Photo credit: Ken Teegardin
Could a new canteen help you eat more and pay less?
With the ever increasing tuition across BC, money is an issue more frequently on student’s minds than ever before. For many students it is very difficult to work part-time and study full-time, putting more pressure on everyone to successfully complete a program in as little time as possible. On top of this, UBCO students have to think about the ever increasing living costs in Kelowna, transportation, textbooks—we can all agree that the live of a student is everything but cheap. Surprisingly, this issue does not seem to have had any major impact on our school’s cafeteria and snack ensemble which is comprised of little food stands and food chains such as Subway and Taco Del Mar.
“Even though this arrangement is able to offer us a wide variety of different and even culturally diverse foods, rethinking the arrangement of our current cafeterias could save students a whole lot of money.”
Even though this arrangement is able to offer us a wide variety of different and even culturally diverse foods, rethinking the arrangement of our current cafeterias could save students a whole lot of money. Food costs for the individual student could be drastically reduced if UBCO had a larger canteen preparing a smaller variety of foods in large quantities. By only offering about 3 different choices per meal to accommodate dietary needs and food allergies such as celiac disease, lactose intolerance and other factors, a big canteen could become the solution to accommodate students’ ever decreasing budgets.
Through selling food that is less diverse but offered in larger quantities we can work towards reducing the costs for each student’s meal to five dollars a plate. Moreover, if students filled out questionnaires about their eating habits (quantity, preferences, allergies) at the beginning of each semester, those responsible for the major canteen could use statistical strategies to lower the costs of food that is wasted and help the environment, at the same time.
“And let’s not forget that we can also boost the local economy by buying fresh produce and products for our canteen meals from the area. Nutrition should not be a major worry on student’s minds.”
That does not mean the quality of the food needs to suffer, in contrast, healthy eating choices would be made easier for everyone if the canteen would reduce deep fried and highly processed foods which, after an exhausting day at school, many of us feel tempted to snack on. Moreover, if we don’t eliminate all of the little food stands that we already have on campus, then students who want to treat themselves keep control over their food choices as long as they can afford it.
A large canteen that offers a breakfast, lunch and dinner at a more affordable rate could help us get the nutrition we need, and are often confused about, by following Canada’s food guide published on the Health Canada website. And let’s not forget that we can also boost the local economy by buying fresh produce and products for our canteen meals from the area. Nutrition should not be a major worry on student’s minds and by strategically organizing a canteen that reflects student’s wishes we could work out ways to eat better and pay less. Rethinking our cafeteria could help students stop worrying about the freshmen 15 and say goodbye forever to an emergency Ramen noodle diet.