Bama Dining opened its newest location, Greens to Go, today at 11 a.m. in the Ferguson Center.
Greens to Go is a salad and wrap bar. Its creation is the reflection of a partnership between Bama Dining and the SGA to bring healthier options to campus in addition to the renovations to campus eating facilities. Bama Dining General Manager Bruce McVeagh said Greens to Go was a reestablishment of the salad and wrap bar the Ferg had before its renovation through 2013 and 2014.
“After the renovation, Elliot came and saw us and said, ‘Hey, we love the food court, but can we bring back one thing from the old court?'” McVeagh said.
SGA President Elliot Spillers said the addition is something that he felt there was need for in conjunction with his healthy campus initiative.
“One thing that I heard from the student body was, ‘We want healthier options,'” Spillers said. “And so Bruce and [Bama Dining District Manager] AJ DeFalco were amazing in partnering with the SGA, making sure we could have this green bar on campus.”
The green bar takes the place of a gelato station, which Bama Dining General Manager Bruce McVeagh said was a welcome change.
“Gelato wasn’t as popular as we thought,” McVeagh said. “You would think everyone would want that, with the heat being what it is in Alabama – could not give gelato away really. We wanted to make better use of the square footage. It also offers a really good healthy solution, and even though we do have other healthy things in other areas, this one is more in your face.”
Another product of the partnership between Bama Dining and the SGA is the two Chobani Creation Stations that were recently installed.
“In addition to this, our goal is to make sure we are adding more things for students to choose from,” said LaShana Sorrell, Bama Dining marketing manager. “It’s a really great option for students to create and customize their own parfaits, so it’s a great snack alternative and dessert alternative with unlimited toppings.”
While Greens to Go and the Chobani Creation Stations were spawned from the partnership between Bama Dining and the SGA, Sorrell said Bama Dining has been taking steps for a year and half to give students healthier options in other ways, such as the Fitness Pal and Campus Dish apps, which are available to both Apple and Android users.
“All of our menus for our residential halls are downloaded into the FItness Pal app, so students can track what they’re eating each day while they’re on campus,” Sorrell said. “We also have all of our menus posted online and an app for that as well.”
Greens to Go is up and running in the Ferg and is located next to Topio’s. The Chobani Creation Stations are located at Julia’s Market and Presidential Terrace at Presidential Village. Fitness Pal and Campus Dish are available in the iPhone App Store and Google Play Store for download.
