Since Apr.22,serving trays have not been made available to Tuesday diners at theUC Davis dining commons.This move,whichwill continue for at least the rest of the year,is expected to cut water and electricity usage from daily washing and deter customers from taking more food than they can eat.
Despite the positiveimpacts,Trayless Tuesdays have been opposed by some students.Manyconsider the day to be nothing more than a money-saving tactic by Sodexoandan inconvenience,asbringing food to and from their tablewithout a tray is moretime consuming.
Regardless of what Sodexo’s motives are,the fact is the once-a-weekabsence of trays helps conserve the environment and encourages students to take only what they plan to eat,making the minor inconvenience well worth thetrouble.
It is important not to forget that tray or no tray,the on-campus commons are still incredibly convenient.Students with meal plans need only to bring their ID card to the dining commons for a worker to swipe.After that,a world ofalready-shopped-for,pre-preparedfood is at their fingertips.Heaven forbid they walk their ready-to-be-eaten food back to their table without a tray.
The idea of being without a tray is nothing new on campus.TheCastilian Dining Commons has never used trays,andlast checked,no student has died from starvation because of their inability to carry their food.
As long as Sodexo never stops servingfreshcookies daily,there is no need to shedtears at the UC Davis dining commons anytime soon.XXX
