By Michael Colglazier, Guest Writer

The change came as a result of a new order from the Ohio Board of Health, which decreed that no food could be served without some kind of protection between the customer and the food. 

Desserts have been served in plastic clamshell containers since a visit from the Board of Health.

“Initially, I was disappointed at the single use plastic in the Caf. However, I was not surprised,” sophomore Ella O’Malley, member of the board of Xavier Student Sustainability, said.

“The sustainability efforts, or lack thereof, demonstrated by Xavier are incomparable to our competitor colleges and unsatisfactory to students,” she continued.

“This was not so much of a decision as it was kind of a move to do out of necessity,” Senior Director of Auxiliary Services Bill Moran said. 

“I think there’s been a new Board of Health inspector assigned to the Xavier account. They saw it a little bit differently than the person previous to them. They call it out whereas the previous person didn’t call it out. The one thing we find with the Board of Health is you just listen to what they say. They’re not somebody you want to argue with,” Moran continued.

Hoff Dining Commons now spends more money purchasing plastic containers for desserts. 

This new change to Hoff is not permanent. 

“The open air bakery cooler that we have, we’re going to be installing doors on it so it’ll be able to shut. It’ll be plastic, see through doors, so you’ll be able to see all the products in there still. Then, when you decide what you want, open the doors, take it (and) close them. So that’ll be the long term solution for that,” Moran said. 

“I think for the long term, we’re looking at maybe buying a new piece of equipment that we can put in next summer that would be even more designed in that manner and not really an afterthought.”

Now that the Caf is attempting to remove the use of plastic clamshell containers, they are also beginning to reevaluate the use of other plastics within the hall. 

Items such as puddings and yogurt parfaits, which have historically been served in plastic cups, may be distributed in reusable cups similar to the other dessert products. 

Moran and other Hoff Dining Commons administrators are also planning to begin an educational campaign to keep students from throwing away these new cups once they arrive.

It is currently unknown when the changes will be implemented. 

“It is going to happen soon, but it’s kind of a custom installation of those doors. We’re not exactly sure, but we will be doing it as soon as possible,” Moran said.