Petition to CWRU Regarding Leutner Dining Commons

We the undersigned, as students of Case Western Reserve University, and customers of the same, consider it to be both our right and our privilege to demand a quality of service proportionate to the high cost attached to said service. This petition is meant to serve as a tool with which Case students can efficiently and collectively express their sense of frustration with the administration of the Leutner Dining Commons by Bon Appйtit.

The provision of quality food service is a very complex undertaking and any organization charged with fulfilling this need must be capable of addressing all of the responsibilities entailed therein. Sadly, Bon Appйtit has demonstrated an ineptitude for recognizing even the most basic concepts aspired to by all successful food service organizations, including supply-and-demand, taste enhancement, and customer service. Instead they spend their time and resources praising themselves for their highly political approach to product acquisition, thus communicating to the campus community that quality is an unavoidable loss when exercising environmental conscience.

Supply-and-demand is the most basic concept of the American marketplace. Where there is demand, supply must be found to match it, and vice-versa. If a wise merchant notices that a certain product is consistently selling out, he/she will increase the amount of available product in order to accommodate the need. The "Grill" section of Leutner Dining Commons frequently offers varying special dishes, and the presence of these special dishes generates interest in the "grill." However, with the exception of a few days when the special dish was not popular, the demand has so out-matched the supply that within an hour and a half of the start of dinner, the special dish has been "sold out." This is a consistent occurrence, to the point of predictability (i.e. Dinner begins at 4:30; ergo the special dish will be gone by 6). This lack of supply extends also to the L3 cafй, where sushi is offered weekly, but never in the quantities required to last until closing. In addition, while nearly a dozen of the less popular, yet plentifully supplied vegetarian sushi can be found towards the end, one must arrive early and wait in line to stand a chance at nabbing one of the California rolls. Again, this is a consistent issue which a responsible organization would by now have adjusted for.

Also, in Bon Appйtit's effort to generate large quantities of food for a low cost, a significant sacrifice has been made to taste quality. Very rarely is any seasoning other than salt detectable in a dish, and a seemingly small number of other spices are employed for the exceptions to the rule. Rice is offered on a near daily basis; however, on many of these days the rice is under-cooked resulting in a crunchy texture, and occasionally causing portions of the rice to be inconsumable. Hamburgers and hot dogs in the grill area are often neglected, and are presented to the consumer in a dried out lukewarm state. No current system is in place to maintain heating for cooked meat product in the grill. And while there is a section entitled Classics, it rarely provides the comfort foods that one would expect (i.e. Mashed potatoes have been replaced with the aforementioned half-cooked rice), opting instead for obscure vegetable medleys that defy visual identification.

Additionally, and perhaps most importantly, there appears to be a grave lack, among the Leutner kitchen staff, of commitment to excellence and a personal sense of pride in ones work. One need only look to Fribley Commons to see the immense difference that a positive work attitude can create. When serving the public it is important that an employee not act as though they are being burdened, but instead take pride in their quality of service. For a good example of proper serving behavior, the staff of Leutner would be well served by an educational trip to the nearest McDonalds. As a self-proclaimed, world-class food service organization Bon Appйtit has a responsibility to inspire an attitude of service at least equal to that of a fast-food organization; though one would hope to see better.

As supporters of the petition we attribute the above-stated failures, and others as yet un-named, to a lack of responsible administration by Bon Appйtit. None of the above issues are unavoidable. This is proven whenever a special event is scheduled. On days when the parents of students are scheduled to be on campus, there is an obvious improvement in the general quality of service. Clearly, Bon Appйtit only cares to provide quality when it is serving people other than the student body. With our signatures we request that Case Western Reserve University revisit its contract with Bon Appйtit and do whatever is necessary to ensure quality service to its customers. As a world-class institution, with great acclaim in many fields, it is shameful that Case Western should allow such disdain for its students care to be shown by its carefully chosen food service provider. We request recognition of this petitions receipt, along with advisement of new measures being taken towards the improvement of quality at the Leutner Dining Commons.