Daily Meal ranks Wash. U. third

Kastyn Matheny | Student Life

Washington University was recently ranked third for best college food among 52 universities reviewed by the Daily Meal.

In the spring, the University topped the Daily Meal’s list of Top Universities for Food Lovers and has also previously been ranked highly by College Prowler and The Princeton Review.

Reviewers at the Daily Meal started their search for the best colleges for food last April.

After narrowing the list down to 52 schools, each school was ranked on a 5-point scale for categories on healthy food options, events, accessibility and service of the dining staff, sustainability, use of local foods, and an “x-factor” that was unique to the school.



“We were looking for a well-rounded program, so in our rankings, food matters just as much as being sustainable, using local food, programming and events,” said Nina Fomufod, author of the story in the Daily Meal and one of the compilers of the list. “In our opinion, Wash. U. had everything we were looking for, above and beyond.”
 


According to Fomufod, the University’s “x-factor” was its tandoori ovens and chefs trained in India and Pakistan at the WUrld Fusion station in Bear’s Den.



Above Washington University on the list were Bowdoin College, ranked second, and Virginia Tech, ranked first. Both schools have an on-campus meat shop where students can purchase local meats, as well as organic gardens on campus that grow produce and fresh herbs to be used in each school’s dining services.



Fomufod and the Daily Meal staff were impressed with the University’s Dining Services because of its wide variety of options and treatment of the students it serves.

“We were just blown away by the vegan, kosher and halal options,” said Fomufod. “Bon Appétit really took care of the students in terms of quality.”

David Murphy, general manager of Dining Services, was pleased with the rankings.

“It speaks really highly to what the University is trying to achieve,” Murphy said. “And all of this is because of what we feel is a great relationship with the students and great conversation about what students want from dining.”