Thank you for the “This Food Ain’t Fit” in the May 29 Vanguard. While I heartily agree with the writer’s assertion that Aramark’s cafeteria food “just sucks,” I would like to comment further on several points.
Prior to reading the author’s comments on Aramark’s corporate swill, I had already been made sick by a yogurt smoothie, grossed-out by overpriced/processed cheese-containing sandwiches no better than the crap in gas station quick-marts, and on occasions when famished (and lacking time to go off campus) found myself unable to finish a slice of pizza best described as petroleum-product-meets-paper-product.
To the cafeteria’s “bad lighting,” I would also like to add: badly designed, depressing, insufferably stuffy and always overheated. The so-called “student store” (as well as the beverage vending machines on campus) ought to be called “Pepsi Products ‘R’ Us!”
There is also, I believe, an air quality issue, with the acrid smoke from outside vendors, which may have nothing to do with Aramark. But, given that the two lunch huts are inexplicably thrust into the walkway, avoiding the grease and particulate-laden grill smoke is difficult indeed.
Finally, though there are healthier food options within walking distance of campus, it is debatable whether any of them are “cheap,” unless you consider McDonald’s a healthy or even ethical (disappearing rain forests) alternative to union-busting Aramark, which I do not. The way I see it, “When the food ain’t fit you must not buy it!”