Although its weekly buying is complicated by a growing list of shortages and its efficiency is threatened by a lack of manpower, the food system of Harvard University still fulfills its primary task of feeding a city of 5700 people three times a day. All the work it takes to bring a lamb from the farm to the stew on a student's plate is centralized on the top floor of Lehman Hall in the offices of Roy L. Westcott, manager of the dining halls.

Seven kitchens are responsible for feeding all Harvard. They range in size from the small, separate Adams and Dunster kitchens which feed a thousand undergraduates jointly, to the so-called College group which feeds the other five Houses for a total of 1800 mouths. Eighteen hundred Naval Officers are fed in the Union and in the new mess hall across the river, while the Medical School and Business School feed 1100 more.

Preparation of a family lunch and preparation of food for 5700 hungry students presents few points of similarity. Scarities which are an annoyance in procuring food for a family become a nightmare where a University is concerned.

Stewards head each of the seven units, and as men trained in the art of cooking and dietetics, they are responsible for drawing up menus for each week. These menus are cleared through Westcott's office where they are checked for a balanced diet, and are then sent to the printer. On the basis of these menus, stewards compute the amount of food they will need for the week.

Office Buys for All

Piecing together the demands from the various separate units, the central office procures the food in one lot. In drawing up a menu, however, a steward must consider other factors in addition to the balance of the diet; he must now try to select foods which he knows will be available, and he must know the specialities of his chefs.

Canned staples form one great division of University food purchase. Annually, in the past it has been the spring, wholesalers are asked to send samples to the University. These samples are then tested for compliance with government regulations and for compliance with their advertised quality. A common subterfuge is to water the contents of the can to increase bulk. Records are kept of the tests, and the comparisons in quality and price of the different brands; a standard may thus be established which may be consulted from year to year. Orders that are delivered are re-checked against the quality contracted for.

Greatest headache to the central office is the weekly purchase of perishable goods based upon the requisitions from the stewards. Certain of these commodities are bought against a standard scale based on records of tests conducted by the University.

At best the system is working on a week to week basis, since a commodity available in quantity one week is priceless the next. Meat and butter have been the latest victims of war shortages. Recently a steward planned to have roast beef for a House dinner. The order was placed and the menu printed, when the dealer announced that he could only procure lamb. Even Boston's great staple, seafood, is becoming scarce as the war intrudes upon the activities of offshore fishermen.

Adams, Dunster Separate

Typical of the smaller units in the University food system and almost identical with Dunster House is Adams. This is a small but complete kitchen with its separate steward. Cartons of canned goods are piled up in the storerooms while refrigerated rooms of varying temperatures preserve the perishables. Opening the massive door to the sub-freezing meat storage room, an attendant tells of the steaks and whole animals which once filled the room where now hangs only a lonely side of lamb.

Ranges and stock pots do the lion's share of the cooking in the kitchen, while steam tables keep the food hot until it is served, and tables which are used for preparation of salads are refrigerated to keep them fresh and cool.

Washing is entirely automatic and steam is the great sterling agent. Glasses are never touched by hand until they reach the table, while cutlery is sterilized in a rapidly whirling drum which occasionally leaves a slight film on the article, but guarantees its sterility.

University inspectors carry off articles from the kitchens and test them in the Public Health Laboratories from time to time to check on the job of sterilization. In addition to this the University must meet the usual board of health standards, as well as satisfy the tastes of a visiting board of students' mothers appointed by the Board of Overseers who take occasional meals in the dining halls.

Working his way from the smaller to larger unit, a visitor to the food system next makes an inspection of the great kitchens and storerooms located under Kirkland House. At first there seems to be no system at all here; one is lost in a maze of tunnels and interlocking rooms while a bustling stream of white-uniformed workers hasten through the passageways.