Eat Well

The food served to the Kenyon community by AVI Foodsystems at Peirce Hall is safe and wholesome.

An April 26 story in the Kenyon Collegian, quoting anonymous sources, stated that AVI has served and "occasionally" still serves "outdated" or "expired" food.

The College takes these concerns very seriously. And the College is confident, based on assurances from AVI and its own oversight, that outdated or expired food is not served in Peirce Hall. Inspections by the Knox County Health Department on Nov. 4, 2014; Feb. 17, 2015; Dec. 9, 2015; and Feb. 25, 2016, yielded no violations. In the three years that AVI Resident Director Kim Novak has worked at Kenyon, no student or diner has complained about being served stale or spoiled food or has reported illness from being served stale or spoiled food.

AVI "has a zero-tolerance policy regarding serving unsafe or expired foods," it said in a statement shared with the College. "AVI would never ask an employee of the dining services to serve food that is deemed unsafe or beyond its expiration date."

The statement explains that AVI has safety policies and procedures in place to ensure that its dining facilities are impeccably maintained and exceed health department standards. AVI uses a safety auditing service, NSF International, to perform unannounced inspections, and Peirce Hall has achieved high scores in four recent visits. AVI maintains that its "record of food safety and cleanliness must be respected and commended."

Novak is proud of the work done by AVI at Peirce. "We would never serve any kind of food that is not safe," she said. "That would never be in anybody’s best interest. That's the crux of the whole business. We're very careful about that." Employees are instructed to dispose of out-of-date food, she said. Some students with food allergies have complained about cross-contamination of food, and AVI continues to focus on limiting that exposure.

Kenyon Chief Business Officer Mark Kohlman said, "They are not serving food that is outdated. We have professional chefs here who care about the quality of their food and the community they are serving." Kohlman and Novak dine frequently in Peirce, as does Manager of Business Services Fred Linger, who is the College liaison with AVI.

Linger has provided his telephone number to a designated AVI employee representative to share complaints regarding food handling. He has received no complaints this academic year. "If they have issues, talk to me," he said. "I go into the coolers myself. I'm in the building with full access. I can walk in at any time without notice."

In its statement, AVI said, "We, as partners with Kenyon College, are extremely proud of the culinary program on campus. We are a leader in sustainable initiatives and local sourcing, with 42 percent of our food spending coming from local growers and purveyors. The team works diligently to serve high-quality, nutritious meals in a safe and efficient manner. AVI at Peirce has an impressive reputation for culinary innovation and sustainable sourcing."

AVI has provided food service at Kenyon for 10 years, employing about 80 workers. Those not in management positions are represented by the Chicago and Midwest Regional Joint Board of Workers United, Local 84. No grievances have been filed regarding unsafe food, Novak said.

The College will continue to monitor food safety at Peirce Hall and welcomes comments from all members of the community regarding food quality and safety.