Chickened Out

Ayear ago, The Crimson proclaimed Michael P. Berry, the director of Harvard Dining Services, the "Mealtime Messiah" for his innovative and delectable improvements to our dining service.

After years of being the Ivy League's equivalent of soupy ice cream, Harvard Dining Services finally had high quality, high taste meals, along with frequent theme meals and kosher tables in several dining halls. And his enviormental crusade is worthy of praise.

We still like Mike...sometimes. This year, he has given us bigger glasses, a snazzier Greenhouse Cafe and the occassional appearance of star chefs to cook omelets and tortellini.

The day-to-day menu, however, is what students think about most when it comes to the Harvard Dining Services. And this year, the food is just not up to par.

Changes in food quality are hard to quantify. But while the last two years have shown an infinite improvement over the past, this year has been a disappointment. The food just isn't the same as it used to be in the early days of Berry's reign, when Deli Day was practically a school holiday and we rejoiced over candy toppings on Sunday's sundae bar.

But now, students are tired of eating chicken, chicken and more chicken. And potato coins, spicy waffle fries, spicy curly fries, krinkle cut fries, shoestring fries, cottage fries, fried potato slices, tator tots, oven-browned potatoes and steak fries. Last week, Berry himself admitted that the menu needed "punch."

While we trust Berry to get on top of the problem, we are worried. Venerable vegetables made their return to the meal service last month. Can fish pizziola be far behind?

Before students get hungry and demoralized from too much fowl and salad, the dining service should get back on track. Or else we will be forced to ask:

Hast thou forsaken us, Messiah? Wilst thou come again?