By By: Ashley Rose
Intern
It’s no secret that the stereotype of college students eating ramen and microwave popcorn four days a week is the reality for most students. While this may be the reality, dining halls in colleges are expected to offer options to suit everyone’s dietary needs in a quick, easy and cheap way (and hopefully get something other than carbs into their body). With this expectation of dining halls, we asked IU South Bend students if they find their campus is falling short, especially when it comes to offering healthy options, and they had a lot to say.
Psychology major, Chaz Shabazz, was happy to speak up about his opinion, as he is a senior this year and has been experiencing dining services from IU South Bend for several years now.
“I feel like they do not take into consideration that students need those types of nutrients in their lives. It’s bad enough that students rarely have time to eat, so they need access to quick, easy and healthy options that are also affordable,” Shabazz said.
He noted that students struggle to make time to even meet their daily calorie count as they’re so busy everyday, and when the school doesn’t offer any healthy options, students aren’t consuming foods that are good for them.
New media studies major, Zion Hawkins, wanted to discuss the topic as well. As a freshman, this is his first year on campus, but he did take note of the lack of healthy options.
“I do think they offer a lot less healthier options than they could. I understand that getting certain brands of food isn’t always doable but it seems like there are rarely healthy options available. I do appreciate the food pantry though. The school has given me access to other items that I can take home that give me healthier options,” Hawkins said.
Hawkins did highlight Titans Feeding Titans, which does offer limited, but healthier options.
Political science major Tahyia Alvi has lived on campus for two years and has taken notice of the lack of healthy options.
“As a college student, it’s really hard to get access to healthy and nutritious food on campus. Even the free food offered on campus is unhealthy, which creates an obesogenic environment. The nutritional options on campus are much more expensive, which makes it harder for students to even have healthy eating habits,” Alvi said.
Like several other students, Alvi spends most of her day on campus dedicating her time to classes or working her on-campus job. This results in students being unable to return home for even short periods of time to get a meal.
