TEMPEHGATE: Tempeh Will Continue Being Served at Commons Despite Discourse

On Tuesday, January 28, a message was posted on the Commons feedback board reading, “Please stop serving tempeh, it’s just worse than plain beans or lentils, not to mention more expensive. TLDR: the tempeh is bad.” Commons responded, “Lots of people like tempeh and it’s good for your gut. You can get any entree without the protein. You can get a protein from one station & sides from another. ‘station hack’ We won’t serve it on all the stations at once. Alternative vegetarian options are plentiful.” However, this message was undercut by an anonymous worker who wrote at the bottom of the slip, “I serve the tempeh and it rarely looks appetizing at all.”

This feedback slip sparked an influx of feedback about tempeh, starting with a slip posted the following day, which read in part, “If there’s one thing Reed vegetarians agree on, it’s that none of us like tempeh.” Over the next week, an additional three tempeh feedback slips appeared: two pro- and one anti-tempeh.

But do five opinionated students reflect the whole Reed community? To find out, we conducted a very scientific survey (by which I mean, we sat outside the dish monster for an hour during the lunch rush and asked everyone who passed for their opinions on tempeh, in the hopes of getting a fairly representative sample of Reedies who eat at Commons). We ended up surveying 150 Reedies. Of these, 59% had never tried Commons tempeh. Of the 61 respondents who had, they were resoundingly opposed to it: 74% said they did not like Commons tempeh, and only 9 people explicitly enjoyed it. 

There was a general anti-tempeh vibe in survey responses, even among those who’d never had tempeh. Several people who hadn’t tried it described Commons tempeh as looking “gross” or “strange.” Multiple people mentioned being aware of general hatred of tempeh, with one student notably saying that “people were up in arms about it in Bio lecture.” Some respondents said they disliked tempeh and/or fermented foods in general, while others said they’d liked tempeh before but dislike Commons tempeh in particular. 

The results of the dish monster survey were shared with the Commons management via the Commons Committee. Catherine Hoyle ‘25, a senator on the committee, said Commons was “generally very interested in the results and very receptive to the feedback,” and that they’re open to looking at other options.

However, tempeh is likely to continue being served. Commons sources their tempeh from Squirrel and Crow, a local small business that makes soy-free tempeh. Unlike typical soy-based tempeh, S&C makes lentil, chickpea quinoa, and black bean sunflower tempeh. Michael Bucuvalas, General Manager at Reed Bon Appétit, said, “I believe you will continue to see tempeh offered at a similar rate moving forward – it’s a healthy vegan protein option and it is one of the only other non-bean vegan proteins that we can serve at our SimplyOASIS station – this station is free of the nine major allergens and as I mentioned S&C is soy free, so it’s a great vegan protein to use.” 

They are, however, open to exploring new preparations of tempeh to add more variety to the menu. They are also planning to invite Jon Westdahl, the founder of Squirrel & Crow tempeh, to do an event. “Get all your burning tempeh questions answered!” said Bucuvalas.

More broadly, Bucuvalas and Executive Chef Jesse Fairman said a number of factors go into deciding what’s on the menu, especially “variety, nutrition and value.” It’s a puzzle to piece together a menu with a range of different options at the different stations, using seasonal foods, meeting the “theme” of each station, and trying to accommodate student preferences. Chef Fairman, who is a vegetarian himself, says he’s noticed student preferences for vegetarian and vegan options changing from year to year: some years, more people want fake meat style options, while in other years, there are more requests for whole or minimally processed foods.

Commons makes it a priority to respond to feedback slips in a reasonable amount of time and accommodate requests if they’re feasible, which Bucuvalas says the majority are. “We realize it is an effective way of gauging what works and what doesn’t,” he says. Behind the scenes, Dining Services Director Ken Blanchard is the one who responds to the feedback slips, in consultation with the appropriate members of the leadership team. He will post and respond to all feedback slips that are not obscene, insulting, or generally nasty – even the person who asked last week, “Can you open a Commons dispensary?” (Answer: “Bon Appétit is not in the cannabis business. However, I believe there is a dispensary on 28th & Steele.”)

Commons is generally very open to receiving feedback! Students can share suggestions (about tempeh or otherwise) by filling out feedback slips, contacting Bon Appétit management, or reaching out to senators on the Commons Committee. Bucuvalas says, “The team and I here at Reed enjoy speaking with the students and members of the community about what we can do to make Commons feel like home – comment cards are great but a conversation with myself or someone on my team is even better! We encourage students to come say hi and talk to us about what you would like to see (or not see) in your café!”