Move over, ZooMass.
UMass Amherst could be earning a new nickname these days — FoodMass? — as the state’s flagship campus has the best college food across the entire country for the sixth year in a row.
That’s according to The Princeton Review’s 2023 edition of “The Best 388 Colleges,” which is based on surveys from 160,000 students at the schools in the guide.
UMass Amherst in the newest Princeton Review edition again tops the ranking in the Best Campus Food category. UMass Dining leaders on Wednesday touted the importance of using locally sourced, fresh foods from western Massachusetts while delivering healthy, diverse, and authentic dishes — including sushi, stir fry, ramen, Mediterranean hummus bowls and more.
It appears that the days of just chicken fingers, burgers, fries and mystery meat are over.
“Our mission has always been to put our students first, create a better living experience for our students, and focus on their dining preferences,” said Ken Toong, who leads UMass Dining as the executive director of Auxiliary Enterprises. “We’re really grateful for the student support.”
“We’re blessed with a great staff and great manager team,” he added. “I’m so happy being part of a winning team. It reminds me so much of the Patriots, and we continue to want to do even better.”
UMass Dining is the largest collegiate dining program in the country.
It’s key to serve “very authentic menu items,” said Christopher Howland, director of purchasing, marketing and logistics of Auxiliary Enterprises at UMass Amherst. If the dish is advertised as being from a certain part of the world, “it better taste like it came from that part of the world,” he added.
“We’re blessed with great culinary talent,” Howland said of the chefs from different regions of the world producing diverse cuisine.
The Princeton Review’s guide about UMass Amherst reads, “Students universally rave about ‘the best food in the country’: ‘It makes getting up in the morning worth it,’ says one.”
UMass Amherst is the only Massachusetts school to make the top 25 in the food category.
The best campus food in the country helps the university with recruitment, as parents and students touring UMass Amherst are reminded of the accolades and are invited to dine on campus.
“It’s a puzzle piece in the whole equation,” Toong said.
The Princeton Review ranking is a student “report card” for the dining program, Howland said.
“It really is quite an honor and is a reflection of all the great things coming together here,” he added.
The other Northeast colleges and universities to make the top 25 in the Best Campus Food category are: Bowdoin College, Cornell University, Skidmore College, College of the Atlantic, Columbia University and Wesleyan University.