The Eatery at Yavapai College:
By Tara Fort
In a move to eliminate a third-party contract food service provider, Yavapai College (YC) tapped local Aimee Novak. This experienced entrepreneur will lead revamped in-house services, bringing a fresh design, flow, and menu to the YC campus.
Aimee, YC’s Director of Culinary Experience, is no stranger to the Prescott food and business scene. She previously owned Soldi Restaurant (where she was the chef) and Apropos Hair Salon. Before joining the YC team, she worked for the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Program and also served as Food Safety Coordinator for Yavapai County.
She said, “It was natural for me to shift from a salon specializing in hair color to the food industry because if you break down the elements of both, the elements are basically science and artistry—I just changed my medium.”
Now at YC, the collaboration and efforts of Aimee and her culinary team—comprised of seven professionally trained chefs—have proven to advance and elevate the traditional cafeteria model. The result: The Eatery, a newly remodeled retro-style café that serves as a welcoming place for students and people from the community to connect.
Aimee said, “We serve approximately 8,000 meals a month, and we knew we wanted to start cooking nutrition-forward. With athletes on campus, the old model did not meet nutritional value for athletic performance. The College knew it and wanted to change it, so we created three pillars and markers to help achieve those goals to prioritize the correlation between nutrition and student academic success.” (See sidebar.)
With more deliberate communication between the chefs and students, YC can provide more food variety based on student preference, culture, and dietary needs. The college has also identified ways for students to see in real-time the recycling efforts that have started while encouraging their participation. By scanning, students can see where products are enroute to destinations for recycling, composting or upcycling (see QR code).
“Students want to know that we are making these efforts, and with that realization, just think of the dent that we can make in a forward moving path,” Aimee said.
In addition to the QR code, tracking is also done through LeanPath, a way for restaurants to measure their food waste with the concept of, “If you don’t measure it, you can’t control it.” Through this system, users can accurately see how much water is saved, or greenhouse gas emitted, by providing markers of what has been mitigated.
Associate Vice President of Student Affairs/Dean of Students Tania Sheldahl, says, “With Aimee at the lead, we now have the creativity needed to transform the traditional campus dining model.” She added, “The College found that campus dining is an integral part of the college community that supports students’ and employees’ wellbeing and academic success. The entire college community has embraced the importance of using local and seasonal food and the incorporation of sustainable practices. This is the future of campus dining, and YC is at the forefront of this transformation!”
For more information about Aimee Novak and the Eatery at Yavapai College, visit https://www.yc.edu/v6/dining/eatery.html
The Eatery’s Three Pillars
Pillar One: Become Nutrition-Forward
This hits the markers for athletic performance and social and emotional wellbeing, all of which are tied to good nutrition.
Pillar Two: Use of Seasonal, Local Produce
This hits the markers for making intentional selections of local, seasonal produce and products within a designated radius to qualify as locally sourced and Arizona-sourced. Opting for produce grown closer to home ensures a higher nutrient component.
Pillar Three: Sustainability
This hits the markers for the college’s commitment to showcase the best of seasonal produce throughout the year by sourcing products at their peaks instead of ripening en-route to a final destination. By sourcing closer to home, food miles are reduced or eliminated.
The Eatery is open to the public for breakfast, lunch and dinner when school is in session.