As the dining services team for GW, we have been carefully following recent articles discussing concerns regarding dining experiences and food safety. We acknowledge that in our first full year of operations, we have had some food safety challenges and some operational issues. 

We wanted to address these challenges and issues and share our dining processes in the spirit of transparency. Each day we work to be better than the day before, and we have implemented changes to make sure that we are serving you safe quality food.

First, we want to assure you that the safety and well-being of our guests is our top priority. We understand the importance of providing nutritious meals in a safe environment and take every concern raised seriously. 

We want to assure you that GW Dining has robust food safety measures in place, including regular internal inspections, rigorous food safety protocols, including temperature taking and comprehensive staff training. GW Dining is committed to training staff, and takes advantage of university break periods to retrain and refresh team members on best practices in food safety and quality assurance. 

This semester, we have also hired a third-party auditor, Steritech, to conduct routine food safety audits, both announced and unannounced. These food safety audits are conducted weekly across all our dining facilities. In addition, we are adding a full-time qualified GW Dining food safety manager who will be on site daily overseeing our food safety program, to help educate, train, monitor and ensure that our dining halls are serving a safe dining program to the GW Community. GW staff also continue to conduct weekly safety audits across all locations. 

If you believe you are experiencing a food illness after dining at one of our facilities, we ask you to make an appointment with the GW Student Health Center immediately and email [email protected] so it can be thoroughly investigated. We take these reports very seriously and will correct issues immediately.

Building community and creating space for you to connect with classmates, floormates, faculty and staff is at the very heart of our program. To help build this sense of community, we altered our meal plan and program to help resolve issues of food insecurity, reduce time spent by students cooking and budgeting and encourage eating in communal spaces. 

Furthermore, we utilize made-to-order batch cooking methods to cut down on food waste and  offer a more customized dining approach — we recognize this process did cause roadblocks at the beginning of the semester, which have been rectified to ensure we can provide full service at each of our locations daily while  ensuring we produce food sustainably with minimal waste.

Food is very personal. Every one of us likely has a recipe that draws from memories of childhood or has stuck with us over the years. Our recipes may not resonate with you, but we can assure you that food served and prepared by the almost 450 team members is made with care and will provide the nourishment you need to be successful in and out of the classroom. 

We encourage your feedback and your opinions on the food being served. If there are dishes that you love, tell us about it. And if there are some that you don’t like, tell us about that too. We strive every day to serve selections that you enjoy, because in the hospitality business we are only as good as our last meal!

In line with our commitment to transparency, we are actively working to foster a culture of openness and accountability within dining services. This includes regular communication channels where students can voice their concerns, transparent reporting on food safety practices and opportunities for students to actively participate in shaping the future of dining on campus. 

We have multiple forums where we collect feedback, including our Student Advisory Panel, which meets monthly and is always looking for more student participation. Additionally, we have begun a biweekly “behind the scenes” educational series where students can directly speak with operations leadership and ask any questions they may have.

As we move forward, we encourage students to continue sharing their thoughts, ideas and concerns with us. Together, we can create a dining experience that not only meets but exceeds your expectations and that you can be proud of. We look forward to working closely with the students to ensure that GW Dining remains a cornerstone of campus life, providing nourishment, comfort and a sense of belonging to all.

Seth Weinshel is the associate vice president of business services, Douglas Frazier is the executive director of GW Dining and Matthew Thompson is the vice president of operations for Chartwells Higher Education at GW.