SUNY Oswego dining hall staff are struggling to receive the food that they need in the face of national supply shortages, prompting menu changes and substitutions. 

The country has been facing these shortages recently for several reasons, Mihai Paraschiv, an assistant professor of economics at SUNY Oswego said.

“Some goods are not coming in, intermediate inputs are not coming in, we’re experiencing a hot labor market where there might be some upward pressure on labor too,” Paraschiv said. “So you add all of these together, and in essence, you get yourself an economy that experiences shortages.”

Paraschiv said that he would not be surprised if SUNY Oswego was affected by these labor and supply shortages. The director of resident dining Daniel Siddons confirmed that his office was indeed facing challenges.

“We work with a variety of vendors, and a lot of times we don’t know whether we’re getting everything that we ordered,” Siddons said. “That puts us in a really tough situation.”

Paraschiv said that one thing that consumers do when facing shortages is find substitutes for the products that they typically buy.  

Tamara Cunningham, the purchasing manager, said that she has done this for some products, including some that may be allergen-free.

 She said that the school’s standard allergen-free cooking spray has not been available, and they have now needed to switch to one which contains soy. Cunningham said that the campus dietician has worked with students who may be affected by this.

“When we do change a recipe or get a different product in, we run the risk of introducing allergens,” Siddons said. “Our staff is very, very aware of that.” 

Changes in supply have also made vegan or vegetarian options hard to order.

Shortages have created problems for dining staff as well, both those in the serving line and those in the office. Cunningham said that “it’s concerning to me because I have a family at home, and there’s many days that I haven’t been able to leave nearly on time.” 

Siddons said that people sometimes confront line staff at meal times about menu changes, but that generally speaking, “people seem pretty satisfied with what we’re providing.”

There is uncertainty surrounding when these shortages might come to an end. “The opinions [of economists] are divided,” Paraschiv said. “There are obviously folks who expect these to be transitory, just a matter of months, but there are folks who believe that this would be a more prolonged situation.”

 Paraschiv added that even when the pandemic settles down some, there may still be “pressure on the supply chains and the availability of goods.”

Uncertainty is a problem with suppliers as well. Cunningham said that suppliers have given her several different potential timeframes as for when things might be running more normally.

 “They’re telling me we may see some relief by March on certain products, but then they think it’s going to be between June and August before we see some of this stuff coming to an end unfortunately, so I think we’re in it for the long haul,” Cunningham said.

Siddons said that in the face of these shortages, the staff now “has a better handle” on how to manage the situation. He said that understanding what products they may not have access to, menu and recipe changes, and reevaluation of their system have been part of how they have learned to adjust to shortages.

In regards to the pandemic’s effect on dining, Siddons said “I think we were all expecting this to blow over, for COVID to be over, and everything to be back to normal. But we’re realizing now that normal doesn’t exist anymore.”

Image via The Oswegonian file photos