UVM BARF

Reflections on a meeting with Annie Stevens

2006-06-07T11:23:00.001-04:00

This past year I had a meeting with res life director Annie Stevens concerning whether or not I could drop my meal plan spring semester. Altough I was a sophomore, I am in a fraternity with a chef and have no need for two meal plans. Stevens quickly told me "No" and its my own fault for the predicament I got myself in. Apparently if she were to let me drop my meal plan it would encourage other students to try and do the same. Well if the food wasn't so wretched people would be happy with their meal plans and might continue to have them even after they moved off campus. That would certainly make the school some more money. I have a job a couple nights a week and have various club/sports activities that make it hard to meet the cafeteria deadlines. Having a meal plan was pointless for me but Annie Stevens and other administration directors felt more money could be drained from myself and my parents.
Why is UVM so restrictive? Why is it the administration feels justified in allowing UVM to be the most expensive state school in the country yet treats the students like we were middle schoolers? UVM strives to be considered a "public ivy" or whatever yet prevents its students from enjoying a high level of expression and comfort in comparison to upper tier schools.

Keepin the wheels turnin

2006-03-30T22:39:00.000-05:00

Okay its almost the end of march and almost the end of another semester. The food still stinks, and the administration hasn't heard enough about our complaints to care. Lets get some more signatures and some more flyers out there. We've got a good thing going, no reason to stop until we see some results.

What do people think ?

2006-03-09T17:08:00.001-05:00

Its second semester and the dining hall has become a real drag once again.... I know I am not the only one who feels this way ! We have over 100 signatures... but how can we get more ? Our online blog can be a really powerful tool... the whole world has access to our oppinions on UVM food just by using google.... lets get the word out and get some new ideas. How can we get 5oo signatures ?

The Petition!

2005-12-21T23:11:00.000-05:00

If you're sick and tired of the food at UVM, have we got a petition for you. We're trying to get UVM to get their meal points accepted at restaurants and supermarkets in Burlington. Can you imagine, instead of spending $8 at Harris Millis, taking that same $8 and getting all you can eat pizza and wings at Manhattan's or a burger and sweet potato fries at VT Pub and Brewery?

Sign the petition!

Even if you don't have a meal plan anymore, please take a minute to sign the petition so that future students will be able to have the great food Burlington has to offer instead of being forced to eat in the dining halls.

End of First Semester !!!

2005-12-18T15:28:00.000-05:00

Finals are over, the grades are about to come in.... and we are all enjoying our winter break. This semester we have made a lot of progress and we need to carry our momentum into the second semester. We have 96 signatures !!! ... and we will only continue to gain more... keep up the hope over the break and great job this semester.... to all those who commented and signed the petiton thanks...great work!!! and have a great winter break!!!!

Where are the Students for Peace and Global Justice?

2005-12-05T08:08:00.000-05:00

I recently e-mailed the president of the Students for Peace and Global Justice concearning the 600 signatures they gathered about getting more local food on campus. In an article in UVM's The View, the school stated that it was hard to get more local food from vermont on campus because of the distribution process. Black River Produce a Montpelier based food distributer could possibly be able to do the job! Hopefully we can collaberate with the Students for Peace and Global Justice to make some real change!!!

Annie Stevens Responds

2005-12-01T13:55:00.000-05:00

Vice President of Student Life Annie Stevens claims that the reason meal points cannot be accepted at more places is because doing so would increase the cost for meal plans because they potentially would be subjected to the State Meals and Rooms tax of 9%. Meal plan rates and services are set in response to expected levels of student participation in the plan and the arrangement "provides for a fixed number of meals over the duration of the contract, whch are served in designated areas. "

Well Stevens makes a good point but what about Domino's and Leonardo's? Why doesn't the sales tax apply to using points at those establishments?

Over 75 signatures!

2005-11-30T15:21:00.000-05:00

We've past the 50 and 75 signature marks! Woohoo!

Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar?

2005-11-25T15:14:00.000-05:00

Not me says Melissa Zelazny. She responded to my earlier E-mail and told me Annie Stevens, the Vice President of Student and Campus Life and Dennis DePaul are the ultimate contacts for dinning services. I am currently trying to contact them and hopefully they'll get back to me.

Happy Thanksgiving !

2005-11-24T13:34:00.000-05:00

It is Thanksgiving and if your as lucky as I am you will all shortly be feasting on Thanksgiving dinner....... I know its a holiday today but when everyone is calling their friends back at school to wish them a happy turkey day, have them go to the blog and sign the petition... hopefully we can get some movement on our petition/blog over the break... and move towards having meals at school where the food is almost as good as the home-cooked meals everyone will be eating today.

HAPPY TURKEY DAY EVERYONE!!!!

HAVE A FUN AND SAFE HOLIDAY

Seven Days Article

2005-11-23T17:17:00.000-05:00

We got mentioned in a nearly full page article in Seven Days! How cool is that? It's on page 9A of this week's issue and is called UVM Students BARF for Credit. Which brings up a point. Yeah, we're doing this for a class. Doesn't change a damn thing, and I can guarantee you that the blog and petition will live on past the end of the class. Oh, we got another mention on a blog. Thanks Prof. Parent.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Enjoy the good food.

A petition you can really shake a stick at

2005-11-22T12:43:00.000-05:00

So the petition is online, which I think is pretty cool. But to make this work we're going to have to use every resource we've got, not just the cool, fancy ones. In that spirit, I've put the petition online so that anyone can download it and collect signatures on their own.

Get it here.

UVM BARF mentioned on the seven days blog site

2005-11-18T16:15:00.000-05:00

Hey we got some press notice! check out the mention of UVM BARF on the Seven Days website at http://7dblogs.com/802online/.

There are eleven dorms on Redstone and only 1.5 places to eat!

2005-11-17T11:54:00.000-05:00

For all of the eleven dorms located on Redstone campus (the most densly populated area in Vermont), there are only 1.5 places to eat! Simpson dining hall and Simpson store, which is only open from 6-11 pm. Not only are they the only places to eat, but they are gross! Who wants a dirty meatball sub or a fake turkey sandwich for dinner! Would it be impossible to have something like Alice's (in L/L) move into the simpson store so all of the students could just get a decent cup of coffee and a bagel in the morning!

Spread the word

2005-11-16T20:52:00.000-05:00

So we've got the petition online, now what? The gang got together and designed a couple of flyers, and we're trying to get the word out; UVM TV, WRUV, listservs, etc. are all in the cards. If you want to help, here's a few ideas: tell your friends, write it on the board before class, announce it in class, email your local listserv (if you think they'll care - no spam please), post it on your facebook wall. Every little bit helps.

If you really hate the food here, download a flyer!

Thanks everyone for all the support.

Finding out the Head Honcho

2005-11-15T13:57:00.000-05:00

The search for who ultimately makes the decisions concerning university dining services continues. This afternoon I went to the Presidents office and they directed me to the student sercies desk in Waterman. I was than given the number to the residential dining office. I called and talked to a woman that referred me to Melissa Zelazny who is the General Mangager of Unvirsity dining services. I called her and got her voicemail. I left a message informing her that I was inquiring about who was ultimately responsible for dining services at UVM. I do not know for sure if it is Melissa Zelazny who makes the final decisions but she is the General Manager. Hopefully she'll get back to me soon.

Sodexo talks the talk but does it walk the walk?

2005-11-14T15:06:00.000-05:00

Here is a direct quote from the Sodexo website concerning unversity food
"We maximize the nutritional value of every offering, but our ultimate goal is to create food services that evoke a passionate response. To cater to individual tastes, we listen to students. Constantly. Our innovative programs meet their every craving, while delivering culinary excellence, attentive customer service, and engaging style. "

Now I am a student, and I have a meal plan and have tried letting Sodexo know about my cravings by E-mailing them at CampusServices@SodexhoUSA.com. So far I've gotten no response and the only passionate response I've had towards Sodexho's services at UVM has been passionate disgust.

Meal points

2005-11-14T14:49:00.000-05:00

I was downtown at a few food places this weekend and they loved the idea of using points. We are getting ripped off anyway using points on campus. Just about everyone I know with points as their meal plan is on the verge of running out. Food on campus is not only of poor quality but is also too expensive. Go downtown and you can get more food for less money and it tastes good.

An idea

2005-11-13T13:21:00.000-05:00

So we've been talking, and I think we've got a direction to go in. Maybe we can't change the food on the UVM campus, but what if UVM got more local places to accept meal points? I know Leonardo's and Dominos already do, so clearly it's possible. I think getting more resturants and supermarkets in Burlington to take them would go a long way. What do you think?

food for thought...

2005-11-11T13:30:00.000-05:00

...so to speak. Couldn't resist the pun, sorry. Anyway, did you know that UVM bases its food prices partly on the prices at local "eateries" (http://uds.uvm.edu/faq.html). I don't know about you, but I don't think that comparing UVM food to Manhattan's, Mr. Mike's, Paradise Burito, etc. is really fair, considering those places sell food that tastes good.

Also, we got another mention, this time on the UVM Program Board blog. The 802 Online post (mentioned in my last post), was also linked to from LeftyBlogs.

Check it out!

2005-11-09T13:37:00.000-05:00

Hey all, take a look at this. We got a mention on 802 online, one of the blogs done by 7 Days journalists. How cool is that? I also heard that someone from 7 Days emailed us and asked if UVM had tried to take the BARF down. Well, they haven't yet. Maybe next week.

One last thing - we're going to be on UVM TV pretty soon, and hopefully WRUV too. Tell your friends!

Any Ideas ?

2005-11-01T20:26:00.001-05:00

For the people reading this who believe that something should be done about UVM's current food situation........what are some Ideas on how to get all our voices heard and how to get more people to join the fight ?

UVM Blog About Residential Food

2005-10-31T20:29:00.000-05:00

Tired of the high price and low quality of food at UVM? Join UVM BARF - the Blog About Residential Food We're trying to create dialogue about the food at UVM, including Sodexho's monopoly, the lack of local food, the high cost of the meal plan and anything else you can think of. We hope that this blog can help organize the people that are affected by the University's food policies. Feel free to post your thoughts. We think the food here sucks and we want to do something about it!