The Crouton Guy sits at a table outside Cafe Lux twirling his white earbuds, a light brown backpack perched on his lap. He wears glasses, a black hat emblazoned with a red M, a grey-and-blue sweatshirt, black pants and black shoes.
Caleb Russell, a first-year theatre and arts management double major, is the face behind the crouton plea, and his sole request is the return of those crunchy hunks of bread to all dining halls.
This adventure commenced when Russell started a diet last semester and turned to dining hall salads as a healthy alternative from unhealthy options like pizza and french fries.
He quips that he's one of those people that goes to a restaurant and orders the same thing every time, and he's very particular. For instance, only three cucumber slices are allowed on his salad, always accompanied by carrots, cheese, low-fat Ranch dressing and, of course, croutons.
Russell's crouton love began at a young age. When Russell was a kid, he'd go to Golden Corral with his family, fill up a plate with croutons and dip them in ranch dressing before savoring each crunchy bite. Lucky for him, first semester, clear bottles brimming with croutons stood guard beside each salad bar. Then the unthinkable happened: the bottles vanished and the croutons went with them.
When the croutons disappeared, he asked if others had noticed, using the Miami Class of 2021 Facebook page as a platform. Russell's posts garnered lots of attention. The first one received 130 likes in just two days.
"Part of me continues it because it's sarcastic and it's fun," Russell said, "and part of me just genuinely wants croutons. That's it."
The Crouton Guy's pleas even gained the attention of ASG. Craig David Beuerlein, a first-year ASG member, posted on Facebook that Miami Dining removed the croutons because tortilla strips were deemed healthier. In response, Russell immediately set to work comparing nutrition facts and made an interesting discovery.
According to his research, the calories for tortilla strips and croutons are the same. The slight difference appears in fat and sodium content. Russell's later Facebook post closed with the poignant message: "Are we going to let 0.2 grams of fat stop us from getting back our croutons?!! #bringbackourcroutons."
Though his dedication has mostly resulted in positive responses, some students don't share his enthusiasm. They view the crouton debate as a waste of valuable time and don't seem to find humor in the situation.
"Imagine if you put all the effort you're putting into getting croutons back in the dining halls into something academically useful or socially important," one Facebook user commented.
To clarify, though "Crouton Updates" do pop up fairly often on the group page, the posts aren't typically more than a couple paragraphs long.
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Russell explained that the posts really don't take too much time, typically only about five minutes. He responded to the comment above saying, "At least at the end I could say I tried to make change instead of just pointing out problems."
Other students view the crouton conversation as an irritation rather than a problem in need of a solution.
"I just think that out of the 2,000 people [in the Facebook group], only like 200 people, max., care," said freshman marketing major Emily Dye. "So I just think it's really annoying."
First-year nutrition major Iris Puthoff said though she does miss the croutons, the work of the dining hall staff needs to be considered.
"I'm aware that Miami's dietitians are working hard each semester to implement healthier methods and cooking recipes," Puthoff said. "In the grand scheme of things, the dieticians cannot place croutons as a top priority food to focus on."
Another student, freshman political science major and fourth district on-campus senator Zoe Douglas, just doesn't like croutons. However, she does see the cause's upside.
"Even though I think there are a lot more important issues on campus," Douglas said, "I think it's a great opportunity for people to get engaged, hear about what ASG is, how can we get involved and make sure that they feel that their voices are heard."
Russell admits croutons aren't exactly the most pressing problem in the world, or even on campus, but his movement illustrates the larger idea of taking action for a cause.
His posts have evoked different student concerns regarding other notably absent dining hall items including the rarely-present alfredo sauce, the lack of hamburgers, the missing nacho bar at Western and the vanishing panini press at Maple.
On April 17, The Crouton Guy posted a sticker he designed for the movement. Once again, likes and comments flooded the post. He says if there's enough interest, he'll probably buy a set of 200 stickers, sell them for a dollar and stick the rest around campus.
He thinks it would be pretty funny to have kids five years from now see them all over campus and wonder what in the world "bring back our croutons" meant.
"If you want actual change to get done," Russell said, "You start with small things and then you just add small things on top of that and see how far you can get."
ASG has remained active in the crouton debate, most recently bringing it to a vote and moving the cause to an on-campus committee. They also met with Geno Svec, Miami's senior director of food and beverage.
The Crouton Guy is currently waiting to hear back.
If you're interested in buying a sticker to support the crouton movement, send the Crouton Guy an email at russelc7@miamioh.edu.
dattilec@miamioh.edu
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