After Pierce closed the doors to the Country Café cafeteria last semester, the only permanent food structure that is left standing is the Freudian Sip.
The only option students, faculty and staff have to rely on is coffee. Sure, they offer premade sandwiches, chips, greasy pizza and some bottled drinks, but that is not enough.
College should not only provide people with a place to learn and study, but also with a place for minds to be nourished. After all, for students and faculty who are on campus full-time, college becomes a home away from home.
In 2008, 17 percent of students (more than 9 million students) were considered obese according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This number has tripled since 1980.
Not only is health a concern for students, but the proper foods that colleges and universities should be providing are decreasing. Brains need fresh and healthy options.
High schools and colleges alike are bringing in Taco Bell, McDonalds and Pizza Hut as options.
With plans underway for the new cafeteria at Pierce, Taco Bell and other fast-food vendors will be offered in the newly designed complex.
Furthermore, after the Associated Press conducted a study on fast food and students in 2005, they found that when fast food presents itself as an option, students are eating an obscene amount of calories, fats and sugars and not nearly enough fruits and vegetables.
In the schools neighboring Pierce, such as CSUN and Moorpark College, students are given a variety of foods to choose from.
CSUN offers more than a dozen places to eat, which includes the several Freudian Sips around campus. Although some food options include Panda Express, El Pollo Loco and Burger King, there are places to make your own sandwich, a marketplace and the Arbor Grill.
At least if one place had to close down, there would still be healthy choices available.
At Moorpark, the cafeteria is open all day Monday through Thursday and offers breakfast, hot lunches, a deli and quick snacks to grab and go.
The closing of the Country Café did not happen overnight. There was planning, money and a process that went along with it.
Settling on food trucks, a non-permanent and clearly unreliable source after one backed out of their agreement, it was not smart, unhealthy and foolish. Meanwhile, some of the trucks are now in a three year contract with the school.
With only the ‘Sip’ to choose from, students and professors are struggling between needing to grab food before class and actually getting to class on time.
Eating off campus should be a want, not a need.
Now with the unit fees increasing, cutting class sizes, an overpriced bookstore and construction around every corner, the least Pierce can do is offer its people freshly cooked and prepared food.
In addition to needing multiple food outlets on campus, Pierce should also consider creating a meal plan.
Pierce-issued ID cards could also act as a credit card to be used at the Student Store, Freudian Sip and cafeteria. It will not only encourage students to eat on campus, but the college can in return offer more places to eat.
It is time for Pierce to do its job by providing the students with healthy options as they open the new cafeteria. We have had enough of the pre-packaged, days old, soggy salads and sandwiches.
This is absurd. Time to step it up.
