Everyone has different dietary needs to fit their own lifestyle. These diets each have their own restrictions and require their own accommodations. Many people’s diets are by choice, others for health or religious purposes. Options served by the university limit these restrictions even more. Students with dietary and allergenic needs end up consuming the same few dishes for every meal.
Food options have become scarce for all students with meal plans on campus because Kriner Dining Hall is no longer in operation. The influx of new students on campus have been forced to choose between really only two buildings —Reisner Dining Hall and the Ceddia Union Building.
Many college students have trouble finding healthy options for their meals. While Reisner provides many vegetable dishes to students, they are often repetitive and main dishes are often greasy. The average daily meal is a burger or pizza.
The vegetarian and vegan population on campus is left with little nutritional value in their selections. The options on campus often consist of the same cooked vegetables with tofu that Reisner serves every once in a while. The CUB, however, does serve a vegetable California roll from Bento and a vegan version of the famous Raider bowl. While pescatarian students (who only eat fish as a meat) can eat from Bento’s sushi selection, they still are unable to have very much choice in what they have at meals.
Additional students have nutritional requirements because of health concerns or religious reasons. These students have no choice in their diets, but still are stuck with the extremely limited meals. No one should be punished for their health or religion.
A balanced meal of broccoli and potatoes every day is enough to make any college student cry eventually. In a world without meal plans, anyone with specific dietary needs would be able to have an abundance of choices for what they could eat that day. At SU, students should be preparing for the world after college. The university should care more about the health and nourishment of its students.
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