The students who run Food for Thought Cafe are considering an inspection by the Multnomah County Health Department, which would be the first in the cafe’s four-year history.
The advisory inspection might occur as soon as March 1, according to John Lambert, the cafe’s liaison with Student Activities and Leadership Program (SALP).
A written agreement between the cafe, SALP and Portland State Auxiliary Services states that operations at the cafe must be consistent with Multnomah County health codes. If any health concerns are found, the caf퀌� could be closed.
“This isn’t about shutting Food for Thought down,” said Julie North, Auxiliary Enterprises director. “We’re not going to let that happen.”
In the cafe, there are several areas of ceiling with water damage. In addition, a hand sink used by food servers has only cold water, which could present a problem come inspection time.
Food for Thought began in 2002 and is a cooperatively-led cafe serving sustainable and farmed vegetarian foods to students and staff. Food for Thought is a student group funded by student fees, and uses revenues from food sales to lower total Student Fee Committee support.
Previous cafe leaders wanted to have the health department come for regular unofficial visits and put a once-a-term inspection into the agreement. However, there have been no inspections.
The prospective inspection would be purely advisory, since the cafe is technically not a business and Multnomah County does not have any authority over it.
“When this agreement was put together, leadership was excited about the health department coming,” said Carol Martin, Auxiliary Enterprises outreach coordinator and former adviser to the cafe. “They saw it as an opportunity to be better.”
Lambert became liaison for Food for Thought in December. He has met with Food for Thought’s SALP adviser Shannon Timm, North, Martin and Robert Wise, the building manager for Smith Memorial Student Union, numerous times since an inspection scheduled earlier this month was canceled due to snow.
Timm said that when Lambert took the position, she gave him a copy of the agreement but said she did not review it with him in detail.
Lambert said that he wants to ensure that several structural repairs are made before the inspection. He has been making these arrangements with Wise, however only facilities employees or Smith Center staff can make repairs.
Water damaged several ceiling tiles in the dining room last fall, forming a hole about a foot wide. The water from heavy rains dripped from the garbage and recycling area on the building’s south side.
After employees became concerned that standing water on the floor could be dangerous, they picked up the phone to get repairs done.
“I called facilities immediately when the leak started back in October, and they said they would fix it in the next few weeks,” said Kathryn Johnston, a Food for Thought employee.
The correct procedure for fixing school property is to file a work order, which Food for Thought employees did soon after, although incorrectly.
“Facilities didn’t respond when the work order was filled out incorrectly,” said Timm, who said she did not show workers how to complete the form. Facilities is currently processing a work order for the repair.
Similar damage to the ceiling exists in the kitchen, according to Martin. The galvanized steel plumbing in Smith has also begun to corrode, and will need to be replaced in the future.
“A water pipe leak in a dining room would be a one- or two-point violation in a regular restaurant,” said Ken Yee, environmental health supervisor at the Multnomah County Health Department. “If it was a sewage pipe or if it was in the kitchen, over food preparation areas, it would be more of a critical violation.”
“We are going to do this inspection because they just wanted to be sure that their food service is operating in a safe manner,” Yee said. Martin said she has worked together with Yee to develop an inspection tailored to fit Food for Thought’s operation.
“The more I deal with these people, the more likely I am to think that they’re not out to get us,” Lambert said.
“We really believe in Food for Thought,” North said. “It’s a great, student-run organization. It is one of the things that we show people who come to visit. It is something we’re really proud of.”