Yale Daily News

Seriously YDN? I mean, I don't do the trayless thing for sustainable reasons, but rather, it's an ease thing. I don't think I've ever spilled something, ever had issues with forks and knives, etc.

Clearly, some Yalies just can't balance stuff. It's a skill. Learn it.

Aramark has an interest in reducing the portions consumed or wasted since it impacts their profit margin. The study should be reexamined from a consumer perspective.

not to mention that carrying a drink with a single plate + silverware is already a huge challenge!

Get rid of the trays because they look tacky. We have gorgeous dining halls and beautiful college china, yet we carry everything on typical serving trays. It really throws off the whole ivy dining hall vibe

As an alum who teaches at an institution that has eliminated trays without great travail, I'm a little dismayed that Yale students today fear they won't be able to manage the challenge. Shades of Gerry Ford (Yale Law '41), of whom LBJ remarked, "He can't fart and chew gum at the same time." So much for environmental stewardship or fiscal prudence, YDN.

The dining hall trays are analogous to plastic shopping bags, in that they are both conveniences to which we are all accustomed, but they are both simply unnecessary. The mild inconvenience of going back for seconds, or making multiple trips before sitting down, is something we could all learn to live with, and it would help reduce the real environmental costs of wasted food, water, and detergent.

At the very least, Yale Dining should consider a trial period without any trays, to let people see for themselves that it is really not so bad.

Don't be Fooled: Aramark no longer runs the dining halls, so there is no longer a "profit margin" but, more likely, a goal of minimizing expenses especially when there is a budgetary shortfall. Granted, the Yale employees who now run the dining halls probably have performance targets that involve reducing costs; however, the consumer, Yale students, could actually benefit in a reduction of costs if the dining halls could then use the savings in improving other areas of service.

To the News and to "b": Carrying a tray is, arguably, more difficult than balancing a single plate in one hand and a drink and utensils in another. Students often arrange their food items such that they shift the center of mass away from the center of the tray.

Carrying a tray is definitely not more difficult (you can hold all your food in one hand if you really want to, without even learning those waitering skills you've always wanted!); it really is just a matter of convenience. I don't know if that issue really counterbalances the tackiness/cost/portions arguments, though; I definitely agree with the idea of a trial period.

carrying plates and glasses without trays is really really hard. i've tried and made a fool of myself on numerous occasions. please keep the trays. at least for those of us who need them.

Josh, is it really really hard? Honestly, efforts have been made to promote changes in student behavior. STEP coordinators actually stand at the entrance to the dining hall, reminding Yale students to simply consider the concept of waste when filling their plates. I don't agree that trayless dining should be instituted permanently at this moment, but I can't see the harm in a trial, at least in some of the dining halls, considering the success this movement has had at other Universities.

if uconn can do it then so can yale!

also, where would we put the plates when we are done eating if we have no trays???

In the short-term at least, the dining halls would still keep the tray carts out, and we would stack our plates, bowls, silverware, and cups on empty trays that are kept in the tray carts. So we wouldn't be totally trayless, but we'd probably use about one-tenth the number we use now. Dining services emphasizes its role as a service provider. While it recognizes the environmental benefits of trayless dining, it will go only as far as students want. That means that as more and more students go trayless, dining services will find a sensible way to handle dishes and make trayless dining as convenient as dining with trays. We just need to make it clear that many of us want to go trayless.

Dining services has made it clear that trays will always be available at the very least by request, since the dining hall serves both senior faculty, some of whom might have an easier time with trays than without, and people with disabilities, for whom the same might be true.

i like how the YDN's idea of compromise is to make it more inconvenient to get a tray.

what a joke.

When I was visiting friends at Harvard during The Game, they had all gone trayless. If Harvard can do it, so can we.

I urge Yale to get rid of trays. Student opinion? When did that ever matter? If the dining halls get rid of the trays, will students not eat on campus? The answer is a simple no. If Yale makes the switch, then students will be forced to adopt. I believe that trays are unnecessary and wasteful, and that this is one of the simplest things we can do to cut back on water, detergent, and food going to waste.

I think we should have waiters. That way, we can order our food and the wait staff can bring it to us. This would make me feel more at home where we had butlers and chefs.

Honestly?

If one of the best colleges in the US is choosing their convenience over the environmental impacts of food waste (in landfills it creates methane--a much more harmful greenhouse gas), water conservation, AND reduced cost, I'm about to lose hope.

I think we're at a juncture where we need to be inconvenienced. No one is asking you not to eat--just think a bit more about food waste.

Get rid of the trays and have a huge launch of the programme--weigh each meal's food waste before and after the trays are gone and see the difference.

I'm sure you can learn how to balance a plate and a drink.

If we were to truly choose the environment over convenience and pleasure at every juncture, Yale would go vegetarian. And eliminate overhead lighting in dining halls.

Of course, this just illustrates the absurdity of STEP's campaign.

STEP needs to rework its image. Currently, it comes off as a strident, humorless organization that is constantly asking Yalies to sacrifice convenience for whatever their campaign happens to be. STEP should try to come off as more aligned with student interest and less self-righteous. It'll be a lot more effective that way.