Education is important, and it is the reason why students come to college. Like education, food is also necessary for those students to stay healthy and concentrate in class.
But, what if some of the students have to struggle with questions like what to eat rather than what to study?
“I usually eat at Loco Rico’s because people over there know that I am a vegetarian, so they pay special attention to the food and don’t mix anything (meat). In other places, there is a lot of cross food contamination, and it is visible,” said Yogesh Agrawal, a junior math major.
Yogesh is an international student on a scholarship who comes from a different cultural background and has a different dietary restriction.
His housing scholarship willcancelled if moves off campus and that simply isn’t an option for him. His only option is to abide by his dietary option and have a chance to eat a wholesome meal.
The Student Union Building having limited food options doesn’t help the situation at all.
Looking at the bigger scale, another issue for the students is that, they feel like the fast food restaurants that are already present in the SUB should make their full menu and promotions available.
For instance, Chick-Fil-A does not provide its full menu on campus, and Subway does not implement certain promotion like “Sub of the Day.”
On the other hand, one cannot deny that the SUB serves a lot of student diligently.
On weekdays and Sundays, Grille Works opens till 1 a.m. in the morning for the students.
This diligence would be greatly be appreciated, if it was accompanied with variety for students with different dietary restraint.
Majority of students are also expecting a long-awaited change in the SUB. No new food outlet has been added or has been proposed to be added in the past few years. The stagnant taste has not impressed the student body.
Campus dining organized a one dollar taco event on National Taco Day. But, the SUB has not done a whole lot of promotional events in recent times.
If they were to plan more promos, it would definitely be beneficial for both sides.
To sum it up, the dining service is doing their job, but the lack of communication between them and the student body has become the biggest obstacle for overall success. The voices of students have not reached the officials.
The students should participate in the student survey conducted by the ULM dining service to place their opinion, so that the officials know what they want.
And, the officials should be willing to reach out to students with the help of some student representatives to analyze and understand the student body’s dissatisfaction.