What it takes to feed the campus community
To feed Colgate students, it takes a village — in Hamilton, the efforts include those of the Chartwells’ dining staff, the campus dietitian, and the Community Garden team.
At the Shaw Wellness Institute, Campus Dietitian Allison Bowers has offered nutritional guidance to students since 2021.
In Bowers’ experience, helping students develop a healthy relationship with food is a big help to young adults navigating their personal diets for the first time.
“One of the biggest themes I see across the student experience is that oftentimes eating patterns are representative of other parts of someone’s personal life,” says Bowers. “In my office, themes such as stress and adjustment to college living come up often.”
Bowers also bridges the gap between resources and food-insecure students. She helps coordinate all three of Colgate’s on-campus food pantries, which are located at Shaw, the ALANA Cultural Center, and the Office of International Student Services. In each, Bowers curates a balanced inventory of meal alternatives and snacks, including granola bars, tuna packets, and soups.
“Hunger has many different faces,” says Bowers. “It may be that a student has moved off campus without a meal plan and cannot afford groceries, or that a student cannot afford balanced meals.”
Since their establishment in 2022, the pantries have reached students in need at an appreciable rate.
“We had about 41 people using the pantry last year,” says Esther Rosbrook, director of the ALANA Cultural Center. “Because it is an anonymous service, there may be even more than that number,” she adds.
Growing Together
Colgate’s Community Garden offers an outlet for students to experiment with growing their own food by cultivating a large variety of produce. The garden began in 2009 as a senior seminar project in environmental studies, when it was established next to Newell Apartments. After several relocations, the garden settled into its current address on Route 12B in 2021.
“The garden team has navigated floods, a collapsing greenhouse, and other seasonal challenges to get where it is today,” says Garden Manager Beth Roy. “We’ve adapted to these challenges with the support of the University.”
Roy has served as garden manager since 2013. Each summer, she recruits a cohort of interns from the Office of Sustainability to cultivate the crop from sprouts to shelves, where they are sold at a farmstand on campus.
“With the farmstand, it was rewarding to see our hard work pay off,” says Rachel Plasky ’25, one of the interns who saw the process from seeds to sales. “By bringing another healthy option to students, it allowed us to connect with those who were living off campus.”
A six-month growing season at the garden yields an average 3,000 pounds of fruits, vegetables, and herbs — half of which are donated to the Hamilton Food Cupboard. The other half reaches the campus community.
“This past fall, we were able to supplement the produce we bought with produce from the Community Garden,” says Don Stanwick, resident district manager for Chartwells. “As a staff, sustainability and local partnerships are important to us.”
Expanding Palates
Though Stanwick oversees all dining operations on campus, his work at Frank Dining Hall is the busiest. At Frank, students choose between a balance of comfort foods and pop-up stations, such as a build-your-own ramen bowl station or a rotating selection of meats in house-made sauces.
This spring, Chartwells welcomed Anthony Donofrio, the new executive chef. Donofrio brings a knack for what he calls “new American,” trendy cuisine to the dining team. Accordingly, Donofrio’s 12 years of industry experience at locations such as Modern Malt in Syracuse have been driven by his desire to innovate.
He has introduced a variety of foods to Colgate’s dining halls, such as poke and Buddha bowls.
“I’m influenced by what is going on in the culinary world, and honestly, it changes daily,” says Donofrio.
He also values the importance of making food from scratch. “You can taste the difference — when I can make a pico de gallo as opposed to buying a jar of salsa, it’s way better.”
And whether you start on the cutting board or from the ground up, fresh food is a labor of love — good food on a large scale requires a little elbow grease and a lot of commitment.
“It’s easy for people to come together when food is involved,” says Plasky. “Everyone eats, and is interested in food. But not everyone has the experience of growing their own. Now that I do, I understand what it takes to feed a community: collaboration and hard work.”