Hannah Downing ’23
Staff Writer
Starting in January 2020, the Malott Dining Commons launched a new vegan food station, aptly named “Sprouted”. This culinary station offers completely plant-based meals for lunch and dinner Monday through Friday, as well as dinner Saturday and Sunday. Sprouted unique not only as a vegan station, but also because it was also created in collaboration with Scripps students.
“It was a no-brainer to have the students involved in the development of Sprouted,” said General Manager of Scripps Dining Services, Garrick Hisamoto. “The station was developed with the Scripps community in mind. Many of them involved in the process have been living a plant-based diet for several years, and it’s always good to have an expert opinion to help ensure that we are hitting all the marks.”
Initial student input came primarily from the Student Dining Service Council.
“During [Council] meetings, we would talk about trends and things that they looked for when dining out on a plant-based diet,” Hisamoto said. “I also asked them to share recipes to help build our catalog of vegan options. I gave them my outline of what I had in mind and they helped round it out and we were able to launch this spring.”
“I love [the station],” Student Dining Service Council member Camryn Hollarsmith ’20 said. The Council had been working on developing more vegan options at Malott, so when General Manager Garrick Hisamoto presented his concept for a plant-based station, they were very receptive to the idea.
Sprouted is also an exciting new step in lessening the environmental impact of Malott and the Scripps College campus at large.
“[It’s] part of a huge push for increased environmental awareness and aligning with student morals of ‘do no harm,’” Hollarsmith said. “On average, the Sprouted section saves 200 to 300 lbs of meat per day!”
With Sprouted setting a precedent, the Scripps community may be able to expect further development of new stations at Malott.
“We are always looking for ways to improve our offering to craft a dining program that is Scripps-specific,” Hisamoto said. “One of the main focuses that I have tasked our Student Dining Services Council is to provide feedback from the community on ways we can help achieve this goal. The biggest and best way to create change is to keep an open line of communication. The management team and staff’s number one goal is to provide an offering that is reflective of the Scripps community.”
Feedback for the Scripps Dining team is always welcome! Any questions, concerns, or compliments for Scripps Dining Services can be submitted to https://scrippsdining.sodexomyway.com/contact/feedback. You can also reach out to the managerial team at https://scrippsdining.sodexomyway.com/contact/index.
Any questions about the Student Dining Service Council from a student perspective? Contact Camryn Hollarsmith at [email protected].
Image Credit: Alyssa Leong ’23
