HUDS, Let Us Have a Seat at the Table

Walking into Adams Dining Hall, time after time, I am faced with the same disappointing problem: I can’t find anything appetizing to eat.

After scanning across the array of vegetables, grains, and various proteins, I begrudgingly realize that I’ll be forced to settle for yet another meal of grilled cheese with fries.

The dining hall has been a constant in my time at Harvard. Since my first year, it’s represented a social safety net, a way to connect with my peers over a shared meal. But more often than not, we’re bonding in shared awe over the various questionable flavors embedded in the infamous red spiced chicken.

I know running a student dining hall can’t be easy. I can’t even begin to imagine the pressure that dining staff are subjected to as they cook three meals daily for hundreds of students at a time. Still, I wonder: How can one of the most well-funded schools in the country leave its students feeling dissatisfied with their food experience?

A recent analysis provides some insight into Harvard University Dining Services’ goals. HUDS reportedly ensures that every array of food is carefully constructed to meet local sustainability metrics. The placement of the food as well as the new salad bar — now rebranded as the “Greens and Grains” station — hopes to emphasize the idea that the components of a salad could be considered a full meal. This careful planning alone reveals that sustainability and student wellbeing are HUDS’ top priorities.

So this begs the question: Can student satisfaction coexist with the goals and limitations of the dining staff?

Given the cost of attending Harvard, we should expect high-quality food. For the 2024-2025 academic year, the total tuition cost is $82,866 a year, $8,268 of which went towards Harvard’s meal plan. If we assume that there are 14 weeks per semester and students are eating three meals a day, students are paying around $28 per meal, and can expect to be adequately satisfied with every meal.

This is not the case.

But these feelings may only be temporary. This past Sunday, HUDS released a dining satisfaction survey to gauge how students feel about the taste of food, the cleanliness of plates and utensils, and even the visual appeal of food on a scale from excellent to very poor.

While this survey could potentially address student concerns, similar initiatives have suffered in the past. Even though HUDS assures students that all feedback received is seriously considered, some are left feeling unheard after submitting their concerns. While solutions to student concerns might be unfeasible, many dining concerns languish without ever being raised again.

Thus, despite the glimmer of optimism that this new survey foretells, I am fearful that we will be ignored once again.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. College and HUDS should form a student dining advisory committee, where students and dining hall staff can share ideas and brainstorm ways to celebrate different diets and cultures.

The committee could contain representatives from each upperclassmen house and Annenberg, as well as various staff from each dining hall. They should then meet monthly to discuss dining hall issues in a more streamlined fashion. While this committee would not be perfect, it could be a starting point to create concrete change within HUDS and allow students to have a direct voice in their dining.

As the student body changes, so should our dining hall experience. No student should feel as though their voices are not heard about matters that affect us everyday.

So HUDS, pull up a chair — or several — and let us have a seat at the table. We’re ready.

Dalevyon L.J. Knight ’27, a Crimson Editorial editor, lives in Adams House.