Updated on March 5th and 6th, 2017
A former VWC security officer recently posted photos on Facebook that appeared to show unsatisfactory conditions in the cafeteria kitchen. Based on concerns raised by the Facebook photos, the Marlin Chronicle toured the cafeteria, taking photos and interviewing Director of Dining Services Tim Lockett. Lockett confirmed that the Facebook photos seemed to have been taken in Virginia Wesleyan’s cafeteria. However, he said the college’s kitchen has passed health inspections with minimal violations.
Health I
nspection
According to the Virginia Department of Health’s website, the last inspection was conducted on Feb. 16. The inspection encompassed Boyd Dining Hall as well as the Grille. Inspectors found a total of five violations during their investigation of the facilities.
Food not being properly packaged, separated, and/or segregated was among the listed violations. Failing to properly package and separate food leaves many opportunities for cross-contamination.
Used utensils were also not stored properly between additional uses, the inspection found. Furthermore, food storage was not raised to the appropriate height of 6 inches off the floor.
Additionally, the inspection found no sign of a functioning test kit with the ability to measure the concentration of heat sanitizing solutions. Lastly, a walk-in refrigerator door was not considered to be “in good repair.”
The report listed all of these violations as being corrected during the inspection.
However, many of these violations were repeats from previous inspections. For example, in the inspection conducted on Oct. 18, 2016, violations included: insufficient separation, packaging, and segregation; food storage not being elevated to the proper height; and the lack of a test kit, this time to test the concentration of chemical sanitizing solutions in the Grille.
SGA’s response
President of the Student Government Association Nich Hipple took a survey regarding student concerns during this semester’s Club Fair on Feb. 7.
“The comments that we got were as varied as the students at Virginia Wesleyan are,” Hipple said. However, along with tuition, parking, and dorm rooms, the cafeteria was mentioned several times as an area of concern.
Based on the article released in the March 2 issue of the Marlin Chronicle, the SGA invited Lockett on March 6 to attend SGA meetings for the purpose of discussion.
Hipple said that next Friday, March 10, SGA plans to have an extended discussion regarding Sodexo. The meeting will take place at 1:30 p.m in Clarke 118 and is open to all in the campus community. According to Hipple, Lockett has said he will attend the meeting.
Ashley Kline
aakline@vwc.edu
(Photos: Courtney Herrick | Marlin Chronicle)
Correction: The March 5 edition of this article mistakenly stated that Director of Dining Services Tim Lockett had already been contacted by SGA and had not yet responded. In fact, the SGA had not yet contacted Lockett.
