The University of Maryland in College Park is holding back in hopes that the term “clean” will be clarified. Senior Executive Chef John Gray and his colleague Allison Tjaden, assistant director of new initiatives, say they’ll wait for the school’s 9,000 students who are on a residential dining plan to request cleaner food, and for industry to support it with appropriate product offerings.
“It’s not something we’re going to push at this point, but it is a plus when new products we’re using become more clean,” Gray says. “Hopefully the definition will become more clear.” Adds Tjaden: “The word ‘healthy’ has been around for a long time, and we’re still debating it. I don’t know that clean will be a center point for us until we hear it from students, because we certainly want to be speaking their language.”
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