Samantha Chown, Staff Contributor
Lately there has been a surge of interest surrounding food services at Dalhousie. First Dal’s food services scored a low grade from the Globe & Mail’s campus report. Then Dal surveyed students to find out what food they were really interested in eating. And finally the DSU announced they were considering giving up control of the food services in the Student Union Building.
Meanwhile, Sarah Schwarz of the Crêperie Mobile had been busy experimenting with the menu items at the Grad House Cafe to see what students actually wanted to eat.
In a tiny open-concept kitchen, where customers can see their food prepared for them, Schwarz works alongside another employee making crêpes, sandwiches and pizzas.
“There’s no real food on campus: only junk food,” she says. Schwarz is a campaigner for local, healthy options. She says that at least 80 per cent of the ingredients used at the cafe are local and bought at the farmer’s market.
Since reopening this fall, the Grad House has signed a contract with Schwarz to provide the bar with food services. This makes the Grad House the only retail food location on campus that isn’t run by Aramark or Sodexho. In previous years the old Grad House had food items ranging from a Perks Coffee to Chinese food, but nothing that was a long term fit, says Eric Snow, president of the Dalhousie Association of Graduate Students (DAGS).
Snow says many students have complained about the unavailability of any food after 5 p.m. except for Tim Hortons, and says that’s why the Cafe provides food until they close and is adjusting their hours to meet student demand.
Another concern for the Cafe was price point. A glimpse of the menu shows that most of the options cost less than $5. The Cafe sells a take-away lunch consisting of a sandwich, juice box, piece of fruit and cookie for $5. A turkey bacon club with a drink and doughnut at Tim’s costs more than $8.
When looking for a new food provider, Snow says DAGS “wanted something with good value and good quality. A good product that you didn’t have to pay through your nose for.”
Schwarz was selling her crepes at the farmer’s market on Lower Water Street — where she still does — before approaching the Grad House’s general manager Mark Jurkovic and putting her name forward. Snow says that Schwarz is the perfect fit, filling a void for fresh, local and cheap food that had previously been missing on campus.
Schwarz hopes her push for local real food is a trend that will be echoed on campus.
“Someone had to start it,” she says.
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