The C-Store is a convienent “grocery store” of sorts, but not all students’ and their dining dollars are considered when stocking the shelves.
I don’t know about everyone else, but I enjoy eating fresh produce regularly, and not just apples or bananas like you get at Bartels.
I like to get vegetables; I like to make my own salad or just have some nice raw vegetables to snack on occasionally. But the C-Store rarely has fresh vegetables, and the ONE time I saw that it did, they were so old that when I picked it up I almost threw up from how moldy and soft it was—I think it was supposed to be a cucumber. And the fruit that they do tend to carry has been there for weeks and you can see the mold growing on it when you go in; it’s disgusting.
Why do we get dining dollars if we don’t even have the opportunity to get the food that we want or need? Why do we have to fit a walk down to Shop-Rite, to use real money—that no college student has in excess—to get the food we need because the C-Store carries an abundance of varieties of chips and ice cream but only has old fruit for those who want produce?
Why doesn’t the C-Store have the option for us to tell them what we want? This way, they can be better geared towards the needs and desires of the students. They could have an online site or a box with comment cards in the store; something where we can request what we want to tell them suggestions. I know I am not the only one who has complained about the C-Store; people complain all the time.
By giving us the opportunity to ask for what we are looking for more students can get their money worth of their dining dollars and the C-Store can be more effective on campus. It’s not a bad idea.
You always hear of the “freshman 15” but I personally try to eat healthier at school because I control what I eat. So when I can’t get fresh foods to eat on campus, it makes me feel like I am wasting money on a meal plan, a meal plan I am forced to have since I am a residential student. I don’t think it is asking for much, for some fresh produce to be in their every few days for those of us who don’t eat at the campus dining halls or don’t want to microwave our food every night.
College is a time to learn how to live on our own and cooking is one of those things to experiment with now. However, this is something we can’t do if we are stuck using the C-Store because we are in a bind for money and the C-Store doesn’t supply adequate foods to cook from scratch.
The C-Store has changed from last year to this year, and I’m sure it changes every year, but this is an opportunity to help the students even more.
I’m no stranger to ice cream but I’d like to make something nutritious for my dinner before I have to face the dilemma of which of the dozens of ice cream flavors I want for dessert. And popping something into the microwave for four minutes isn’t my idea of a nutritious meal—even if it is organic or gluten faree.
