Editor,
Eat on campus? No thanks.
Since last semester, I have been reading in the Daily Lobo about the controversy over food on campus. The article in Monday's edition on the renewal of the contract of UNM's food service provider, Aramark, made me sick to my stomach.
I'm sure anyone else who has tried eating on campus knows this feeling quite well.
Kristine Grow, Aramark's spokeswoman, said Aramark is "a leader in nutritious options." She based this on the fact that Aramark conducts research of "nutritional preferences that our customers have across the nation," and based on these studies has built "different nutritional options."
What Grow failed to mention is that in addition to universities, Aramark is also a leading food service provider for more than 475 prisons in North America, according to the company's Web site.
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I think that may have influenced Aramark's studies. If I'm in prison, I think the last thing I'm worrying about is the carb index of my fruit cocktail.
But I'm not in prison. I'm in school, and I think it's ridiculous how we as American college students have acquiesced to the notion of gross food and the freshman 15.
That's not OK. Eating a heat-lamp crusted burrito from the Mercado or a grease-dripping meat collage from Sonic and going back to the dorms to eat La Posada is a nutritional disaster. And that's without considering the 20-odd beers you are going to drink this weekend.
We, as students, should demand something better than drive-through and prison food from our University. Why can't we buy fresh vegetables and meat from our many farms right here in New Mexico? The only thing on-campus dining really has to offer is Loboblend coffee and super friendly staff at Dane's Deli.
And until there are better options, I will continue to brown bag my lunch from there, which is a lot cheaper, by the way.
Also in Monday's article, the president of the Board of Regents played down the notion of a contract with a different and possibly healthier food provider than Aramark because it may affect costs.
I disagree. I would gladly pay an extra dollar or two for a meal that is actually fresh and healthy. And what would the Board of Regents know about Aramark's food anyway? They're all eating at four-star restaurants in Santa Fe.
Matthew Kriteman
UNM student
