Meet Our Partner: Lewis & Clark’s Fields Dining Hall & Maggie’s Cafe

946471_10153864035908584_5689840657946721128_nLewis & Clark College, located on a beautiful campus in Southwest Portland, Oregon, offers a great dining experience to its 2,000+ students. Food is served in the main cafeteria, Fields Dining Hall, and in Maggie’s Cafe, where students can enjoy tea, smoothies, espresso, and various grab-and-go snacks. Both are run by Bon Appétit Management Company, which has a reputation for promoting greater sustainability in food service. The Tao of Tea is part of Bon Appétit’s Farm to Fork Program — an initiative that requires chefs to obtain a percentage of ingredients from local sources — and our tea is served in both the main dining room and at Maggie’s.

We asked Bonnie Von Zange, Manager of Fields Dining Hall, about her experience serving food to the Lewis & Clark student body and working with The Tao of Tea.

Tell us about your Farm to Fork program.
Our Farm to Fork Program is a company wide effort which asks chefs to buy at least 20% of their ingredients from small farmers, ranchers, fishermen, and food producers within 150 miles of their kitchens. 

What are some of your nutritional goals in providing food to the student body at LC? 
We serve anywhere between 500-900 people at breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day of the week. Each meal is made from scratch, utilizing local ingredients and stealth nutrition. We take great care to consider different food preferences and concerns. At each meal period, we offer vegan and vegetarian options, as well as items made without gluten-containing ingredients. We are sensitive to the individual needs of the students. 

How do you go about choosing which teas you’ll serve in the dining hall?  Do students or staff make the selection? 
In the dining hall, we order a variety of teas. Students do make requests on occasion. I make sure to always have the ever popular Hibiscus Ginger in house. 

What do you enjoy about working with the Tao of Tea?
Jeanne Quan, broker for The Tao of Tea, is my favorite part. She is very helpful and full of information. She is quick to share knowledge about the tea, and has offered guidance in choosing certain varieties. She is so pleasant, and the product is so tasty. 

Do you find that there are a lot of tea drinkers in the LC student body?
We go through several gallons of tea a day. This leads me to believe the students are crazy for tea. 

http://www.lclark.edu/

0615 SW Palatine Hill Rd.
Portland, Oregon 97219

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