At the Duke University Student Dining Advisory Committee meeting Monday night, junior Zach Chapla, a DUSDAC member, told the committee about his research on allergens in food sold by on-campus vendors.
Chapla said he talked to Pauly Dogs and Locopops this past week to ask them about their use of peanuts, nuts, oils and shellfish.
Pauly Dogs is “going through their stuff and gonna make a list,” he said.
Pauly Dogs has separate bins for each of the tongs it uses to enure that it does not mix vegan and vegetarian ingredients with the hot dogs. Locopops did not have any information about the ingredients in its products.
Franca Alphin, director of Nutrition Services at Student Health, asked DUSDAC members to compile allergen information for all on-campus vendors at a Sept. 7 meeting.
DUSDAC Co-chair Jason Taylor, a senior, discussed the importance of committee members forming bonds with vendors and not just occasionally approaching them for information.
Taylor urged members to “meet these people, get to know them and do something cool with it.”
He also encouraged DUSDAC members to develop a more personal relationship with the vendors and find something they can do to help the vendors improve their businesses. Citing one of his experiences with Armadillo Grill, Taylor said vendors expressed desires to attract more students. This mentality is unusual of on-campus vendors who often get comfortable with business as it is and do not strive to improve themselves, Taylor added.
Taylor also discussed plans for a new blog that will be added to the DUSDAC Web site in the near future. Senior Kristen Manderscheid said the blog will be a means of gathering feedback from students about on-campus dining.
In other business:
Students and faculty are now able to make reservations at the Faculty Commons in hopes of “smooth[ing] out the service,” Taylor said.
Taylor and other members said there is not enough space to bring vendors to East Campus.
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