Earthy delights

Farm goods served up at Duke Refectory

DURHAM -- 'What would Jesus eat?" That's not exactly the question faculty and students asked themselves when coming up with a concept for the new dining hall at Duke Divinity School. But they did seek divine guidance. And the result is The Refectory, where the emphasis is on recycling, reducing waste and serving foods from sources as close to Durham as possible.

"I think it makes sense from a religious standpoint because it takes care of God's earth," says Megan Moskop, a sophomore finishing a recent lunch break at The Refectory.

"Refectory" is the name for a dining hall in a monastery and comes from the Latin word for "to remake or restore."

Duke's Refectory is on the second floor of the Westbrook Building, the new wing of the divinity school, which is to the right of the university's landmark Gothic chapel. Sunlight streams across an adjacent terrace through the windows and into the dining hall as dozens of students line up for lunch. The back wall is lemony yellow; murals of grapes and grapevines frame the serving line.

The long polished solid oak dining tables, set with bouquets of mixed fresh white flowers, date to 1926, when Duke students ate on them in the Great Hall dining room. The flatware and magnolia-decorated china came from the Oak Room, where special events were held at Duke in the 1940s. Instead of purchasing new tables or using plastic utensils and paper plates, the staff of The Refectory recycled quality items they scrounged in Duke's basements, saving money and resources.

But lofty ideals about recycling and supporting sustainable farming practices alone wouldn't fill nearly all of the 200 chairs in the hall for lunch.

Drawn by the smell of spicy Indian stews and vegetarian chili, hungry diners line up to fill their china plates with organic salads from local greens, deli sandwiches or wraps, fresh fruit and just baked muffins and banana bread.

"It's the best food on campus," Moskop says.

Until a recent renovation, Duke divinity students didn't have a special place to eat at the school. Some sort of eatery was to be part of the Westbrook Building, for practical, social and even religious reasons.

"In the Christian faith, eating together is a big issue," says Greg Duncan, associate dean for student services at the divinity school. He also is the co-chair of the dining committee.

At first, the major considerations for the dining hall were convenience and cost. Unlike their counterparts at Duke's law and business schools, for example, divinity students tend to come from middle-class backgrounds. They are in training to be pastors, not CEOs, so they're not jingling so much pocket change on campus.

But then a movement began to grow at the school to think more deeply about the dining hall. Stewardship of the land is an important concept of the Old Testament as taught by professor Ellen Davis at the school, Duncan says. Mass-produced convenience food might be the cheapest option, but what would it say about divinity students and what was important to them?

"A group of faculty and students who contacted us said we should make it more than just a place where people can eat," Duncan says. The new dining hall should also be a place where people "would be reminded about the issue of stewardship, care of the earth and recycling."

So the committee began to look at serving only organically grown food. Alarmed at the cost, they brought in Jim Wulforst, Duke's director of dining services, for another perspective.

It turns out that Duke was already looking for ways to make its dining facilities more "green" or environmentally friendly. The faculty dining hall and the cafe at the new Nasher Museum of Art were pioneers in the effort at Duke, but green dining is a growing trend on college campuses nationwide.