Since the Princeton Review started publishing its influential book, "Best 361 Colleges," Bowdoin College Dining Service has landed the College in one the top six places on the "Best Food" list, garnering the number one spot in the 2003, 2005, and (the most recent) 2007 editions.
According to Adrina Kelly, the ranking is based on a comprehensive nationwide survey of students.
"For this edition of the book, we actually surveyed 115,000 students," Senior Editor of "Best 361 Colleges" Adrina Kelly said.
Each list of superlatives?happiest students, most religious students, best food, etc.?is based on the responses of students to a specific survey question.
"We asked students to rate the quality of their food on campus on a five-point scale. It just so happens that students at Bowdoin were particularly pleased with the quality of their food on campus," Kelly said in a telephone interview from the Princeton Review headquarters in New York.
"In their survey responses, they told us that they were big fans of the lobster bake that [Bowdoin] has at the beginning of the school year," Kelly explained.
"Students also mentioned the organic meats and vegetables available in the dining halls. So they were super-enthusiastic about the healthiness of the options that were available to them," she added.
The Dining Service continues to focus on food that is both good tasting and good for you.
"Our focus for this year is 'healthy,'" Director of Dining and Bookstore Services Mary Lou Kennedy said.
"Not that our food [in the past] hasn't been healthy?but I think our students are now more interested in low-fat food and knowing where the food is coming from," she added.
Bowdoin's two organic gardens and purchases through the Farm Fresh Connection program are examples of the College's increased effort to bring local, fresh food to Moulton and Thorne, Kennedy explained.
Even though they are No. 1, the Dining Service is always looking to improve.
Bowdoin Student Government President DeRay Mckesson encouraged students to make their opinions known.
"Not enough people submit comments," Mckesson said. "People think of the comment cards like nobody reads them, but Dining Services actually emails all the comments to all their managers."
"They are extremely responsive to student input and concerns and that's one of the many things that makes Bowdoin dining great," Mckesson added.