Wooster’s Dining and Hospitality Services are offering several new dining options for lunch in order to combat the ever-increasing lines to Lowry Dining Hall that plagued students last year.† With the frustrations experienced by students and the size of Wooster’s first-year class, Dining and Hospitality Services director Chuck Wagers knew changes needed to be made for the 2010-2011 school year.
Wooster now offers seven dining options for lunch, including Lowry Center Dining Hall, Kittredge Dining Hall, Lowry Sub-Stop, Scot Dogs, Mom’s Truck Stop, Old Main CafÈ and Lowry Center Coffee Bar and Convenience Store.
Wagers said that changes were made in options for lunch because 75 percent of all students eat lunch within a period of an hour and a half, while at other meals there is a more evenly spaced flow of students.
Some of the new options have radically changed the face of Wooster dining.† Kittredge, for example, will now only serve food items that are locally grown, organic, vegetarian and eco-friendly.
“We knew that opening Kittredge would be popular with students, but we wanted to create a unique dining experience,” said Wagers.† “Kittredge is a quieter, more relaxed atmosphere and we thought the vegetarian, local, and organic might appeal to students dining there.”
Many of the ingredients used at Kittredge come from the College’s own garden and from farmers in Ohio, the farthest coming from just 62 miles away.† Because they are locally grown, it requires less fuel to transport the ingredients to Wooster, said Wagers.† “Getting produce from our garden or from one of our area farmers insures a fresher product for students that has traveled less distance and consumed less fuel in shipping,” he said.
For students who are looking for a quick and easy meal on the go, the College now offers Lowry Sub-Stop, located near the Wireless Scot in Lowry Center, and Scot Dogs.† The Sub-Stop is open from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and will offer different meat and vegetarian options each day.† For one meal swipe, students will receive a sub, two sides and a drink.
The Scot Dog cart will be located on campus in high-traffic areas for students to get a quick meal on-the-go.† It will offer† sandwiches with locally produced meat, chips and drinks that students can purchase with Flex dollars.
The Sub-Stop will accept meal swipes because it is a pre-packaged meal instead of the a la carte choices from the Scot Dog, said Wagers.† Also, it is still more cost-effective to open and operate additional lunch options than to open Kittredge for dinner as well, he said.
In addition to the new options of Kittredge, the Sub-Stop and the Scot Dog cart, students can also go to Lowry Center Dining Hall, Old Main CafÈ, which is located on the “garden level” of Kauke, and the Lowry Center Coffee Bar and Convenience Store.
“The changes should benefit students by providing more choices of dining locations, more food varieties, faster service, and more convenience for students during their busy day,” said Wagers.