A WOMAN’S TASK

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 58, 1 December 1934, Page 17

A WOMAN’S TASK

Feeding a University

Had Napoleon been an educationist he would probably have contended that a university studies on its stomach. It may not need a Napoleon to appreciate that proteins and vitamins are just as important to students as food for thought, but it does need a Mrs. Harris to ensure the successful feeding of 'between 2000 and 3000 students, says a writer to the “Daily Mail.” Mrs. J. H., Harris is manageress of the refectory at King’s College, Loudon. She presides over six cooks, three kitchens, five dining-rooms, and a serving staff of 30—and slip cou.ljl do with more. She is responsible for the provision each week-day of some 2000 luncheons and almost as many morning coffees, teas, and dinners. “I could do wit# two more diningrooms,” she told me. “The number of students eating in the refectory has gone up out of all proportion to. the increase in accommodation, showing, it seems to me. that many of the students must have skimped their meals before. “I am looking forward to the time when every student takes his or her meals in the refectory. Then I shall be sure they are being fed as they should be. “In the past most of the students were satisfied with snacks in the middle of the dfiy. Now most of them want two or three-course luncheons. And yet the sale of snacks has not decreased. “I think the explanation is partly the increasing number of women students attending the university. “They have improved the social life among, the men students, hundreds of whom now look forward to meal times as opportunities for meeting their friends. And they seem to find a good substantial meal in keeping with the spirit of those meetings. “The girls and women seem to eat just as well as do the men. There is no sign of that dieting business here.” Mrs. Harris does all the ordering herself, dealing personally with three bakers, two butchers, and any number of other tradesmen required to stock her larders.