It is a basic marketing principle that a better price is obtained by buying in volume.

The Central Kitchen buys more food than either Dunster or Adams House. Dunster and Adams, however, are reputed to have the best food. This rumor was given some substantiation recently, when Lowell dining hall was closed for a broadcast.

"I went over to Adams," said one of the boys," and they had oyster stew. Now of course I figured it was the usual gruel, but there were real oysters. And they had a fresh fruit salad, too."

Fresh fruit salad appears in Lowell House about as often as does oyster stew. This correlation may be stated with some exactness, since neither has appeared on the menu during the memory of the oldest inhabitants.

But most awesome to the Lowell denizens, however, were the complaints heard in Adams. "They complained," said one Lowellian. "You know," said another, "those guys looked at the fresh fruit salad, and they looked at the oyster stew, and one of them said to me, 'Oh no, not again!'"

Another recent Central Kitchen closeout resulted in a migration to Dunster House. In Dunster House hamburgers were served, with French fried onions. The Central Kitchen does not serve French fried onions. Now it seems that French fried onions bought in bulk--if that is in what French fried onions are bought--will be cheaper for the larger bulk which the Central Kitchen will buy. Expense, therefore, is not prohibitive.

But this is only a portion of a larger picture. The Dunster hamburgers, if not chopped sirloin, are nevertheless the right color for hamburgers. Some weeks ago in Lowell a tray of patties was late in coming, and a line piled up. "What's the matter?" asked someone from the end.

"The dog ran away."

These are of course isolated instances; but the fact remains that there is little consideration for Central Kitcheners. Vanilla is a popular flavor; but its constant repetition is just the "bland leading the bland," and macaroni with lemon meringue pie is--to phrase it softly--a highly original combination.

Assuming that dining hall budgets are roughly equal, it is lack of imagination--not of funds--that is to blame for the quality of Central Kitchen food. There seems no reason why sauce for the goose should be gruel for Lowell House.