By ANISA ARSENAULT

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The tactics are varied. Some

wrap sandwiches in napkins. Others stuff fruit into backpacks. Still others find and fill the elusive to-go cups.

Regardless, leaving the Rose Hill Marketplace with food has always been a challenge. A new program from Sodexo and the Student Culinary Council may change that.

Starting this month, students can pay a one-time fee of $3.99 for a plastic container and take their meals to go.

This initiative, called “Choose to Reuse,” comes as an effort to improve sustainability and reduce waste on campus.

“For the SCC it was really pushed through sustainability, as well as the convenience of being able to go get your food and leave instead of being limited to the Take 5 selections,” Sama Habib, Student Culinary Council president, said of the motivation behind the program.

Students can use DCB, cash or credit to purchase the containers at the front of the cafeteria.

“Containers are located behind the cashier and next to the Take 5 Station in the front of the caf. They are green so you can’t miss them,” Habib said.

Students can use the containers whenever they want to take a meal to go. After being rinsed out, a container can be returned to bins in the cafeteria and swapped for a new one. There is no charge for a new container, unless the first is lost.

If students do not need a fresh container at that time, a “Better Tomorrow Token” will be offered instead and redeemed for a container in the future.

The program, launched on March 6, has received little attention from students.

“So far we have had a minimal response because we rolled it out early before break,” SCC member Kraig Devore said. “We are starting to heavily advertise soon, including tabling with SCC reps explaining the program. We wanted to roll out early to beta test then; now we are slowly expanding and getting the word out.”

The SCC anticipates more student participation in the weeks to come, especially since the program was formed with student needs in mind.

“Choose to Reuse was definitely a collaboration between meeting student demands and Sodexo’s ability to respond to that,” Habib said.

Student response has been mixed. Hesitation stems from the $3.99 charge that comes in addition to a swipe into the cafeteria.

“Students take food from the cafeteria all the time,” Sarah Glockenmeier, FCRH ’15, said. “Having the option to buy containers to put the food in is just a way to get even more money out of our already inflated meal plans. I don’t see people paying even more money to justify the fact that they take some fruit or cookies on their way out.”

For others, the convenience of the container makes the program worthwhile.

“I don’t have Tupperware with me all the time, so I would invest in that [program],” Danielle Drummond, FCRH ’15, said. “It’s about time we got something like this.”

Choose to Reuse will not be available during breakfast hours.

“This is not great because I usually go for breakfast,” Drummond, a regular at Commuter Breakfast on Tuesdays, said. “But then again, I feel like there’s not much you can take from breakfast to go, except for fruit, and you don’t really need Tupperware for that. Except for melon. I could take melon.”

In addition to Choose to Reuse, the Student Culinary Council will be offering other programs and initiatives. The first is a dinner on Thursday, April 4 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

“The theme is Les Miserables, because we are partnering up with CAB who will be playing it later that night,” Habib said. “We will have French menu items —  think French pastries, French music and a lot of SCC surveys and interactive events.”

Habib indicated that much of the SCC’s agenda depends on the provider for Fordham Dining Services.

“SCC has so many things planned for next year, but most of them are pending on the current dining situation to see if Sodexo will regain the bid or not,” Habib said. “Then we can continue to work with them on these initiatives. Or if there is a transition year, we are just as willing to work with the new vendors.”

For more information on Choose to Reuse or any other Student Culinary Council initiatives, students can attend the SCC general board meeting on Wednesday, April 3 at 8:00 p.m. in the Marketplace.