My daily eating ritual has become a source of security: wake up, go to the Caf for breakfast, load a to-go box (sorry to all you environmentalists) with pineapples and grapes or an apple, and head off to my first class. For lunch, I pile another to-go box with whatever the salad bar has to offer as well as a whole-wheat tortilla from the Grill. Sometimes the salad bar is good, sometimes it is not so good. My favorite is when they have corn salsa or sautéed mushrooms or beets. Just drizzle some Sriracha sauce on top and you have yourself a delicious spicy wrap. Add guacamole for extra pizzazz. Snacks consist of protein bars or fruit cups. And this daily ritual usually ends with a variation of lunch or maybe some chili…with Sriracha sauce. I’ve been told I eat weird things with weird sauces. Eh, I say do you boo boo, do you.
Anyway, I was standing at the register last week at lunchtime, waiting for my Spicy Salad Wrap to be weighed and I thought, “Hey I should probably check how many meal points I have left.” So I glanced up at the register’s screen and my heart fell to the bottom of my very empty stomach. My daily ritual of happiness and healthiness and weird sauces had broken my meal-point account. With weeks on weeks on weeks of school left. I shifted into panic mode. How will I survive? How will my brain be fed? How will I obtain sustenance? In case you are inept at the study of mathematics, many weeks of school left + less than 400 points = a very bad thing.
As I stood, confused and bewildered at the cash register, I realized that my recent healthy diet choices had been draining my limited funds of Caf points. I’ll be the first one to admit that I consume junk on a regular basis, but it is usually off campus in the form of Toppings frozen yogurt or delicious snacks my mom sends me. My on-campus meal points are spent rather healthfully, I think. And for these healthy options, I am charged an arm and a leg.
Frankly, I think this is outrageous. Health should not be punished with an increase in price. I try to eat healthy, I really do (although all my teeth should be classified as big, fat sweet teeth and I have been known to daydream about food). I must say, however, the repercussions of healthy eating seem to be that I run out of meal points halfway through the year. Really, Sodexho, really? I don’t pretend to know the ins and outs of the food business, but salad materials and such should not be that expensive to provide. Maybe this could be solved by not having salad and fruit on a weight-basis. I think that you should be able to get a box and fill it as much as you want with whatever you want from the salad and/or fruit bar. That way, it encourages people to eat healthfully while at the same time guaranteeing Sodexho a certain income from each box.
Those are my thoughts, but all of you better agree with me. Because I don’t want to starve, I like food, and I like Sriracha on my food. So sue me. Or feed me. Let’s just say this: if you see me around the Caf, please take pity on a poor fellow student who needs a little light in her life in the form of a pineapple cup or a bowl of chili. Maybe take me on a lunch date. Or just give me your card for the day, I will treat it well. And ayo waves.
