HUDS Adds Poutine, Street Tacos in Menu Revamp

Harvard’s dining halls now boast an expanded set of “make your own” dining options available to undergraduates, including “Poutine Wednesdays,” “Street Taco Mondays,” and “Ancient Grain Bowl Fridays.”

According to Harvard University Dining Services spokesperson Crista Martin, the stations will allow students to assemble their own dishes from pre-prepared ingredients, an expansion of similar stations from last year.

That change is one several HUDS is rolling out with the beginning of the school year. HUDS works to change the menus every year, as well as seasonally in the winter and spring. Student surveys and feedback help inform the menu selections, Martin said.

The dining halls will now be serving a different style of burger each Friday. Sunday evenings now feature a banana split bar, an addition to last year’s Sunday Sundaes. And students in the Houses will occasionally have the chance to try a small portion of a dish not typically found in college dining halls, like a seared scallop or Brazilian beef-stuffed cheese ball, according to Martin.

HUDS has been taking news steps to increase sustainability. The dining hall grills now serve an additional option for a “Grateful Burger” that is a half vegetable and half beef patty.

“The goal is to be a more nutritious and sustainable burger,” she said.

The dining halls will also be piloting a program to pack leftover meals for people who do not have reliable access to food, Martin said. HUDS has traditionally donated leftovers to the nonprofit Food For Free, which then delivers the food to organizations serving the hungry. Starting in about two weeks, though, HUDS will also begin a new program to plate leftover food into prepackaged individual meals for those who need it to bring home. HUDS is currently in the process of hiring a student to lead the program.

—Staff writer Lana M. Gorlinski can be reached at lana.gorlinski@thecrimson.com.