After having just come back from the dining hall I couldn’t help but have a sour taste in my mouth. The pickles found in what was labeled “lasagna” ruined what little flavor was in the soggy thing to begin with. I also can’t help but think of the joke Woody Allen quotes in the film “Annie Hall” from two old women commiserating at a Catskills, NY lodge, “Gee the food is awful,” one says.
“Yes, and such small portions,” the other one replies.
As I write this article I note a slight quiver in my hand – malnutrition no doubt. If you think about it, you probably have a 12-meal plan and what seemed like a lot of “Stag Bucks” that are by now almost completely frittered away at the vending machine and the Stag.
I remember my jovial, rotund health teacher who stressed that food is fuel for the body and we all need three balanced meals a day. (I’m also remembering the painful fact that he didn’t wear undershirts and, well, it showed.) The point though is that 12 or even 14 meals a week doesn’t meet the three a day requirement. Even at the extreme, I live my life in Barone end of the spectrum of 19 meals, you still don’t make the standard.
People who live in Dolan are rumored to visit the dining hall once a week in roving packs. Most of us though manage to chew through about half to three-quarters of the meals allotted us. That leaves periods of snacking and many trips to that wonderful grease trap, the Stag Diner.
This “diner” has to be the most cholesterol-laden place in southwestern Connecticut. The menu revolves around: burgers, burgers with bacon, burgers with cheese, fried chicken, pizza, and coarse sandwiches loaded with processed meats. It is a regular fast food establishment. Oh, and there are a few token, mostly lettuce, salads off to the side.
So college students often get eating disorders as was reported in this paper earlier. Is it a wonder why when we are not even provided with healthy, enticing and accessible dining services? As you knock back a 20-ounce Coke and munch on a BLT in the lawn chairs that constitute furniture in the Stag, you may think life is pretty good.
Or perhaps you are staying in tonight all cuddled up with The Mirror because the food just isn’t worth the effort. Obesity is on the rise in our society thanks to places like the Stag and even the dining hall with its paltry offerings that often force students to hit the dessert tray more and more often to fill the empty voids in their stomachs.
Anorexia is increasingly common, and we are especially prone in our age group in this environment. At an image conscious school like Fairfield, shouldn’t there be more healthy alternatives than the token offerings provided now?
Other schools have better options. Admissions arch-nemesis Villanova has an unlimited meal plan option and longer hours than Barone. The University of Pennsylvania among many other schools allows students to take food out.
Imagine taking a meal that YOU paid for to YOUR room. Also, imagine a dining hall that actually ran by YOUR time schedule and not some arbitrary one set up by Sodexho. Why on Fridays when most go out at 10 are we forced to eat before 6:30? Or on weekends forced to wait until 11 to eat “brunch?”
We are customers, some of us are vegetarians and most of us are health conscious. Many are dissatisfied and despondent. Make a healthier Stag, increase healthy food options, create a meal plan system that puts three meals a day in us and run by our timetable. As customers it is time to demand change.
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