Sustainable Eating on a College Campus

By: Caleigh Petersen

Eating at Stonehill can be difficult for students because of their hours, lack of selection, and minimal options. 

Students across the country have their own unique experience with college dining. Because of the variety of students colleges face, they’re supplying food that lacks specific nutritional value and nutrients. 

In a study done by CNBC, they surveyed 66 colleges, community and private, and a total of 43,000 college students. In the study, they had recorded students who were “food insecure”. 

Food insecurity primarily means that someone does not have enough to eat. 

It was found that on community college campuses 42 percent of students were food insecure. However, on private college campuses, 14 percent of students had reported being food insecure. 

On top of not being able to get enough food to eat, it is also important to factor in food with nutritional value. 

However, 46 percent of community college students had reported being unable to afford a balanced meal, and 40 percent of private college students reported being unable to afford a balanced meal. 

Stonehill students were interviewed and were made aware of these statistics, and what they thought could be done to fix these problems of students being food insecure, along with some of their experiences with college dining food. 

Emma Gabel, a junior at Stonehill said that it is unfair for students to have to go hungry. 

“We pay all of this money to go to these colleges and live on campus and study for our future but we can’t even get a decent meal,” said Gabel. 

She said that it’s unfair for students to struggle because we are in such a financially unstable part of our lives right now. 

“You would think that because the prices of these schools keep going up that they would improve their dining options,” said Gabel. 

Emily Lambrou, junior at Stonehill also talks about the lack of care when it comes to the prepared food on campus. 

“I always dread when it comes time to eat a meal, there is always something that goes wrong when I am ordering and eating my food,” said Lambrou. 

She went into detail about the lack of care in the preparation of her meals, because almost every time she will go without eating a portion of her meal. 

“A lot of nights I will go to the commons and get a meal, the chicken will either be extremely pink, the vegetables are undercooked, and I will end up going hungry or going off-campus for dinner,” Lambrou said. 

Charlotte McGuire, junior at Stonehill said she wasn’t surprised with the statistics of students who are food insecure. 

“One of the biggest topics of conversation when going home and seeing friends is the food we get at our schools. We all go to colleges across the country and it’s always so interesting to see the scale of good to bad with college meals,” said McGuire. 

She talked about how a lot of her home friends attend the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and they’re reported to have one of the best dining halls in the country. 

“I always get jealous whenever I visit my friends from home and eat at their dining halls because they will always have a variety of options and healthy choices, and I won’t have to worry if my food is rotten,” said McGuire. 

Amy McCarron, another junior at Stonehill was shocked by the results of the study, but also not really surprised. 

“You would think we pay all this money for our education and to live on campus the school should care more about what goes into our bodies’” McCarron said. 

“It doesn’t help when we are eating undercooked produce and have a lack of selection. The hours of our dining hall do not make any sense, along with having to order online for the only place that is open past seven o’clock,” she also said.