’s Seafood Market in Saskatoon, to name a few.

Another check in the sustainability column is their commitment to using 100 per cent cage-free eggs, in part with the Chicken OUT! campaign, which aims to improve the welfare and living environments of hens through consumer choice.

Along with these developments, two campus Tims Hortons were renovated over the summer, including the locations in the Arts Tunnel and the Geology Building. Both stores have re-opened already, just in time for the usual back-to-school coffee rush.

As part of this renovation, later in September all Tim Hortons locations on campus will begin accepting Tim Hortons gift cards as a form of payment. In the past, only the Tim Hortons located in the new wing of the Health Sciences Building accepted gift cards.

For students who are concerned with nutrition or who have specific dietary needs, Culinary Services has added more gluten-free and vegetarian options to their menu. Salads and vegetarian wraps are also available at various locations on campus, including the cafés in the Agriculture Building, Education Building and the Arts Building.

Marquis Culinary Centre’s 21-day menu rotation is therefore offering a larger variety of choices for those who do have specific dietary needs, including a vast array of menu items, which Foufas thinks makes eating locally more accessible for everybody.

In keeping with locally produced food, there is a future possibility to create a lentil-based bar to sell at retail locations on campus. This too would be a Saskatchewan-based product, produced and created at the U of S.

“We’re always striving to become better and always have sustainability in mind; it’s a pretty big focus for our department,” Foufas said. “Those are pretty key points for us in moving forward and trying to grow our portfolio of local items that we’re purchasing.”

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Naomi Zurevinski / Editor-in-Chief

Graphic : Jeremy Britz / Graphics Editor