Cafeteria food does not offer everything a healthy student needs
By: Victoria Barmak
-Staff Writer-
August 20 marked the beginning of the new academic year at STLCC –Meramec. Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, the students rushed along the campus pathways on the way to their classes. Some ran into their old friends; while others, new to campus, gazed around a bit intimidated. From different backgrounds and with different purposes, all these students were united by one goal: learning about themselves and the world around them.
Ready to dive head-first into the pool of knowledge that is college, these students had something else in common: many of them flooded the cafeteria for some much-needed brain food and a break from the anxieties of the first-day experience of college.
There is great comfort in familiar foods. After all, there is a reason why some foods are called, well, comfort foods. Pizza, burgers, fries and chicken fingers are on that list and it makes sense that the students go straight for those to alleviate those first-day jitters.
The problems arise when students turn to those comforting and nutritionless options all year long.
College, the bastion of knowledge, is the place where intellect is nourished, horizons are broadened and consciousness is expanded. That should apply to the food that is offered to our students.
These days, one does not have to have a degree in nutrition to know that food and its sources are largely responsible for what happens to our bodies – our mental abilities included. Our health is greatly affected by nutrition. But when one visits Meramec’s cafeteria, one might confuse it with a fast-food joint: deep-fried things are abound.
There are other options available, but they are either out of a standard community college student’s price range or are completely not edible for those who have a variety of dietary restrictions such as vegan, vegetarian, raw, paleo, gluten-free or dairy-free. Even the garden salad has shredded cheese and egg on it. It is hard to accommodate various nutritional needs with the choices offered in the cafeteria.
Ultimately, the responsibility for making wise food selections lies with students. It would be nice, however, if the college helped.
