Definition: In this task, you are given a text of many news articles seperated by special token "|||||". Your task is to summarize them.
Input: NEW YORK (AP) — Olive Garden is defending its practice of giving customers as many breadsticks as they want, saying the policy conveys "Italian generosity." 
  
 The remark is part of a response by the chain's parent company, Darden Restaurants Inc., to a nearly 300-page criticism released by hedge fund Starboard Value last week. Starboard took Olive Garden and its management to task for a litany of issues, including its liberal distribution of breadsticks, its failure to salt the water used to boil its pasta and even the length of the asparagus it serves. 
  
 Darden's 24-page response doesn't specifically address each of Starboard's criticisms, but states that the company is already implementing a variety of strategies to improve Olive Garden's performance. The company says it has introduced new menu items to underscore value, for instance, and is testing ordering technologies using table-top tablets. 
  
 Starboard is lobbying to gain control of Darden's board of directors at the company's annual meeting Oct. 10. Darden, which is based in Orlando, Florida, has struggled to boost sales at Olive Garden with the growing popularity of chains such as Chipotle, where people feel they can get food similar in quality to a sit-down restaurant for less money. Under pressure to boost results, Darden recently sold off Red Lobster, which was doing even worse than Olive Garden. But Starboard and others took issue with the sale and wanted the company's breakup structured differently. 
  
 As for its breadsticks, Starboard said last week that Olive Garden was being wasteful because servers weren't sticking to the policy of providing one breadstick per customer, plus an extra for the table. The investor said servers lacked "training and discipline" and were bringing out too many breadsticks at a time, which also led to cold breadsticks. Starboard noted that it wasn't calling for Olive Garden to stop giving away unlimited breadsticks, but simply exercise more control in how they're distributed. 
  
 Starboard also said servers were overfilling salad bowls and using too much dressing, which it said drives up costs. 
  
 In its response Monday, Darden said that "Olive Garden's salad and breadsticks have been an icon of brand equity since 1982." The company didn't say whether it would change the way salad and breadsticks are brought out, however. 
  
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 Follow Candice Choi at www.twitter.com/candicechoi ||||| Darden Restaurants, owner of Italian restaurant chain Olive Garden, says its unlimited breadsticks and salad dressings are working out just fine with consumers. 
  
 The casual-dining restaurant operator is on the defensive after investor Starboard Value LP last week disclosed a very detailed, nearly 300-page slide presentation that gave details of a potential turnaround plan for Darden’s Olive Garden chain. Among the complaints: Olive Garden was serving too many breadsticks (resulting in food waste), adding too much dressing to its salads, and not serving enough alcohol. Among the most egregious complaints: Starboard lamented Olive Garden wasn’t adding salt to the water used to cook the pasta, asking “How does the largest Italian dining concept in the world not salt the water for pasta?” 
  
 Darden (DRI) fired back this week, saying in a 24-page slide presentation that Starboard’s suggestions are “not based on reality.” Darden said Olive Garden’s breadsticks and salads convey “Italian generosity,” adding that its salads have the highest loyalty rating of any menu item based on the internal satisfaction surveys the company conducts. Darden also says alcohol sales are increasing, while the average check sizes are higher at remodeled locations. 
  
 (Graphic by Analee Kasudia, Fortune.com) 
  
 “After reviewing Starboard’s proposed operating plan, we believe Darden’s current initiatives, which are already delivering encouraging results, address the majority of Starboard’s suggestions” said Darden President and Chief Operating Officer Gene Lee. “We are also troubled by certain Starboard suggestions for Olive Garden that we believe would undermine progress that is improving both food quality and guest experience.” 
  
 Though Darden touted Olive Garden’s new menu offerings, technology investments meant to speed up ordering-taking, and satisfaction scores that are improving, recent results show the chain is still underperforming. U.S. same-store sales slid 1.3% at Olive Garden for the latest quarter, trailing all other formats owned by Darden, including LongHorn Steakhouse and The Capital Grille. 
  
 Starboard, which is the second-largest investor in Darden with a 8.8% stake, is aiming to overthrow the entire 12-director Darden board with a slate of its own. Darden has advocated for its own slate of board director nominees — which includes four candidates proposed by Starboard — at an annual shareholder meeting that is due to be held on Oct. 10. ||||| Forward-Looking Statement These materials may contain forward-looking statements concerning the Companys expectations, goals or objectives. Forward-looking statements in this communication that are not historical facts, including without limitation statements concerning our future economic performance, plans or objectives and expectations regarding the performance of the Company following the sale of Red Lobster and related matters, are made under the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which such statements are made, and we undertake no obligation to update such statements to reflect events or circumstances arising after such date except as required by law. We wish to caution investors not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to materially differ from those anticipated in the statements. The most significant of these uncertainties are described in Darden's Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and Form 8-K reports (including all amendments to those reports). These risks and uncertainties include the ability to achieve Darden's strategic plan to enhance shareholder value including realizing the expected benefits from the sale of Red Lobster, actions of activist investors and the cost and disruption of responding to those actions, including any proxy contest for the election of directors at our annual meeting, food safety and food-borne illness concerns, litigation, unfavorable publicity, risks relating to public policy changes and federal, state and local regulation of our business including health care reform, labor and insurance costs, technology failures, failure to execute a business continuity plan following a disaster, health concerns including virus outbreaks, intense competition, failure to drive sales growth, our plans to expand our smaller brands Bahama Breeze, Seasons 52 and Eddie V's, a lack of suitable new restaurant locations, higher-than-anticipated costs to open, close, relocate or remodel restaurants, a failure to execute innovative marketing tactics and increased advertising and marketing costs, a failure to develop and recruit effective leaders, a failure to address cost pressures, shortages or interruptions in the delivery of food and other products, adverse weather conditions and natural disasters, volatility in the market value of derivatives, economic factors specific to the restaurant industry and general macroeconomic factors including unemployment and interest rates, disruptions in the financial markets, risks of doing business with franchisees and vendors in foreign markets, failure to protect our service marks or other intellectual property, impairment in the carrying value of our goodwill or other intangible assets, a failure of our internal controls over financial reporting, or changes in accounting standards, an inability or failure to manage the accelerated impact of social media and other factors and uncertainties discussed from time to time in reports filed by Darden with the Securities and Exchange Commission. |||||
Output:
Olive Garden has fired back in the battle of the breadsticks. The Florida-based chain's parent company says the unlimited breadstick policy—one of many things criticized by hedge fund Starboard Value—is an example of "Italian generosity." In its response to Starboard's 300-page criticism, Darden Restaurants says the salads Starboard slams for being overfilled and overdressed are a big hit that inspires loyalty in customers, and says implementing the investor's suggestions would "undermine progress that is improving both food quality and guest experience," Fortune reports. The 24-page report filed with the SEC says a major menu revamp is underway and things like ordering via tabletop tablets are in the works, although it doesn't address some of Starboard's criticisms, including: "How does the largest Italian dining concept in the world not salt the water for pasta?" Starboard—which holds 8.8% of Darden—is trying to gain control of the parent company and will try to replace its entire 12-person board of directors at the company's annual meeting next month, the AP reports.