Our reports are that MIHOSER is being kind. VERY kind.
After a massive uprising 4 years ago due to a Fowler foul-up in which he ordered all Mids to eat all meals on the Yard, Sunday thru Thursday, which was a very big change. Many Mids were eating off campus as many nights as possible due to the poor quality and amount of food. Well, now you have 15 -25% MORE Mids eating, by mandate, w/ company mates. But ... someone forgot to order 15 -25% more chow. Getting the pic?
Well, half the parents on the planet, and notably those from areas represented by the BoV members, are screaming about poor quality, insufficient amounts of chow. And trust me, based on only a few meals that one would think would be "show-case" quality, the problem was real and chronic.
So, in typical governmental fashion, despite the Supe's attempts to squelch the bad news of no and/or lousy soups, an infusion of cash/Mid/meal was instantly made. Maybe part of the so-called "stimulus" bill? Mids were calling it "survival."
Well, all of this is a bit over-stated. That said ... USNA chow is nothing to write home about, and not close to what one would have available at a non-SA. While some were bemoaning "lousy facilities, inadequate equipment", my own read on this is a situation that requires exceptional culinary management skills, current and substantial equipment and facilities (now there!), and a commitment to making it work both right and well. I'm not sure these are all in place, and the noise has died down substantially over the past couple of eating seasons. So hopefully it's better and improving.
At its essence this is a significant culinary management and logistics challenge. 3 squares, 3 times daily, for 4,200 Mids ... all to be served, not buffet-lined or salad-barred, instantaneously and in the same general chow hall.
That's the sorta "bad news."
The sorta good news is that at last report, not a single Midshipman had been starved, treated for anorexia, or been treated for emaciation.