By BEN O’CONNOR

This Thursday, November 30, yours truly met with Bon Appètit Management Company’s General Manager, Scott Zoellick. Zoellick was the one to reach out to me after he read my article from the most recent issue of The Round Table. I was intending on reaching out to management anyway for a follow-up article to the one I wrote, but Scott got to it first, which was already a great start. As the dear reader may remember, my article was about a supposed cooked maggot found among the broccoli florets of a fellow student’s meal. Before I share any further, I would like to make it completely clear that the critter found in the broccoli was not a maggot, but a caterpillar/worm. While this does still raise concerns of unsafe food consumption, it does eliminate the rumor that something is rotting in the back of the kitchen at Commons, which I can attest to having been invited for an informal tour of behind the scenes.

Furthermore, concerning the caterpillar, Zoellick shared that immediately after hearing about it via my article, communication was shared among staff members to garner a discussion on how to prevent incidents like this from happening in the future. Zoellick also shared that this was the first time something like this had happened in his many years of working at Bon Appètit, and he shared the unease of finding a bug in one’s food.

To ease any worries I had shared in my article about incorrect food preparation and food safety, Zoellick reassured me that the kitchen staff are all food safety certified. Zoellick told me that these certifications are viable for five years before having to be renewed, but Bon Appètit staff get them renewed (in recent years) every three years. Employees also have allergy training twice a year. The process of cooking food is done meticulously. It is logged in detail with the temperatures used to cook food to maintain safe levels measured every two hours, food production, and cooler temperatures. The kitchen also recently had a successful health department visit.

In terms of dietary restrictions and food labeling, that was also covered. Zoellick shared the difficulty of always having accurate food labels, especially since food availability in the kitchen sometimes falls through (late deliveries, for example). The kitchen ensures that meals are always labeled with signs that say vegetarian friendly, made without gluten, and/or contain top nine allergens when those titles are applicable. 

Zoellick went on to talk about how any food that the kitchen does produce is made so that there is no cross-contamination of substances like gluten, and that the food offered at those stations is safe from any interference. Zoellick wants the student body to know that if there are any heavily (or even mildly!) restrictive dietary needs, to reach out to management, himself included. 

There are a significant number of qualified individuals available to communicate with students, either to schedule a meeting with or speak directly to in person when concerns arise. “I’m here 50 to 60 hours a week,” Zoellick said, “and others are here even longer.” According to Zoellick, creating a personalized meal plan that allows the student to have food that doesn’t cause allergic reactions or combat other dietary restrictions is entirely possible, and the Bon Appètit staff are more than willing to meet those expectations. “If a student has an allergy, they should talk to management,” Zoellick advised, “having a conversation with management makes it more personal and makes it more comfortable reaching out to somebody about dietary restrictions.”

As a student, I greatly appreciate the opportunities and resources provided by Bon Appètit. My only remaining qualm with the situation of communication is the lack of awareness on campus regarding the resources available. I commend Bon Appètit and Zoellick for being as available and open as they are to the student population, but up until meeting with Zoellick, I was wholly unaware of the ability to communicate specific dietary needs with the Bon Appètit staff. I acknowledge that I may be speaking from a position of ignorance and privilege of not having to reach out a good amount and determine how to get accessible food on campus. 

Without needing to engage with Bon Appètit as a company, I had just assumed that this corporation was just a service bought out by the school and that there was little emotion behind it. Unfortunately, I am sure this viewpoint is held by a lot of Beloit students. My take, keeping in mind my conversation with Scott Zoellick and our kitchen and storage tour (which, if you are curious or doubting anything I share, I highly recommend you inquire about), is that Commons is not the monster that students make it out to be and should just do a better job of advertising their available accommodations. The resources are there, in multiple places and with engaging people, but they aren’t obvious to students. The resources are valuable and useful but underappreciated.

I would like to extend my gratitude to Scott Zoellick and all of Bon Appètit for allowing me the opportunity to delve deeper into how the whole machine works. I hope that this article is something of solace to the reader, and would again like to emphasize that the reader can reach out to Bon Appètit or Zoellick directly for any concerns or accommodations they may have.