Dining

Food at Northfield Mount Hermon has to meet three criteria: it has to be good for you, it has to be good for the planet, and you have to want to eat it. So we serve things like mahi mahi with pineapple salsa, vegetarian fettuccini, make-your-own-stir fry, and herb and oat breads. For dessert, there might be blueberry pie or peanut butter bars. There are lots of choices, including vegetarian options, and our cooks love suggestions almost as much as they love “Chef’s Choice,” popular meals at which they really show off their culinary skills.

Because we have our own farm, some of what you eat at NMH comes from NMH. There’s farm-fresh milk (and ice cream made from it!), spices from our herb garden, organic vegetables and fruit, fabulous raspberry jam, and even maple syrup. What we don’t grow ourselves, we try to buy locally: We’ve committed 10 percent of our budget to buy from area growers.

Beyond that, we try to employ sustainable and responsible practices, like serving fair trade coffee and composting all our vegetable kitchen waste. We conduct food audits throughout the year to help us be yet more efficient, and occasionally, we even pile up all the discarded food to dramatically display what was wasted. NMH started the “trayless revolution” in 2003. We save water and energy and reduce food waste by not using cafeteria trays. Colleges and universities have followed our example.

Meals are served at Alumni Hall, which is nice and centrally located. Hot meals are served at specific times but the salad, cereal, and deli bars are open all day for grazing.  There are no assigned seats or formal dress required so, not only will you never be hungry, eating at NMH is relaxing and comfortable.

If all this has made you hungry, good! Check out our current menus.