Food for Thought: The Yale Hot Lunch Controversy

It was a Sunday night. Family dinner, although in Trumbull the term is stretched and extended, opening its arms to even the most distant of relations. I slipped through the serving area, uncrowded even with the extra occupancy. As I wove my way towards the dependable rice cooker, excited to supplement whatever was on offer with the familiar grain, snatches of unintelligible conversation wove their way into my ears.

…changes to lunch in Trumbull…

I sighed internally. I didn’t have the energy for half-truths and rumors. I scooped the rice onto my plate, turning my attention to other things – the week ahead and the fast approaching and very needed Spring Break –  as I returned to my suitemates waiting at our table.

Later that night, I sat, one leg folded underneath me at my desk, when my phone blazed with light, a ping ringing as a message from a friend expanded to fill my screen. 

have u heard the news about lunch changing at pierson davenport JE & TD

It came with a screenshot – undeniable evidence listing out said changes. I confirmed that I’d heard the whisperings and asked where my friend got the news. It was hearsay, she said, from a friend of a friend. I scanned the screenshot. Specialty Coffee machines... New customized lunch options…

Wait lowkey i’m kind of down with this

I said after reading my friend’s unofficial announcement. But before that, like many Yale students that heard the news, my initial, gut reaction was a sharp, unwavering sense of dissent.

In the week following the official Yale Hospitality announcement, the changes to lunch garnered strong opinions. Calls were made to “SAVE YALE LUNCH”, with an entire Instagram page created to champion the cause. A scathing open letter was penned, encouraging the administration to “reconsider [their] decision to fundamentally alter the residential college experience for the worse.” It seemed that Yale Hospitality was gutting the offerings of five dining halls, leaving them only with unimpressive cold cuts, a stinging reminder of the bountifulness they once offered. The people were outraged and fairly so, right?

Perhaps not. A counterculture emerged on Fizz, one that saw this change as a good thing.

hot take this new lunch thing is a net positive

one user wrote. Suddenly, another story was being told. One where Yale Hospitality was not the villain. The Fizz post continued,

no more spending points on coffee, faster grab and go options, and classic food like tenders

Why this split between the student body? Why this double-mindedness with my own self?

I, who originally looked at the changes dubiously, found myself excited at the prospect. I mean, who doesn’t love customizability? Options beyond just the giant jugs of questionable coffee? Salmon every day? Alright that last one might just be me but, like I stated, after reading the official correspondence and hearing of seasonal fruit, freshly squeezed orange juice and a latte machine (in addition to what seemed like many other lunch additions instead of lunch reductions) I found myself supporting Yale Hospitality’s decision.

The new lunch menu won me over. But when I heard the news, my gut reaction was the same as that of many students. Not again. Why was I so quick to assume that this Yale dining change would be for the worse? I believe the answer can be found in the bio of the @saveyalelunch instagram account. 

First to go boxes, then Commons Fridays, and now hot lunch is leaving 5 dining halls. It’s time to speak up

For many Yale students, Yale Hospitality has left a legacy of taking things away. The “Yaffle”, once a daily occurence, has been relegated to Waffle Wednesdays. Smoothies quietly disappeared from the offerings, and the loss of breakfast pastries has hit many hard. Some of these items have since been reinstated but few, if any, Yale students associate changes from Yale Hospitality with ‘more’ or even ‘different’. We have only known them to be ‘less’. Factor in the removal of an entire menu, that of Commons, on Fridays, and the removal of to-go boxes, and you are left with students who are predisposed to be skeptical. I think, rightly so.

Yale Hospitality hasn’t exactly prioritized communication. Some changes, like the removal of the napkins from the dining hall tables, came with no warning. One day, students enter the dining halls to find napkins on every table. The next day they’re gone, replaced by a single one in the serving area, before they reappear once again, seemingly without rhyme or reason. Are they back for good? Only time will tell. 

When there is communication, it is murky at best. Take the explanation for the removal of the to-go boxes. They were taken away in an effort to increase sustainability – but also to encourage the eating of meals in the dining halls instead of alone in a dorm while studying. Ah, and it was additionally done to help solve rat problems in some buildings. All of these are, perhaps, valid but the lack of clarity robs Yale Hospitality of a certain credibility. What is the true reason? No one knows for sure.

So, when a Yale Student reads about changes that can, without a large stretch, be seen as the removal of hot lunch, we cannot blame them for questioning the intentions behind such a change. Was this new menu really dreamt up as a way to improve the student’s dining experience or is it simply a means to cut cost or achieve some other objective, masquerading as something else? I want to give Yale Hospitality the benefit of the doubt, but that is difficult considering there is little evidence of them actually seeking out student input. Where are the focus groups? Where is the data showing that this is actually what students want?

All that is to say that the skepticism is valid. Nevertheless, Yale Hospitality’s poor track record regarding change and questionable PR are not the only things to blame for Yale students' less than welcoming reaction. If you’ll allow it, I’d like to suggest that there is a deeper, more philosophical reason for the uproar. We simply don’t like change. Like objects set in motion, inertia is hard to overcome and even as twenty-something year olds that prize adventure, ambition, and academic exploration, we find ourselves taking comfort in the familiar and the unchanging and so any change at all, even one that that is to our benefit, will be met with a degree of resistance. Couple that with social media’s stoking of the natural human affinity for argument and you’ve got the perfect recipe for heated discourse.

You came here for food news, not philosophy, so I’ll wrap up this train of thought. I believe that we humans are naturally disinclined to change and Yale Hospitality did not help matters by priming us to expect negative change. If you remember though, my current disposition is one of excitement and this is a stance that is shared by many members of the Yale community (if upvotes on Fizz are any indication). I for one, do not think the changes will be stopped, regardless of how scathing any open letter written is. Yale Hospitality has already ordered five, probably pretty expensive latte machines, and so we will be piloting the new menus whether we like it or not. I suggest that we allow ourselves to like it. Let us allow ourselves to give Yale Hospitality the benefit of the doubt and believe that this change truly will revolutionize our dining experience. Some think that these changes will further widen the discrepancies between dining halls. I think that they are right. I predict that Trumbull lunch will be the busiest it’s ever been with students flocking to see what exactly the new lunch menu is all about. Maybe I’ll see you there. I hope so. Either way, I’ll definitely see you back here as I try out the new menu and report back with just how I like it, with some philosophising and social analysis thrown in, of course. 

I hope you’re hungry. The new Power Lunch menu awaits.