Campus Dining Services is conducting another trayless dining trial period this summer. The trial is part of an effort to see if trayless dining is something CDS wants to implement in all dining halls.
“We’ve done trials in the past,” CDS Associate Director Steve Simpson said. “However, it’s never been implemented long enough to know if it is more efficient.”
Missouri Students Association President Eric Woods and former Residence Halls Association President Chris Rucker asked CDS to consider going trayless.
“It’s a great issue for sustainability,” Woods said. “It will reduce food waste and cut costs.”
The official start date of this trial is Tuesday, which coincides with the first session of Summer Welcome. It will continue through the last session in July. During this time, trays will still be available in the other dining halls.
Those involved said it is hoped this will reduce the amount of food being wasted by students in the dining halls. CDS has had multiple trayless weeks and trial periods in the past. The last time this trial took place in 2009, food waste was reduced by 26 percent.
“It doesn’t make sense to buy food and prepare it, just to waste it,” Simpson said.
Simpson said this type of dining would not only cut food waste but also help save money on the amount of goods bought. The number of dishes that need to be washed would also decrease, and the quantity of detergent needed to wash all the trays would decline as well.
Another change that could occur from going trayless is the option of extending resources that could not be extended previously because there was no money to fund it. This includes extending dining hall hours and offering even more of a variety in food selection.
Former MSA President Jordan Paul said he is in favor of trayless dining.
“It’d be wonderful,” Paul said. “We are always trying to make the campus greener, and trayless dining fits in with that philosophy.”
Woods said he believes the money that could be saved by going trayless could help purchase more food from local businesses to sell in the dining halls than purchased in previous years.
For now this is just a trial. Toward the end of the Summer Welcome sessions, CDS will evaluate the success of the trayless option and will then make plans for the fall semester accordingly.
“Trays are always optional,” Simpson said. “We don’t want to do this to the students. We want to do this with the students. If trays are truly wanted, we will keep them,”
Paul said he feels just like most things, it will take some time for students to get used to the idea.
“Students, like everyone, complain,” he said. “Students do not want to change the status quo, but you never know until you try. It won’t be a revolutionary change.”
