Students take a crash course in Trayless Dining 101

University of Minnesota freshman Miles Dombrovski has a strategy when he gets to the dining hall at Middlebrook Hall: Get there early to get a seat near the drink station.

This way, he can use his hands for carrying food.

That's important because the U is among a growing number of schools nationally that have ditched trays in their dining hall cafeterias. Saving the environment is part of the reason, but a tray-free cafeteria also saves money by reducing waste and cleaning costs.

Hamline, Concordia-St. Paul and Southwest Minnesota State in Marshall have removed all trays from cafeterias. Augsburg, Macalester and Winona State have programs in which trays are eliminated or discouraged one day a week. Other schools, including St. Thomas, Minnesota-Morris and Minnesota State Moorhead are considering whether to put their trays away.

Schools and dining companies say that the elimination of trays translates into less food wasted by students with eyes bigger than their stomachs. And it reduces the number of items that need to be washed, saving both water and detergent.

But it also means students have to figure out how to navigate without a tray.

During Monday's lunch rush at the U's Sanford Hall, one student stacked her food three levels high. On the bottom was a plate of chicken. On top of that was a small plate with a salad. The upper level was a glass of milk.

"I'm all for saving the environment," Dombrovski said, "but it's kind of a pain in the butt."

That is why he secures prime real estate; he can set his plate down and not have to cross the room to fill his glass.

"I tend to run out of room on my plate," he said. "And then I'm trying to juggle books and my water bottle."

In the first month of school, Hamline officials have seen changes that, if they continue, will provide significant reductions in both cost and waste.

The St. Paul school serves about 6,700 meals a week in its dining hall. With students taking less food from the all-you-can-eat cafeteria, the school estimates it is saving 12 cents per person per meal this fall. If that continues throughout the school year, Hamline will save more than $25,000 this academic year.

But money isn't the only thing saved. Last spring, Hamline filled two 32-gallon trash cans with leftover food every day. That has been reduced to one this year.

Earlier in 2008, dining giant Aramark tested trayless dining at 25 schools. Aramark, which has the U among its clients, found that waste was reduced between 1.2 to 1.8 ounces per person. That translates into a 25 to 30 percent reduction in waste.

Aramark provides dining services at more than 400 colleges and universities across the country. Of those, more than half are expected to ditch trays this school year. Among the schools that are now tray-free are the University of North Carolina, University of Florida and the University of Connecticut.

Warren Wiese, vice president for student affairs at Minnesota State Moorhead, said his school experimented with trayless dining last spring and got mixed reactions.

"Some students thought it was great, others thought it was an inconvenience," he said.

Student protest

U sophomore Robert Westcott is among the students who doesn't like the change. He went as far as to start a protest group on the social-networking website Facebook.com titled, "Official Petition To Return Trays To University Dining Services."

"I just feel a lot of people have a problem with it," said Westcott, who plays trombone in the Gophers marching band. "But I didn't expect the group to change anything."

He said that the lack of trays has created more traffic in the food areas as students make multiple trips.

"I know I'm making a bigger deal out of it than it is," he said. "But having a tray again would certainly help."

Gustavus Adolphus attacked the wasted food problem differently. The St. Peter, Minn., school simply dropped the traditional all-you-can-eat format. Instead students get an allotment of dining dollars each month. The trays will stay.

"A la carte dining instantly puts a connection between resources and consumption," said Steve Kjellgren, Gustavus' director of dining services. "We reduced waste by 80 percent when we went from all-you-can-eat to a la carte.

"Our philosophy is that dining should be one of the best parts of people's day and that our students are our customers. To us, not providing trays doesn't feel like it's a very hospitable experience."

Jeff Shelman • 612-673-7478