Food for Thought

Central to Loyola’s campus, Boulder Garden Café should be a convenience to Loyola students. But, is it really that convenient to spend over 70 dollars per week on food? For students who need to watch what they spend, Boulder and its student center affiliates do not offer many options. And from the available options, do students really have that many choices?

I thought I would find out what it’s like to spend only $10 per day on campus food. If a student eats on campus twice a day, he or she would have to reasonably spend about $5 or less per meal. I compared the number of options for a full meal for $5 or less relative to the total number of options:

Under $5

Moe’s: 4/14- 1 Nachos option, 2 Quesadillas options, 1 taco combo

Wow: 2/19- 3 pc. Tenders, grilled cheese

Il Piatto: 2/13- 2 sl. Cheese pizza, 1 specialty sl.

Boar’s Head: 1/6- Half sandwich and soup

Cyclone: 0/6

Sangam: 1/4- meat and rice

Vikigali: 7/17- 7 options of 6 sushi rolls

Vikigali is the only place that offers a decent amount of inexpensive options. The ratio of inexpensive meals to expensive meals should be more even. Expensive should be the exception, not the rule. For example, The Test Market, a temporary establishment meant to test out options for next year, offered a make-your-own Panini for five dollars, though for a meal it should include chips or a side. It then raised the price to seven dollars, with chips, but when I asked to get only the Panini, the cashier said, “It’s the same price.”

Although Loyola does not have many inexpensive options for students, it is not just price that is of issue. There are five main options for students to choose from every day: Sushi, Indian, Italian, Mexican, and Grilled. Last year, Loyola had The Grill, the Italian station, Salsa Rico, the Panini Station, and Sushi. What has Loyola done to make changes? Aside from Sangam, the only change in Loyola’s dining has been in brand names. The Test Market promised options, but is now only serving Paninis. Why continue serving what is known to work when these last few weeks could be used to test out other options?

This should include options for vegetarians or for students trying to stay healthy. Currently, there are very few options available for these types of students. Salad, soup, and sandwiches are not enough of an option. Students need healthy options in their hot prepared food. After not eating after a long day of classes, I need something to fill me up, and the pre-packaged refrigerated items do not exactly call out to me. There are only four or five options there anyway. I need something healthy and filling.

All of Boulder’s hot prepared meals are fast food. Even if you only eat at Boulder once a day, you are eating fast food every day. According to Dr. Katz, who founded the Yale Prevention Research Center, it is okay to occasionally eat fast food, but if you occasionally eat hot dogs, occasionally eat French fries, and occasionally eat pizza, and nothing else, it is not healthy.

It would be like eating at McDonald’s every day—and we’ve all heard about Supersize Me. Compare McDonald’s to Wow. Wow is in fact worse than McDonald’s— and Wow is robbing you! You are paying at least eight dollars for a fast food burger when normal fast food burgers are five dollars, and healthier for you, too!

McDonald’s vs. Wow

Wow: Healthiest burger = 899 cal, 63 g. fat McDonald’s: Healthiest burger = 250 cal, 9 g. fat

Most unhealthy burger = 1699 cal, 135 g. fat Most Unhealthy burger = 790 cal, 39 g fat

To see a full list of nutrition facts, visit the websites for Wow and McDonald's.

So, what’s the solution to monotony, potential heart attack, and tight wallets? Healthier options and rotations of meals. Rather than have a fixed menu, meals should be rotated in and out each week. A new week equals five new stations with different food than the week before. For example, one week could be burgers, Indian food, wraps, and two healthy options, and the next week could be sushi, sandwiches, pasta, and two healthy options. For the healthy options, meals should be balanced, with a meat/entrée, a side, and some kind of fruit or vegetable. They would be homestyle- type meals, such as the ones offered in Boulder last year, except without the cost of seven or eight dollars per meal.

But what about the culture Loyola was trying to bring to campus dining by incorporating international options such as Indian and Italian food?

Yes, Loyola was trying to bring more diversity to campus with the global market in Boulder and the student center; but having rotating meals instead of international stations does not mean we have to put an end to the diversity. Loyola could have the opportunity to offer even more diversity by rotating different international meals throughout the year. Instead of Indian, Italian, Mexican, and Japanese, Boulder could have Scandinavian, Irish, Scottish, French, Korean, African, South American, etc… I mean, let’s get real. How much diversity do we actually have now? Mexican and Italian—could we BE more American? There’s a Taco Bell in every American city and we eat pasta like candy.

Now, this is not the only way to make changes in Boulder’s dining. If you agree with the suggestions above, or do not agree but think something needs to change, contact the Green and Grey Society.