Carousel served old food from banquet

Editor,

The attendees of the International Banquet on Saturday, April 1st loved the green beans curry so much that USU Food Services was tempted to save it and put it on sale on Monday, April 3rd. One of the council members noticed entrees from Saturday’s event being sold as a Special Vegetarian Meal in the Carousel. When asked, the server said that it was cooked that morning and the chef was trying some new recipes.

Every year, volunteers from the International Council prepare the banquet cuisine and pays for their food handlers’ permits.

The TSC has a general policy that doesn’t allow food to be brought inside the premises for events. No one seems to know why some organizations are an exemption to the rule. Since no one has a clue about the exact quantity of food that is required for 300+ people, we generally place a purchasing order through them and they help us prepare the food. We have always given them the due credit for their support and help.

We were always told that the leftovers were discarded and we even went through the policy sheet that was handed to us today when we wanted clarification on this issue. What was not told to us in the past years was that the food that they cooked belonged to them or in their words; it was their “property.” So basically, they can keep the cooked items in their refrigerators that are monitored by skilled, knowledgeable kitchen crew and put it on sale whenever they want to.

What bothers us the most is that we looked at the food and it looked really distasteful. One of the ladies in their office does admit that the quality of the food is definitely lost when they keep it for 2 nights. However, she was adamant that it wouldn’t make anyone sick. Besides that, we have already paid for the food and now aren’t they trying to make extra bucks by selling it back to students?

So if you decide to go to the Carousel next time to get your lunch, please make sure that you check the menu of the events of the past weekend.

Abinash BhattachanInternational Student Council President