As a former Crimson White Opinions columnist, and quite frankly a young college student, I understand how easy it can be to complain and pick apart things that are perceived as being “wrong”. Every year we are bombarded with opinions about what is “wrong” with this campus in many different facets. As valid as much of this is, I want to first acknowledge how great the University of Alabama can be, and how grateful I am to be here. It’s so easy to have a half-glass-empty mentality when it shouldn’t be. Although I hate to be that guy that writes a letter to the editor to just complain about something, I feel this is justifiable.
The new Ferguson Center is beautiful, along with the new buildings that now have more dining options. I was blown away by the spaciousness of it, and how much better architecturally it is now than before. With these new additions, the idea was that there would be more dining options for a student population that is substantially growing each year. In this case, more means more variety in choices. Bama dining has expanded and now has more locations…but they’re all the same. Instead of more variety, which could have been housed in a larger complex, the new additions are strictly fast food venues. Yes, we now have a Wendy’s and a Raising Cane’s, while one of the two Chick Fil-A vendors on this campus has now expanded to allow more students. As much as this may excite some of us, this isn’t more, its actually less. This is an issue of quantity over quality.
I’ve spoken with a few students who want healthier options. One student, who I will make anonymous, expressed to me that the Ferguson Center managers told her that these fast food vendors provide the healthy options. I assume when they say this that they are referring to the salads at these venues. According to the nutrition page on Wendy’s official website, some of their salads are close to 1000 calories, more than some of the sandwiches they’re serving. And as much as these companies like to tell you, it’s not fresh ingredients. There is a monologue of preservatives that go into these items. Bottom line: A Chick-fil-a, Wendy’s , or Subway salad doesn’t count as a health option.
Believe it or not, there are students on this campus who are vegan/vegetarian. I’ve met them. There is little to nothing for them to choose from that is substantial. The fresh foods vegetarian option is basically another salad bar that is underdeveloped. According to the Crimson White, the organization Peta2 surveyed the dining options at UA last year and gave it a grade of a B for their vegetarian options. Today, I can’t imagine it getting anything higher than a D. UA is diverse, and so should the dining be.
My argument here is not that health options don’t exist at UA-they do, but in an extremely limited capacity. Burke and Lakeside provide a minor but insubstantial alternative. I’m just disappointed in how the university has chosen to expand student dining. I understand how hard it is to mass produce food for a student body and do it well, but I wonder if there would be any local businesses that would be willing to set up shop and cater on campus to provide a more natural and home-made food option. Could we have a food vendor on this campus that you couldn’t find in any airport or food court mall across the country? Do we really need an Aunt Annie’s Pretzel’s or even a Panda Express (when there’s one less than a mile off of campus)?
The university should care about this. Our diets are directly related to our education. What we eat effects how we feel and function, and thus, our academic performance in and out of the classroom. Today I will have to leave campus to have lunch. Tomorrow, hopefully things will be different.
