By Christina LoBello
To become a resident hall member on campus, one needs to apply for a meal plan. That means having to spend extra money to eat at the cafeteria in Memorial Hall during the semester. While some decide against eating in the hall, the majority of resident hall members eat in there everyday.
It has a very wide variety of so-called “comfort foods” such as pizza, burgers and the occasional macaroni and cheese. While these are all good and fun in proportion, there is clearly a mass of comfort food and not enough healthy food.
As is the case with most college students living away from home, comfort food is what they crave and health food is more than often pushed to the side. But there are a select few that actually crave healthy food after eating all that salt from the pizza and macaroni.
For those few, there is the salad bar, where you can mix and match as well as the occasional sautéed vegetable, and the vegetarian section. Unfortunately, that’s about it for the health food, so far.
Eating comfort food every single day can become extremely routine and therefore, a bit boring. And most students believe that health food cannot be appetizing. It’s only there for those who really want it, or don’t eat meat. That’s not completely true. There are several different ways that health food in the cafeteria can be appetizing; the only thing is, in order for it to be more appetizing, there needs to be more of it.
One solution could be to cook different vegetables such as broccoli and carrots and put in a cream sauce, sauté mushrooms and onions, as well as grill red and green peppers. They could even sell pre-made salads such as greens with tangerines. This doesn’t just pertain to vegetables. They could also serve more lean meats such as smoked turkey and chicken without the heavy breading. This also pertains to healthier desserts such as cold apple cuts with caramel sauce and fruit salad, not just jell-o and the occasional carrot cake.
Now, would students like this? I wouldn’t doubt it. Changing up the health food would be both more appetizing and appealing to those who eat in the cafe. It may also even bring in those who don’t eat in the cafe everyday. It would be something different than the regular comfort foods and it would be a healthier and possibly yummier choice. It’s also saving some money for those who get bored with the food in the cafeteria and go elsewhere for food. It’ll also keep the interest of the kids who go to the cafeteria every day.
I even wonder if Christina has even visited Memorial hall to eat. I am kind of thinking she doesn’t even have a meal plan. Do you have a meal plan Christina? us students eat all the time at Memorial Hall , Of course we sometimes get bored But we do have options there. Sodexo has two nice looking salad bars with low fat dressings, fresh vegetables and 2 different varieties of greens.
It is up to each student to either choose the “unhealthy” meal or take out time to get ourselves a healthy meal.
Sodexo has made major strides over the past few years, Do you know Christina that they have a well kept vegan station, or how about the vegetarian entree they serve each day?
How about the healthy yogurt bar, the sugar free desserts or just being able to order egg whites each morning?
How about how they serve turkey burgers and garden veggie burgers all day off the grill?
How about the nice stir fry they do off the International Station a couple of days a week?
How about the fresh grilled chicken they serve off the deli during the week?
It just shows that Christina either has never visited Memorial Hall or did not take her time to look around at all the offerings they offer.
Christina needs to visit the Dining Room in Memorial Hall before writing an opinion article, then get a clue as to what healthy is, and last understand that students have to make the choice to be healthy. If you've visited Memorial Hall, you know there are plenty of healthy choices. If you choose to eat pizza, a burger and fries, or mac n cheese, that is not Dining Services issue, its the student making a bad choice. By the way, slathering your broccoli in a thick fat rich cheese sauce is not a healthy choice either. And the broccoli is steamed, not boiled. You have to put the butter and salt on it. Dining Services does not. Smoked turkey is processed with flavor and salt, lots of it. Are you sure you know what healthy is? Skinless chicken breast is available at least once a week, the vegetarian section has improved greatly over the past three years, and you can build a healthy meal by visiting the salad bar, then adding a couple of slices of turkey (fresh, not smoked) or tuna from the deli bar, and use a low-fat dressing. Fresh fruit is always available. You might have to cut it up because if dining services does it for you, it will oxidize and then you won't eat it because it's brown. And adding sugary caramel sauce to your fruit takes away any benefit of eating healthy. Sugar in that quantity is not healthy. Most menu items (2 per meal per day) are on a two week, or four week rotation. So choices abound. And you DO need to make a healthy choice. Dining Services can not do that for you. Always choosing the comfort food is your choice, not Dining Services.
Some other things you need to consider. 29% of meals in America are consumed outside the home. Why? Because we get bored with home cooked meals. Same goes for Memorial Hall. You have to go out once in a while. And, if you plan well, you can eat pretty healthy in Memorial Hall most of the time, and as a treat, go to the Student Center and use one of your bonus meals "to get out". And you should still go off campus to enjoy a meal. It's part of a healthy lifestyle. Why? Just like you could not go to your favorite restaurant 21 times a week and not get bored with the menu and the atmosphere, you can't do it at Memorial Hall either. Besides, you probably spend more on beer (not a healthy choice) than you do on food off campus. Try making healthy choices first, then write an opinion piece.