CHLOE KOWALYK
News Section Editor
Nearly a month after The Leader exposed moldy, cold food and other issues regarding FSA’s dining services, more and more students have come forward with their experiences of undercooked food, a lack of attention towards allergic triggers and inedible looking food. Students are feeling frustrated.
If a “bad product” gets through every once in a while, why have so many students, including alumni, had a bad experience?
One student, Jasmyne Ponder, says “[Willy C’s] pizza is such a hit or miss. I got a box of pizza a few weeks ago and it was so raw. I thought it was cheese at first, but obviously it didn’t taste right. So I looked at it closer and it was just straight up raw dough.”
Ponder wasn’t the only student to be served undercooked food.
One student lamented about how their friend got served raw chicken, and how they “found mold in [their] food multiple times.”
Dylan Empric, a former SUNY Fredonia student said that during his time on campus at SUNY Fredonia, his food was often undercooked and his orders were often forgotten.
Student complaints regarding FSA food continue a trend that goes back years: one student, who wishes to remain anonymous, said, “I got a salad and inside there was hair and lint, as if it was picked up off the floor.” The student hasn’t eaten a salad since this incident, which happened four years ago.
One particularly shocking story was that of Nadia Stiell. Stiell, a student on campus, has a nut allergy.
A few weeks ago, Stiell and her friends went to Cranston Marché, a dining hall on campus, for some pizza.
While eating her meal, Stiell and her friends noticed that the pizza was green, indicating that it may have pesto on it.
This posed a pretty big potential problem for Stiell, as pesto contains pine nuts — an allergen she needs to avoid.
Stiell felt that “there’s no way they’d [FSA] have nut pizza and not say anything,” since this was not made clear when she ordered.
To clarify if the pizza contained nuts or not, Stiell went up to the counter and asked an employee. The employee she asked did not know, and asked another employee nearby.
Troublingly, the other employee did not know either.
Stiell says this was “frustrating and nerve-wracking” because she wasn’t sure if she was going to have an allergic reaction or not.
As a precautionary measure, Stiell took some Benadryl, an antihistamine used to treat allergic reactions, and went to the emergency room.
After going to the hospital, Stiell explained that her body had no reaction to the pizza, but it is unknown whether or not this is due to the reaction being masked by the Benadryl, or if the pizza didn’t actually contain nuts.
Stiell also explained that she has witnessed cross-contamination happening in Cranston Marché with their spoons when serving ice cream.
Cranston Marché also serves pistachio ice cream, which proves that cross-contamination can be a big issue for students with nut allergies.
Allergic reactions are no joke either. Those suffering from an allergic reaction may face tightened airways making it hard to breathe, shock with a severe drop in blood pressure, swelling of the lips, throat, tongue and face, nausea, vomiting and severe abdominal pain.
Stiell’s story reveals several issues about FSA policies regarding food allergies.
Troublingly, allergen information is not readily available for students to retrieve, despite FSA director Darin Schulz’s assurance that FSA is on top of this issue. Schulz explained “there is a guide to avoiding allergens online.” However, I have yet to locate this guide.
The only other indication of allergy recognition is small stickers by ordering counters that advise students with food allergies to let staff know they have allergies.
However, in Stiell’s case, the staff did not know whether or not the food they were serving contained a certain allergen.
This seemingly places the responsibility to know which allergens are in which dishes on the students.
Unfortunately, allergen information is not readily available for students to access. Allergen information for the food on campus does exist, but cannot be accessed unless students reach out to Dean Messina, the director of Dining Services.
The students interviewed for this story found this is absolutely unacceptable.
This places avoiding an allergic reaction in the hands of the FSA staff rather than the students.
Even more troublingly, the FSA website is not updated, and contains several spelling and grammatical errors. Nowhere on the website is the allergen information posted.
In Willy C’s, another dining service on campus, students order their meals on kiosks, where they can customize their orders.
Ordering off computers sets up a great opportunity for a filtering feature, where students can filter out foods that contain the allergen they wish to avoid.
However, there is no way to access which ingredients contain their allergen without reaching out to Messina.
Brochures that contain guides for eating vegan and vegetarian, and for avoiding gluten are on campus, however, these menus do not provide any allergen information.
There are also a few vegan options available at Willy C’s, Blue Devil Grill and Cranston Marché, and the brochures are mostly geared towards helping students find substitutions for non-meat proteins.
A student who has worked for FSA at Willy C’s for six semesters and works as a student leader training new employees reached out to The Leader.
The student, who wishes to remain anonymous, gave significant details regarding the training workers get for both health and safety and allergen concerns.
“It has been extremely difficult training new students this semester; more than usual,” they said.
“We are normally at least two people understaffed, with the people who are there being newer students. With that in mind, we have not been able to give students the training we usually do. We ensure that the important things are talked about — i.e. gloves, allergies, station cleanliness — but our new students are slower to start out since they are not getting the personal attention we wish they could have,” they continued.
The student also explained that there are specific procedures in place for allergies and intolerances, such as changing gloves and cleaning stations as well as attempting to prevent cross-contamination.
It’s no secret that FSA is understaffed, and the lack of proper training is in no way the fault of employees.
Instead, we must turn our attention to FSA.
If students are unable to get proper training, shouldn’t something be done?
According to Jenna Woods, a student representative on the FSA board, three weeks ago an email was sent out to all students that FSA is hiring.
However, this is the only recent outreach that was made to address understaffing concerns.
If understaffing is such a major issue, which it most definitely is, shouldn’t there be a much stronger outreach attempt than a single email?
Regarding training for allergy and intolerance concerns, I would argue that there is not enough.
Woods explained that she brought up issues regarding vegan options in the past and explained that she was made aware of concerns of cross-contamination, yet no changes have been made.
Depending on the severity of the allergy, an allergic reaction could threaten a student’s life.
I myself have had two reactions so far, and I am in my third semester. Stiell already had at least one scare herself.
This begs the question, how many other students have had similar experiences?
With both employees and students unsure of which foods contain which allergen, the potential for an allergic reaction is unknown, which can be terrifying for students who have food allergies.
If understaffing results in improper training for employees as the student employee suggests, then understaffing concerns need to be addressed in greater depth immediately.
The student employee acknowledged that many of these problematic issues derive from understaffing and training problems.
“It’s overwhelming and the quality of our food may suffer,” they said.
Woods explained that the lack of quality in food has not been brought up by other board members during FSA board meetings.
The student further explained that with proper staffing, the quality of food should improve.
So what needs to be done? Further training regarding allergies and an increase in efforts to improve staffing are absolutely needed. A minimum of adding the allergen information to, and updating the website, would be a great starting point.
The student FSA worker has also included a few tips to help make the ordering process easier for both students and employees.
“Please listen for your number,” the student said. “When we’re calling numbers two or three times we’re just wasting time where we could be starting the next order.”
The student also wanted to remind their peers to wear their masks, to protect both union workers and student employees, as some may have family members who are immunocompromised or who are too young to be vaccinated.
If ordering something quick — i.e., not a milkshake or sub — students are encouraged to use the express kiosk, as it pushes orders to the top of the screen, allowing employees to get the order out faster.
Regarding an incorrect or insufficient order, the student also says, “If there is an issue with your order please let us know. We will remake, replace, or refund you … please be patient with the workers, students or union, especially at night. Being understaffed and busy is not the ideal work conditions and we are just doing our best.”
Students deserve action from the FSA board of directors to improve these issues: staffing, training and quality of preparation. We’re paying attention.