Press Coverage

AMHERST, Mass. – Ken Toong, executive director of the award-winning dining services at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has been named a Leader in Retail Foodservice by Fare magazine, a trade publication for nontraditional and retail foodservice channels.

“What you’ve done for the foodservice program at UMass is truly remarkable—from understanding and catering to the modern student’s needs to harnessing trends to simply making the program more profitable,” said Abbie Westra, executive editor of Fare. “Your unique takes on retail and quick-serve concepts, along with your overall commitment to the industry, make you a shoo-in as a Leader in Retail Foodservice.”

The award will be presented at the Foodservice at Retail Exchange (FARE) conference scheduled for June 28-30 in Chicago. During the conference, Toong and the other award recipients will participate in a panel discussion, “GOLD STANDARD: Insights from the Best in Channel.”

The 2010 Taste of UMass took place last night in the Mullins Center and had it all: 75 booths of food, contests, new records and a singing competition.

“This is not only the largest food campus event in the country, but also an event that is… really able to showcase what UMass dining is all about,” said Executive Director of Dining Ken Toong. “It’s like a year end party to celebrate the end of the school year and is also a great way to enhance the campus life.”
A UMass Iron Chef was held with student representatives from each of the four dining halls doing the cooking and food preparation. The teams had to prepare a number of dishes, based on a common meal (appetizer, main entree, etc). Judges ranked the food based on criteria such as serving method, presentation, taste and texture. Hampshire DC was named the winner, defeating last year’s champion Franklin DC who finished second.

Another student contest, UMass Idol, was one of the most popular events of the evening, with large crowds of students gathering near the stage to watch the contestants compete. Julia Weiner was named the winner out of the five finalists and received a $500 check from UMass Dining.

While Jamie Oliver takes on the task of revamping West Virginia school lunches as part of his “Food Revolution’’ campaign, Ken Toong, executive director of dining services at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, is one of a growing number of high school and college food service managers who are feeding students more fruits and vegetables without busting their budgets.

For $2.75 to $3 per person, Toong’s team at UMass cooks lunch for 14,000 students on the university meal plan. In 2002, about 8 percent of the produce on the cafeteria trays had been grown locally. Now those trays are gone — to save water and waste — and New England produce accounts for 25 percent of what’s eaten. (During the harvest last fall, almost 90 percent of the fruits and vegetables were local.)

OAK BROOK, Ill. — Fare magazine and the Foodservice at Retail Exchange (FARE) has announced the first-ever recipients of its Leaders in Retail Foodservice awards. The awards celebrate operators who lead their respective channels in innovative retail-foodservice programs.

This year’s inaugural Leaders in Retail Foodservice are Jerry Weiner, vice president of foodservice for Rutter’s Farm Stores, York. Pa.; Steve Hammel, dining services programs manager for the Navy Region Southwest, San Diego; Byron Hanson, director of delis and food service for Lunds Food Holdings, Edina, Minn.; and Ken Toong, executive director of dining and retail services for University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

“One of the best things about the Fare brand is the ability to introduce channel leaders to other foodservice professionals in different segments. Someone may be at the top of his or her game, influencing and inspiring peers and colleagues, while remaining less-known outside of that channel,” said Abbie Westra, executive editor of Fare magazine. “It was actually one of the reasons why we started Fare magazine and FARE: to connect the different channels of retail foodservice so they could better learn from one another.”

Busy and on the go in the morning, consumers don’t always approach breakfast with nutrition in mind. In R&I’s 2010 New American Diner Study, when asked at which meal they’re most likely to try to eat more healthfully, just 13.2% of consumers chose breakfast, compared with 27.4% at lunch and 43.7% at dinner.

Yet digging a bit deeper suggests that these inclinations may be driven more by a lack of opportunity than a lack of interest. In a recent survey by Chicago-based market researcher Technomic, nearly half of the consumers polled cited a healthful nutrition profile as an important or extremely important attribute in breakfast foods. And foodservice professionals say that when tasty and attractively priced healthful choices are on offer, customers are open to starting their days in wholesome ways-especially when recipes go beyond routine egg-white omelets and bran muffins.

Iron Chef? Not Here!
UMass Dining Features Four Visiting College Chefs
It was a beautiful evening on the UMass campus, with students bustling around as they retreated to their evening activities in the cool spring weather. But even busier was the main concourse of the famed Berkshire Dining Commons, where UMass Dining held the 2010 Visiting College Chef Series by hosting four schools from all over the United States before Spring Break.
Billed as “An Epic Battle of Taste” event, 8 chefs from four schools were together at UMass to showcase their students’ favorites and regional specialties. In each of Berkshire’s regular food stations was a chef and their sous chef from one of the four regions of the United States—Chef Barry Greenburg, from the University of Iowa, representing the Midwest, Chef Paul Oesterle, from the University of Georgia, cooking from the South, Chef Manfred Edler, from Villanova University in Pennsylvania, up in the Northeast, and way out West, Chef Nijo Joseph from Stanford University.

In the University of Massachusetts dining commons, what students don’t know could help them.
The university has embarked on a slightly sneaky method of getting students to enjoy more nutritionally balanced meals.
An expanded array of fresh fruit has inched its way onto the buffet. Cooks are adding whole grains into flour-based edibles, replacing iodized salt with the lower-sodium sea salt, and swapping out meat for fish in a number of entrées. They are also dishing out smaller quantities.
Kenneth K. Toong, executive director of food services at UMass Amherst, calls it stealth health.
In so doing, Toong took a page from a book parents have used for years in finding ways to get nutritious food into their children on the sly.
“Essentially, we use healthy ingredients, but we’re not labeling them,” said Toong.
These are just some of the changes cropping up at dining services as area colleges seek to become both more health-conscious and environmentally friendly.
In other words, gone is your parents’ world of collegiate dining, where waste and excess was part of the ambiance.
Welcome to college dining 2009.
Pressured by students locally and nationally, college and university dining services have turned mealtime into another arena to make better choices for the environment, society, and individual health.
“Things have changed tremendously,” said Kathryn J. Gay, Mount Holyoke College’s menu coordinator, who has 22 years in dining service experience.
“There’s a lot more variety, and students’ tastes have changed,” she said.
Better for the environment
In the Valley, such changes have been introduced in stages since 2000. The five campuses have composting programs to reduce waste. The five dining providers all have local produce purchasing agreements to cut down on transportation pollution, save money and provide fewer processed foods to students.
The University of Massachusetts and Smith College have gotten rid of dining room trays, the theory being if students don’t have an easy way to take more food than they will eat, there will be less waste. Trayless dining also saves water and energy involved in cleanup, and thereby cash. Amherst College is experimenting with kicking trays as well.
“Green initiatives are currently a big issue people are trying to address around the country,” said Charles G. Thompson, director of dining services at Amherst College. “We’re all trying to reduce the food waste and reduce the carbon footprint and save money.”
Thompson ran into some student resistance when he took cafeteria trays away from students there.
Thompson had heard from dining services colleagues around the nation stories of students stuffing cardboard boxes with food as a crude substitute for trays, or skaters piling grilled cheeses onto their boards.
There were no such antics at Amherst, though a few undergrads demonstrated displeasure.
A stack of dirty dishes was left teetering on a table top with a note that read, “This is what could happen if we go trayless.”
“There were some minor pranks like that,” said Thompson with a chuckle. “This was our first stab at it. I’m sure we’ll have more discussions.”
It might have been an inconvenience in the all-you-can-eat buffet of college dining, but by forgoing trays for one day, Amherst reduced food waste by 100 pounds.
“We could be looking at about 15,000-20,000 pounds less food waste in one year,” Thompson said.
The college could also save 167,000 gallons of water per year by not having to wash trays.
“No one loses by doing this,” Thompson added. “It’s a matter of getting beyond the inconvenience factor to the customer.”
Nutritionally speaking
But pushing for high-minded dining is sometimes easier said than done, even with student support.
About five years ago, Mount Holyoke College launched an online nutrition analyzer, a program that quickly deciphers the caloric and nutritional value of everything on the college’s dining hall menu.
The college did this, said Gay, because students were asking for greater transparency.
Today, however, the site is little used, she said.
Knowing that you should be making healthy food choices and actually making them can be worlds apart.
“It’s like, students say they don’t want french fries, but what’s the first thing that’s gone,” Gay said.
“Sometimes they say one thing and do another,” she said.
At UMass, students unknowingly eat whole wheat chocolate chip cookies and have, for the most part, increased the ratio of fish they consume by about 20 percent.
UMass has also reduced portions on its all-you-can-eat student meal programs. Instead of full-size cheeseburgers, the university now serves “sliders,” an appetizer portion of beef. UMass has also reduced the size of a fish entrée from 4 ounces to 2 ounces. Students can return to the buffet for as many portions as they like.
“It’s quality over quantity,” said Gavin Galloway, a UMass junior who was having lunch at the Berkshire Dining Commons.
For the most part, students said they didn’t mind the smaller portions.
Sitting at a booth with three friends, Samantha Barry, a freshman, fits all she can eat on a single plate, said “The amount of food you get is fine.”
But her friend, Wei Yuh Chang, said he needs to make five trips to the buffet to feel satiated.
“If you want more,” he said, “you can just go back.”

NORTH ANDOVER – Colleges trying to encourage a well-balanced diet have a message for students sizing up that all-you-can-eat smorgasbord in the dining hall: What you don’t know can help you.

More than a dozen Massachusetts colleges have recently embarked on a stealth health campaign – covert operations to address the chronic problem of overindulging students throwing nutrition to the wind.

Portions have shrunk at Wellesley College, Tufts University, and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Plate sizes have been reduced at Merrimack College, where newly trained servers are sneaking fresh vegetables onto plates alongside meat entrees.

From celebrity chefs to lobster bakes to chocolate fountains, The Daily Beast tracks down the 15 best college meal plans in the country. VIEW OUR GALLERY.
Here’s just a taste of what college students across the country are having for dinner tonight: fresh-caught lobster, Brazilian churrascaria, summer squash apple bisque, and for dessert, handmade Belgian chocolates.

Once upon a time, colleges served boiled veggies and mystery meat, assembly-line style. Then, in the ‘90s, campus food courts began upgrading to brand-name fast food and fancy salad bars. But to impress today’s prospective students, who were weaned on organic produce, Michael Pollan, and the Food Network, schools are rolling out dining options fit for a visiting head of state. Sushi chefs, gourmet coffee, and organic food are standard now, and large cafeterias are being traded for smaller, more intimate restaurant-style dining. But some schools have upped the ante beyond even that, flying their chefs to far-flung regions where they’re taught to cook authentic international haute cuisine, infusing their campus tap water with hints of cucumber and lemon, and hiring celebrity architects to build dining halls that resemble exclusive Manhattan brasseries—plunked down in the middle of verdant Iowan campuses.

Dear Editor,

As a Smith College student, I first visited the UMass campus armed with cynicism and what I thought was a healthy supply of snobbism. My college produced more Fulbright winners than any other small liberal arts college; UMass produced more binge drinkers than any school in the area. Smith was home to women who strove for academic excellence; UMass students strove for the weekend. Etc, etc.

As my education went on, I developed close friendships with students from the various Five Colleges, including UMass. During my first overnight stay at UMass, my friend suggested we make our way to the dining hall to eat dinner. I braced myself for the worst. While I had revised my theory that all UMass students were brain dead party animals, I could not imagine that the dining hall would compare to those at Smith, where we can choose nightly from vegan, Kosher, Mediterranean and other dining options.

Following my friend into the dining hall, I was pleasantly surprised to see a far wider variety of food than we at Smith are afforded. Vegetarian, “healthy” and various other options greeted me. My friend, a self-professed picky eater, helped herself to some rosemary chicken and potatoes, while I crafted a large and somewhat unwieldy salad from the expansive salad bar. Grabbing a whole-wheat roll, I scooted over to the beverages, where I was forced to pick from the many choices offered.

We have all heard that America is the fattest nation on the planet. No one is looking to refute this statement. Yet, I think that the answer to this so-called “obesity epidemic” is not to do away with the soft drink industry, or to ban desserts from the menu. Rather, I think the nation would do well to emulate the dining halls at UMass, where the sheer variety of foods allows students to have whatever they want in moderation.

How does a large dining hall with choices upon choices of appetizers, main courses and desserts promote healthy eating? By simulating real life. Realistically, the McDonalds and Dunkin Donuts that can be found in all 50 states are not going to disappear anytime soon. And while a student who eats nothing but salads during college may emerge several pounds lighter, they are not likely to stick to such a diet once reacquainted with the oasis of calories and sugar that await them on the other side.

Nor should they. A balanced diet is one that blends a mixture of carbohydrates, fats and proteins, a plan that even the fattiest item can fit into. Life should be about taking advantage of nature (and man’s) bounty, and one should not have to forgo the occasional coffee and donut breakfast in order to be “healthy.”

The dining environment at UMass encourages students to have their greens and lean proteins. But it also encourages students to remember that life is too short to forgo those delicious double-fudge brownies that appear on occasion. If Americans as a population were to survey their food supply as a UMass student does the dining hall offerings, then we would undoubtedly be far healthier people. Everything in moderation, they say. And that is a truism at which UMass dining excels.
Go UMass!

Sarah Billian

Smith College Student

I was told to arrive hungry, wooed by promises that the food at the University of Massachusetts Amherst would be good. But how tasty could college dining really be?

Ken Toong

Award-winning, it turns out. And the best I’ve ever eaten on any campus.
Ken Toong, executive director of UMass Dining, escorted me on a spin around the Berkshire Dining Commons last week during a trip to Western Massachusetts to check out the Five Colleges.

My eyes popped at the all-you-can-eat sushi bar, with plates of the ever-popular California roll and rolls made with salmon and shrimp tempura. I never expected college dining to get this sophisticated. I grabbed a sample.

AMHERST, Mass. – For the second year in a row, UMass Amherst Dining Services has won the Annual Marketing Excellence Award given by Produce Business, the magazine announced in its August issue. The award recognizes the campus for promoting healthy eating and developing a creative marketing campaign to educate students and feature fresh produce on the menu through cooking exhibits during American Produce Week earlier this year.

I studied in Cairo last fall and I loved my campus: it was gorgeous, brand new and in the middle of the desert. However, there were two downers. The cafeteria’s options were limited and I had to rely on food vouchers. I was not happy with vouchers and the school’s food choices were lackluster compared to the UMass dining commons. I had issues to face since I loved the
UMass dining commons and missed my buffet options.

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AMHERST, Mass. – The University of Massachusetts Amherst will host the 15th annual Tastes of the World Chef Culinary Conference for campus food services, from June 14-19. Many notable guest chefs will be on campus, led by Martin Yan, Roland Mesnier (former White House pastry chef) and Joyce Goldstein.

This year’s theme, “World Street Food, Local flavors,” will focus on many street foods from Latin America, the Mediterranean Region and Southeast Asia. Not only are they popular, but small portions with local flavors are just what many customers are looking for, said Ken Toong, executive director of Dining Services at UMass Amherst, and organizer of the conference. “Street foods have been around for hundred of years in both America and the world, and they are get more popular in America,” he said. “Our students can snack on tapas all day. They are looking for freshness, variety and flavor, and portable street foods really fit the bill.”

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AMHERST, Mass. – Ken Toong, executive director of dining and retail services at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has been named FoodService Director magazine’s Food Service Director of the Year for 2008.

Toong received the honor at a recent dinner presentation during the 2009 MenuDirections Conference held in San Antonio, Texas. One of 12 Food Service Directors of the Month honored at the dinner, Toong was profiled in the December 2008 issue of FSD.

Everyone knows the story of the Bermuda Triangle. For over a half a century, ships and planes have been known to mysteriously disappear within the Triangle’s perimeters. But the University of Massachusetts also has an urban legend that pertains to a geometric shape: a circle. It is the urban legend of the Grade Circle.

Have you ever gone into a test thinking you did well only to find out you failed miserably? Blame it all on the Grade Circle, located between Curry Hicks (The Cage) and Munson. This white, concreted area half-surrounded by benches is rumored to be a zone detrimental to your grades. If one walks through the Circle the morning before a big exam, you are more likely to do worse.

Ken Toong won’t settle for anything less than the best. by Lindsey Ramsey

Ever since Ken Toong came to the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 1998, he has been a busy man. As executive director of UMass Dining he has turned the program into one of the largest revenue-producing campus dining operations in the country. Considering that the university has capped enrollment at 25,000 students, Toong has had to use a variety of methods to grow his program, which serves about 45,000 meals per day. Those methods have ranged from major renovations to simply making himself available to dine with his students every day. This extra effort has helped to put the program on track to earn about $55 million in revenue this year.

“When Ken generates an idea or sees a concept that he wants, he will stop at no end to make sure that it happens,” says David Eichstaedt, senior manager of retail dining. “He is one of the most passionate people I’ve ever worked with. He eats and sleeps UMass Dining. Ken is never standing still, and by that I mean once one initiative has been achieved, it is on to the next one.”

Many departments on campus have made efforts this semester in going “green” – while others have plans in development. For instance, the UMass Bursar’s Office has eliminated its paper system and is exclusively offering online billing to help eliminate paper waste.

Other University efforts include the Environmental Sustainability and Energy Conservation Campaign’s introduction of the Eco-Rep program.

Meat loaf, steak or salmon — clients can choose from the regular menu or create a unique culinary experience. Whatever the choice, Brenda Ryan-Newton, catering director at the University of Massachusetts, will make it happen.

“It’s a real pleasure to see a happy guest. It’s nice to see them have a good time and smile,” said Ryan-Newton, sitting in her eighth-floor Campus Center office with schedules and calenders of events on the bulletin board, stacks of binders and menus piled on a table.

Amherst, MA – Dining Commons News – November 2008

Are you a first year student at UMass concerned about gaining the “Freshmen 15” weight? If so, we want to hear from you! UMass Dining along wi th the UMass Kinesiology and Nutrition Departments are sponsoring the Freshmen Fifteen Exercise, Nutrition and Diet (FFEND) Study. The FFEND Study will determine whether diet, exercise, and portion control can help prevent weight gain during a student’s first year at college.

When one thinks of Halloween, the first things that come to mind are candy, pumpkins, skeletons and costumes. But for University of Massachusetts students, it’s lobster.

The Halloween lobster dinner is now a 7-year-old tradition, and students do not claim that it will get old. The event, sponsored by the University’s dining services is “a nice treat for students for their hard work and is a great way to celebrate the harvest,” said Executive Director of Food Services Ken Toong.

The Massachusetts Daily Collegian – Amherst, MA, USA
Within the past month, Ken Toong, director of Dining Services, received both the state’s Faces of Agriculture Award and the 2008 Blue Ribbon Award for his …

Amherst, MA – Dining Commons News – October 2008

Students flock to the Bluewall after discovering French Meadow Bakery, the latest and greatest retail dining concept at UMass. Unveiled earlier this semester by Dining Services, the new Bluewall hot spot offers warm ciabatta cafe sandwiches.

Juneau, Alaska. October 6, 2008 – The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) and The University of Massachusetts, Amherst Dining Services are collaborating to celebrate Alaska’s sustainable seafood, October 6-9. Alaska species including wild and sustainable salmon, black cod, Weathervane scallops, cod, and halibut will be prepared for lunch and dinner in all four dining commons. Dishes will include Miso Marinated Alaska Salmon with Citrus and Shiitakes, and a BBQ Alaska Salmon Sandwich. ASMI’s Seafood Technical Director, Randy Rice, will be on campus to help celebrate the event and will discuss Alaska’s 50-year history in fisheries management on October 8, at 7pm in the Berkshire Dining Commons. UMass professors Dr. Cynthia Barstow and Dr. Eric Decker will also participate and aid in the overall discussion regarding sustainability in the food chain.

AMHERST – Think globally, eat locally.

That could well be the philosophy at University of Massachusetts, where the dining halls are increasingly serving food grown on area farms.

This year, 23 percent of the food served in campus dining halls, everything from eggs to eggplant, will come from local farms, up from 7 percent in 2004. The effort is part of the statewide Farm to School Project.

The Massachusetts Daily Collegian – Amherst,MA,USA

The director of the University of Massachusetts Dining Services, Ken Toong, received two awards on Friday, Sept. 26, recognizing his support of local …

Gordon’s company made its debut at UMass thanks to a two-hour layover that Dining Services Director Ken Toong, spent in a Minneapolis airport in January.

AMHERST, Mass. – Dining Services at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has added two more honors to its plate with awards from Food Management and Produce Business magazines. Dining Services won “Best of Show” in Food Management’s 2008 “Best Concepts” awards competition and also captured the 20th Annual Marketing Excellence Award presented by Produce Business.

Cleveland (August 6, 2008)— Penton Media’s Food Management® magazine has announced the winners of its 2008 “Best Concepts” awards competition. The annual program recognizes exceptional achievement and innovation in key areas of noncommercial foodservice, as judged by the FM editorial staff.

A team of Dining Services chefs won a gold medal June 20 during the Tastes of the World Chef Culinary Conference held on campus. Chef Tony Jung of Berkshire Dining Commons led the team, whose other members were chef Simon Stevenson, pastry; chef Chi Cuong Huynh, catering; and chef Christine DePault, also of Berkshire Dining Commons.

AMHERST, Mass. – The University of Massachusetts Amherst is hosting the 14th annual “Tastes of the World Chef Culinary Conference” for campus food services June 16-20 at the Marriott Center in the Campus Center and Berkshire Dining Commons. The featured guest is former White House chef Walter Scheib.

BOSTON — Harvard is the world’s richest university, yet it recently pulled whole grain pasta from the dining service menu, replaced cherry tomatoes with wedges, and even started using more chicken thighs in lieu of breasts.

This past Thursday, the Mullins Center underwent a staggering transformation. Basketball nets and courtside seats disappeared, but the crowd noise remained. Concession stands closed down, but the scent of food lingered even stronger in the air. The court was packed with vendors and Dining Commons chefs alike, as thousands of hungry students elbowed their way through the crowd for a shot at some free food, drinks, and maybe – just maybe – a little taste of glory.

Tonight, when you head down to your local DC for your evening meal, don”t be surprised if you are turned away. No, there isn”t a strike. There hasn”t been a kitchen fire. The University hasn”t simply run out of food – quite the contrary, in fact. Tonight, University of Massachusetts Dining Services is pulling out all the stops, redirecting all their resources to the Mullins Center for an event they like to call, “Taste of UMass.”

The University of Massachusetts Dining Services has been awarded one of Restaurants and Institutions (R&I) Magazine”s 2008 Ivy Awards for excellence in the food service industry. “This is the award that every dining establishment would love to have,” said Executive Director of UMass Dining Services Ken Toong. The R&I Ivy Awards are given annually to food service institutions that demonstrate the highest standards of achievement in food, service and overall hospitality.

Dining Services at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has been named one of six winners of the 2008 Restaurants and Institutions magazine Ivy Awards, one of the oldest and most-coveted awards in the food service industry. Besides UMass Amherst, award winners this year include top restaurants in Chicago, New York, California and Las Vegas as well as a hospital in Texas.

Restaurants & Institutions magazine has announced the recipients of its 38th annual Ivy Awards, one of the oldest and most-coveted accolades in the foodservice industry. Six operations that embody the Ivy standards for excellence in food and service will be inducted into the Ivy Society in Chicago on May 18, 2008. This year’s recipients will be honored at a gala Ivy Awards Celebration and Dinner held at The Field Museum, an event that coincides with the National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Hotel-Motel Show.

BLACKSBURG — A taste of Virginia Tech will soon be introduced to the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Mark Bratton, West End Market dining center”s executive chef has been invited by UMass to serve as one of eight guest chefs from universities across the country during the 2007-08 school year. Tech was voted as having the best university dining services by the Princeton Review for 2008.

Toong brings seafood back to UMass Amherst”s dining halls The college cafeteria isn”t what it used to be. Instead of one location with restrictive two-hour service periods, there are dozens where staff and students can satisfy their appetites at any hour. Instead of mystery meat, there is ethnic food, pizza, grilled-to-order burgers, salad bars and theme menus. And there is seafood beyond tuna salad.

Over the past year Dining Services at the University of Massachusetts has purchased 20 percent of its produce from area farms as part of a locally grown program. Within two years they hope to be purchasing as much as 25 percent from local farms. A farmer”s market was opened in the Campus Center this semester as part of the University”s effort to expand the locally grown plan.

Serving thousands of hungry students is no easy task, and doing it as efficiently and as environmentally friendly as possible takes a lot of effort. But thanks to a variety of programs put together by Ken Toong, head of Dining Services at the University of Massachusetts, the DCs have made big strides in the last few years.

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AMHERST, Mass. – Dining Services at the University of Massachusetts Amherst will hold its sixth annual Halloween “Tricks, Treats ’n’ More” dinner from 5 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 31. All dining halls on campus will participate in treating more than 13,000 students to Maine live lobster, clam chowder, strip steak, locally grown vegetables and apple cider.

AMHERST, Mass. – Dining Services at the University of Massachusetts Amherst is expanding its commitment to locally grown produce by making it available at a farmers’ market on campus each Thursday and Friday until late November. Located in the Campus Center concourse outside the Bluewall Cafe, the market is open from 11:30 a.m.-4 p.m.

AMHERST, Mass. – The University of Massachusetts Amherst and the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) will host a Wild Alaska Seafood Week beginning Monday, Oct. 1 at the campus dining commons. The events are designed to promote seafood sustainability.

Fine dining came to the University of Massachusetts with the arrival of former White House chef Walter Scheib Wednesday night. Scheib was the main White House chef for 11 years, working for President Bill Clinton and President George W. Bush. He served UMass students the favorite dishes of both presidents, such as sweet potato soup and penne pasta salad.

AMHERST, Mass. – Walter Scheib, the former executive chef for the White House, will visit the University of Massachusetts Amherst on Wednesday, Sept. 19 as part of Dining Services’ Guest Chef Series. Scheib, the author of “White House Chef: Eleven Years, Two Presidents, One Kitchen,” will prepare dishes from his tenure in Washington, D.C., which spanned the presidencies of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Scheib will greet students during the three-course dinner, which will be served in the Berkshire Dining Commons from 5-9 p.m. The meal will include such Clinton family favorites as sweet potato soup with curried cream and baby back ribs with fire cracker dipping sauce, and Bush family favorites such as corn and scallop chowder and penne pasta salad.

Live Well & Eat Smart: DC Edition ~ Eat up, in style, and have fun doing it!

UMASS Dining Services Delivers the Goods in a Tough Environment.

Univ. of Massachusetts, Berkshire Dining Commons: a highly stylized, multi-station, food-forward eatery that has significantly upgraded board dining on the campus. Highly flexible, the facility’s stations are specifically designed to be adapted over time for a variety of cuisines, prep and serving styles and traffic flows.

AMHERST, Mass. – The University of Massachusetts Amherst is hosting the 13th annual “Tastes of the World Chef Culinary Conference” for campus food services June 11-15. The event focuses on three key factors in campus dining: flavor, wellness and sustainability. Conference events will be held at the Campus Center and Berkshire Dining Commons.

AMHERST, Mass. – The National Association of College and University Food Services (NACUFS) has announced that the University of Massachusetts Amherst Dining Services received a gold award in the 2007 Loyal E. Horton Dining Awards for residence hall dining – multiple concepts.

Students at the University of Massachusetts Amherst students will get to sample the regional Mexican Oaxaca cuisine of Iliana de la Vega, on Tuesday, April 24, from 5-9 p.m. in the Berkshire Dinning Commons. The chef series is managed by UMass Amherst Dining Services.

AMHERST, Mass. – The Taste of UMass 2007, one of the largest campus food service gatherings in the nation, expects to draw 8,000 students on Thursday, April 19, from 5 to 8 p.m. in the Mullins Center at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

This year’s event will feature nationally renowned chef and television personality Jet Tila, who will demonstrate healthy cooking techniques to students and offer his expertise on how to prepare healthy Southeast Asian cuisine. Local farmers and staff from Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA) will also be on hand.

Even in the dead of winter, farmer Joseph J. Czajkowski brings vegetables to dining halls at the University of Massachusetts. In early March, he delivered locally grown potatoes, onions, carrots, butternut squash, turnips, apples, apple cider, carrot sticks and even bean sprouts.

University of Massachusetts Amherst chef Anthony J. Jung won the National Association of College and University Food Services (NACUFS) Northeast Region Culinary Challenge held March 4-7 at the University of Connecticut and is headed to the nationals this summer.

AMHERST, Mass. – University of Massachusetts Amherst students will get to meet and sample the work of three outstanding chefs in February and March as part of the Guest Chef Series in the Berkshire Dining Commons.

The series, managed by UMass Amherst Dining Services, starts Thursday, Feb. 22, from 5-9 p.m. with Joanne Weir, a San Francisco-based culinary expert. Weir is a James Beard Award-winning cookbook author, cooking teacher, chef and television personality. After graduating from UMass Amherst with a major in art education and teaching fine arts in Boston, Weir spent years cooking in Berkeley, Calif., and France before being awarded her master chef certificate.

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Ken Toong, director of dining services, was particularly pleased with the turnout. At the beginning of the fall semester, Toong and his staff switched out traditional fish (farm-raised salmon and Atlantic cod) and created a menu with more sustainable seafood options, such as wild salmon and Pacific cod. Although initially nervous that students would balk, Toong said the response had been positive.

Dining Services at the University of Massachusetts Amherst will hold its fifth annual Halloween “Tricks, Treats ”n” More” dinner from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 31. All dining halls on campus will participate in treating 12,500 students to live lobster, clam chowder, strip steak and locally grown vegetables.

Dining Services at the University of Massachusetts Amherst is participating in a national effort to support seafood sustainability. A kick-off event is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 28 and will include a lecture on sustainable seafood by alumnus Mark Lussier at 7 p.m. in the Berkshire Dining Commons.

Ken Toong, Director of Dining Services at UMass Amherst is leading a tour of the newly renovated Berkshire Dining Commons in the Southwest residential area. When it opens in the first week of September, students will find a state-of-the-art dining facility that aims to be a national showcase.

The University of Massachusetts Amherst will continue its emphasis on promoting healthy food options by hosting this year”s 12th annual “Tastes of the World” Chef Culinary Conference on healthy food and flavor. The international gathering of campus food professionals will be held June 5-9 in the Campus Center and Hampshire Dining Commons, and includes a presentation by renowned chef Jacques Pepin.

The National Association of College and University Food Services has announced that the UMass Amherst Dining Services received second place for the 2006 Loyal E. Horton Dining Awards in the multiple concepts category.

Andrea J. Greaney, a University of Massachusetts-Amherst junior from Agawam, sampled some freshly baked bread and ice cream before digging into a salmon caesar salad.

Her dinner would not end there. Not with more than 70 food booths awaiting her at the “Taste of UMass 2006.”

“A Taste of Japan” Comes to Worcester Dining Commons at UMass Amherst on Feb. 15

UMass Dining Services Becomes “A Local Hero” By Supporting Western Mass. Produce Program

UMass Amherst Mom Wins Recipe Contest, will Feed Son and Classmates Curried Chicken with Apple

UMass Amherst Dining Services joins the farm-to-college movement

Not stopping with their wildly popular sushi and lobster nights, Dining Services replaced 85 percent of its menu for spring semester