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Reid Fleishman’s ’25 Passionate Quest for Sustainability at Morrison Dining Hall

Harry November 13, 2024

Those who dine at Morrison Dining Hall are already familiar with the work of Reid Fleishman ’25.

When Morrison Dining first opened its doors in January 2022, it used reusable utensils, cups and crockery. But the dining hall’s unique layout posed significant challenges.

The Morrison dining room is located underground and is connected by a moving carousel system. According to Fleishman, silverware often falls off the carousel and sometimes even gets stuck in unexpected places, such as the ceiling. These issues, combined with understaffing, made it extremely time consuming for staff to manage their workload. As a result, Morrisons had to revert to using paper plates and bowls to keep up with demand.

“I was eating at Morrisons every day, and I noticed they served paper plates and bowls every day,” Fleishman said. “As someone who thinks about sustainability, this is starting to bother me.”

Then Fleishman, a sophomore, went beyond voicing his concerns and took action. For more than a year, Fleishman worked tirelessly to help transform Morrison’s into the more sustainable food hall it is today.

Fleishman’s journey began in September 2022. Cornell State of Sustainability AddressAn open forum where students can voice their concerns regarding meal management. Fleishman’s initial proposal was simple: implement a sorting system with grooves for dropping silverware, similar to Okenshields. When Fleishman learned about the underground dining hall in Morrison, he realized the proposal was unfeasible.

Fleishman wasn’t going to let the underground cafeteria setup stop him. He began his investigative work by talking to workers and management at Morrison’s and even going into the dining room. He also spoke with Okenshields’ manager to see how they implemented the efficient silverware sorting system. Learning about Okenshields led Fleishman to his second prototype; Sorting boxes attached to moving carousels where students place dishware.

Fleishman joined. Student Council Food Committee Meeting In October 2022, he will express his concerns once again and propose his new solution. Paul Muscente, president of Cornell Dining, took Fleishman’s offer into consideration. Fleishman soon connected with Dustin Freeley, then Morrison’s general manager.

“Cornell Dining is always looking for ways to increase efficiency, improve sustainability and improve the guest experience in our restaurants,” Freeley said. “Fleishman was very thoughtful in his suggestions.”

Fleishman, who now caught the attention of the catering administration, presented silverware boxes in a carousel design. However, his offer was initially rejected.

“The takeaway from that meeting was, ‘This is a great idea, but we’re not sure it’s going to be feasible,'” Fleishman said. “They basically said to hold off on this idea until they get more staff, then maybe they could consider it,” Fleishman said.

After his offer was rejected once again, Fleishman left campus for winter break, hungry for change. He spent his holiday working intensively and produced 15 pages of ideas. One of these ideas will spark interest in food management.

Fleishman attended a Student Council meeting in March of 2023, where he proposed placing six silverware bins under the plate-throwing carousel, much like how the Morrison Dining plate-drop system operates today. Dustin Cutler, Cornell’s senior executive director of dining, retail and print services, weighed in on the matter. Within a week, Morrison Dining tested Fleishman’s proposal.

“It was almost like a light switch was flipped,” Fleishman said. “The next week management were more open to my idea and at the end of March the bins were put to the test.”

On the first day, Fleishman noticed some problems with the boxes; the boxes were placed vertically, causing students to have to reach back onto the plate rack to place their silverware into the appropriate boxes. It was also seen that labels saying fork, knife or spoon were stuck on the trash cans and they frequently shifted, confusing students.

Fleishman took immediate action, arranging to flip the bins horizontally and place the labels over the plate drop to help them stay in place. Fleishman also designed signs to encourage students to use trash cans instead of placing silverware on the moving carousel.

“At first we were afraid people wouldn’t use the trash can and sort their silverware properly, but we were pleasantly surprised that so many people used the trash cans,” Fleishman said. “I think that’s part of the reason the food kept them going.”

Morrisons began using reusable plates and bowls at pizza and stations around the world in early April 2023. By the fall of 2023, Morrison had switched to fully reusable dishware. Fleishman continued to make suggestions for improvements, such as putting nine boxes instead of six to make it easier for students to use them. Plus the familiar “Help Us Help You!” Signs posted around many dining halls and an informative video shown in the Canvas sustainability course for first-year students.

Fleishman describes the project as long and difficult but extremely rewarding.

“Every time I walk into Morrison I am happy to see my job in action,” Fleishman said. “99 percent of the students don’t know that I’m behind, but it still makes me happy to see students putting their silverware in the trash cans. It was something I did.”

Marissa Gaut can be reached at (email protected).

Semainede4jours

Semainede4jours

Reid Fleishman’s ’25 Passionate Quest for Sustainability at Morrison Dining Hall

Harry

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Reid Fleishman’s ’25 Passionate Quest for Sustainability at Morrison Dining Hall

Harry

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