Ohio University Culinary Services has made plans for Jefferson Market’s renovation to include an international food selection open to students and Athens residents.
To purchase food she could find in her home country, Safiya Ahmed sometimes travels more than an hour away.
“There’s nothing here for Arabic food,” Ahmed the doctoral student studying civil engineering said. “We need, like, an Arabic market here. We have to go to Columbus to buy our stuff.”
Upcoming plans to renovate Jefferson Market should help Ahmed more easily find these foods closer to campus.
Patti Barnes, director of Auxiliaries Support Services for Culinary Services, said in an email that Jefferson Market is scheduled to close April 29 and will reopen in January 2017.
Once reopened, the market will offer an “international grocery area for students as well as community members,” Kent Scott, associate director of Auxiliary Operations, said in an email.
Specific product selection and renovation planning will happen throughout the next year and a half through different methods of surveys and data collecting, Barnes said in an email.
“With each of our renovations, we will utilize sales data, feedback from customer satisfaction surveys, input from Culinary Services Development Committee (a student focus group) and benchmarking statistics to inform the decisions,” Barnes said in an email.
Scott said in an email the renovation plans include putting an international market in Jeff.
“We have worked with our Culinary Services Development Committee to discuss customer focus,” Scott said in an email. “We have also had a manager (Monchito Trinidad) attend an International Student Union meeting to gather helpful information.”
For some international students, the plan for OU to provide international food options is exciting.
When Ahmed was asked which food she misses from home, she said, “everything.”
{{tncms-asset app="editorial" id="f3e41186-5cc4-11e5-9bd6-ff0d9ebf09e0"}}
Triwik Kurniasari, a graduate student studying communication and development, said this market would benefit students.
“Providing international food options will help introduce OU students to different kinds of cuisine around the world,” Kurniasari said. “It will also encourage students to learn more about diets and cultures from other countries.”
Kurniasari said there are places throughout Athens that provide international food options.
“There is grocery stores on East State Street and Court Street which sells Asian products,” Kurniasari said. “Some restaurants around Athens also serve international foods, such as Thai, Mediterranean, Chinese and Indian.”
Tianyu Huang, a senior studying accounting who is from China, said she believes food can help combat stereotypes and lessen the cultural divide.
“Food is a good topic for social life,” Huang said. “It's a bridge to connect people from different cultures.”
