A response from Food for Thought

In response to the recent article “Food for thought” [Jan. 16]. First, let me thank you for recognizing the genius of our vegan baker, as well as the tastiness of our light and fluffy mashed potatoes. The splashy layout of the article is also much appreciated–I don’t think I’ve ever seen our bagel case look more appealing. There are, however, a few things that the café needs to clear up.

We find it interesting that Vanguard staff member Deeda Schroeder “knows” that produce is ordered once a week when in fact it is ordered up to four times a week. Moreover, if Schroeder had perhaps thought to ask any Food for Thought worker for an interview, the following may have been discovered: Our kitchen is currently working with ancient equipment. We have only three (out of six) working burners on the stovetop, as well as one (out of three) working ovens. Even if we were to “order more food,” we still would not be able to satiate your desire to consume more than we produce at the moment. Had you bothered to ask, we would have told you that we’re in the process of buying a new stove right now.

About the frozen vegetables: As it happens, one of our suppliers mistakenly gave us a box of frozen vegetables last delivery. We duly called them up and informed them, and they kindly told us to keep it. For free. So we did, even though we have never supported the use of frozen vegetables in our entrées. We were puzzled as to what to do with them, until last Monday when our produce order failed to arrive. That is the first and last time you will ever see frozen vegetables served in one of our entrées.

Everyone on staff knows about our customers’ desire for faster food. We are currently working on opening up an account with Higher Taste, a local vegan sandwich company so that we may better fulfill this need for speed. However, please feel free to ask a “surly server” what the wait time is if you are in a hurry. Also, a mere glance up into the kitchen window will give you the same information.

As for the alleged surliness of our servers and the rationalization that we should smile because we are getting paid, it is patently obvious that Schroeder has never worked in the restaurant industry. Unfortunately, there are many cafés and restaurants in existence that militantly enforce these kinds of heinous “happy face” rules upon their employees. If a server doesn’t smile big enough, long enough or kiss the customer’s ass hard enough, then discipline and punishment inevitably follow. Here at Food for Thought, we are dedicated to a “smile if you’re feeling like it, don’t if you’re not” policy.

Finally, we take issue with the accusation that we “rely heavily on a hefty wedge of the student fee pie.” This coming from a student organization that received over $200,000 in SFC funds this year itself. Actually, we have managed to accumulate enough revenue in the fall term alone to be able to pay back the entire $32,000 we received from the SFC and then some. Our prices are not “unrealistically low” because we are subsidized by student fees. It’s just that, simply put, we are not profit mongers. Next year, we feel that we can get by with only $16,000 in support from the SFC. What about you guys?

As we see it, our mission is to provide healthy, organic vegan and vegetarian food to students as inexpensively as possible. We also seek to provide ourselves with a healthy workplace environment-one in which smiles are not forced, and mistakes are recognized as part of the human experience. Therefore, we’re sorry that your miso soup burned your tongue–we would give you an ice cube if we had an ice machine. And we’re sorry it took a long time for you to get your frozen vegetables; had you bothered to talk to us, we probably would have given you a refund. But in the end, you’ll frequent our café again because the positives outweigh the negatives, right?