The student newspaper of Bucks County Community College

The Centurion

The student newspaper of Bucks County Community College

The Centurion

The student newspaper of Bucks County Community College

The Centurion

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Culinart at Bucks goes green

Culinart+at+Bucks+goes+green

The new head of Bucks County Community College’s food service program wants students and faculty to know that CulinArt is committed to both the environment and the wellbeing of the Bucks’ community.

The CulinArt food program here at Bucks has been serving the Bucks’ community since 2001, and continues to progress as a staple component of the Bucks experience.  Their commitment to sustainability and student requests makes them unique in comparison to other college dining experiences.

The CulinArt company vision is to provide environmentally friendly meals to their clientele and their dining service at Bucks lives up to that standard.  The new manager of CulinArt Cafeteria Services at Bucks, Fred Long, views environmental sustainability as “our responsibility, either stretching far or concentrated it using all resources available to maintain a system to aid the environment.”

To aid the environment at Bucks, CulinArt composts 100 percent of its food waste. They separate all paper, plastic and glass waste too so that it can be recycled appropriately, and the paper products used to serve the students’ food are also 100 percent compostable.

Composting benefits the environment by supplying extra nutrients to plant life and helps to prevent pollution.

The CulinArt program at Bucks also uses locally grown produce whenever possible.  While locally grown produce is made more available in the summer months, locally grown vegetables such as mushrooms are available year around.

The benefits of locally grown food include more nutrients in the vegetables themselves and it helps support our local economy.

The CulinArt program is sensitive to student’s requests.  Students with dietary restrictions such as gluten allergies or vegetarian and vegan lifestyles have current options at the Bucks Café and Grille.

Maria Klos, a 19 year-old fine arts major who lives a vegan lifestyle said, “I like that they have vegan soup every day, but I wish they had vegan butter in the morning for bagels, tomato pie, and vegan baked goods.”

The staff at CulinArt wants students like Maria Klos to know they can comment on the current food options and make suggestions at anytime.

Long wishes that more students are aware they can speak up and make requests for their favorite dishes or dishes they want to try.

“We’re always exploring more options, and are open for suggestion.  We have trouble because students may not know how accessible it is to make requests,” said Long.

To contact the CulinArt staff, students and faculty can either leave a suggestion in the suggestions box located in the Bucks Café across from the Starbucks counter, or email Long at [email protected].

Long has big plans for the CulinArt program at Bucks in the near future.  With the addition of the new STEM science building, which will be completed by 2016, a new greenhouse is also in the making.

Long hopes to use that greenhouse in conjunction with Bucks Ecology classes to grow produce for the Bucks Café and Grille.

The new manager for the CulinArt program here at Bucks is more than qualified, Long began in the food industry at the age of 16. He worked his way up from a dishwasher to a line cook.

Prior to working at Bucks, Long notably worked for the George School and other larger business industry accounts.

As for Long’s time at Bucks so far, he says loves the environment of Bucks, the welcoming faculty and appreciative students.

He finds the campus architecture and charm to be beautiful.

The Buck’s Café serves Starbucks coffee, soup, sandwiches, and baked goods. It is open Monday-Thursday 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., Friday 7:30 a.m. 1:30 p.m. and Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

The Buck’s Grille includes a made-to-order grill counter, made-to-order deli counter, pizza counter, chef prepared daily specials counter and salad bar.

The Grille’s hours are Monday-Thursday 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Friday 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.