All Posts Tagged With: "Campus Food"
What students are talking about today (November 6th edition)
Obama’s odds, no-money-down tuition, Halo 4 & a drug bust
The student pick is Obama (feelsgoodlost/Flickr)
1. It’s election day in America and things are looking good for President Barack Obama. Statistician Nate Silver, one of the most trusted seers of election results in America, Tweeted Monday that the latest polling suggests a very close election, but that Obama has a 91 per cent chance of winning the electoral college, which would give him another four years in office.
2. If it were up to student newspaper editors, Obama would win. The Daily Campus at Southern Methodist University is the only high-profile student paper to give Romney its endorsement.
3. More details are out from Ontario Liberal leadership candidate Glen Murray on his no-money-down post-secondary plan. Here it is. In partnership with private lenders, university students would be allowed to borrow up to $7,000 per year, roughly the cost of tuition and fees. Repayment and interest would start after graduation based on income. Loans would be interest free in the first 12 months after grad. The Canadian Federation of Students is opposed, naturally, saying it would “saddle youth with a lifetime of debt.”
Continue reading What students are talking about today (November 6th edition)
Campus Eats: Western University
The Spoke is good, but too expensive to choose every day
The 2013 Maclean’s University Rankings includes an examination of the dining on Canadian campuses. We found healthier options than ever, but also a new problem—high prices.
Maclean’s On Campus is continuing the conversation by having students review food on their campuses and showing what it costs to dine. If you’re a student, you can help. Send us a review of the food on your campus. Keep your receipts. If we publish it, we’ll reimburse you.
The Spoke & Rim Tavern at Western University
3.5 stars out of five
Total Price: $16.51
At $7.30, the CLT Combo (CLT stands for Chicken, Lettuce and Tomato) is a tasty option for starving students. The grilled chicken pieces are lightly seasoned, adding a nice touch of flavour. It’s not huge; though it might fill up a smaller person, I’d still be hungry without a side.
The new beef with campus food
There are more options than ever, but they come at a price
Jessica Darmanin
This story is from the 132-page Maclean’s University Rankings, on sale now.
Katie Cvitkovitch, a second-year nutrition student at Ryerson University in Toronto, knows how to spot a healthy meal. One evening in September, she assessed the options in the dining hall on the first floor of Pitman Hall residence. For $13.25, she could buy a grilled chicken-breast sandwich, a side garden salad with fat-free dressing and a bottle of diet iced tea. It cost the same as the deadlier deep-fried version, with fries and a Sprite. As a former vegan, Cvitkovitch was pleased to see vegan shepherd’s pie beside the meat- and-potatoes version. Even the Tim Hortons on campus carries a vegan wrap. Cvitkovitch gives Ryerson’s food a high rating.
Her classmate Deanna Chong, also in nutrition, gives Ryerson decent marks too. She had no trouble finding a balanced meal: a turkey wrap, milk and a melon cup for $14.28. (Those with meal cards pay five to 15 per cent less.)
Still, neither student eats much at the campus dining halls or fast-food outlets run by Ryerson Food Services, the main food provider on campus. “Lunch is like 10 bucks and dinner is like 15,” says Cvitkovitch, “so that’s $25 a day that I don’t have.” A student who managed to spend $5 less daily for one academic year would save roughly $1,000.
Universities once had a reputation for offering unhealthy food, and not enough choice. But as the heat lamps and deep fryers are replaced with vegan alternatives and halal meats, some students say they have a new problem: it’s too expensive to eat on campus. Whether food is provided in-house (via a combination of school-owned franchises and old-style dining halls) or contracted out to a single institutional provider, universities are finding it difficult to meet the multitude of demands while also keeping prices in check. Continue reading The new beef with campus food
Farmers markets hit university campuses
From Halifax to Vancouver fresh food and vegetables are being brought to students
Fresh locally grown fruits and vegetables and other artisanal products are turning up on Canadian campuses as students embrace the trend of shopping at farmers markets. McMaster University in Hamilton has just launched a market, the result of student Mary Koziol’s passion for local food. It runs every Thursday in the centre of the campus.
“It’s a completely not-for-profit venture,” says the 22-year-old president of the university’s student union. “But it’s a start in terms of offering healthy and local options to those who study (at), work (at) and visit the McMaster campus.”
At Brock University in St. Catharines, Ont., about a dozen local vendors bearing fruits, vegetables, cured meats, fresh lamb, cheeses, freshly baked bread and maple syrup descend on the campus every Friday. “We do it outdoors and have a barbecue going as well as live entertainment,” says university spokesman Iain Glass, adding, “It is the social event of the week, a wonderful break for students and others as well.”
Although the McMaster market is run by students, Koziol says the farmers who supply the produce “are invited to come and share their invaluable knowledge with us.” So far they have managed to source three area growers of fresh produce as a beginning, she says.
Robert Chorney, executive director of Famers’ Markets Ontario and chairman of Farmers’ Markets Canada, says the campus markets are so far relatively unknown by his organization. “We have had inquiries from a few universities, but I know very little about what is going on with them,” he says. “We would be glad to help them in any way we can because it is so positive to see the students keen on local, fresh, nutritional food.”
Dalhousie University in Halifax doesn’t have a farmers market, but it has put in community gardens so students can grow fruits and vegetables for their own consumption, says university spokesman Charles Crosby.
One of the most ambitious projects of all is the farm at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Its market has become so successful that it runs twice a week, Wednesday and Saturday. “This is a pretty unique connection,” says Mark Bomford, director for Sustainable Food Systems at the farm. “Most farmers markets rely on produce grown somewhere else, but the food for our market is grown right in our fields.”
The farm and its market have been operating for 10 years, he says, and has always been student-run from the cultivation of fruits and vegetables to the managing of the market. “Revenue from the market is the main source for all the different teaching and research programs that are happening on the farm,”says Bomford.
The University of Waterloo’s market is located in the Student Life Centre and is operated by student volunteers, says media spokesman John Morris. Students teamed up with the university’s Food Services division and produce is sourced from the Mennonite-run Elmira Produce Auction Co-operative.
The Canadian Press
Four cases of E. coli confirmed for U of Guelph students
University takes precautions and shuts down campus Pita Pit
Public health officials have confirmed four University of Guelph students are suffering from an infection caused by E. coli 0157.
Public health officials are in the preliminary stages of their investigation and presently know of only one commonality among the four students; they all consumed food at the University’s Pita Pit.
The university, as a voluntary precaution, has shut down the Pita Pit pending the outcome of the public health investigation.
The University of Guelph had an incident of E. coli 0157:H7 contamination slightly over three months ago. There were eight confirmed cases during that outbreak.
Last November, the University of Western Ontario suffered an outbreak of Salmonella typhimurium that resulted in 90 laboratory-confirmed cases and many suspected cases. The outbreak was traced to contamination of the food preparation area of the University’s Pita Pit.
The Middlesex-London Health Unit issued a 118 page report (PDF) on the UWO outbreak in June.
The university is extending the hours of its student health services centre and keeping it open during the weekend to provide services to students in residence and those without family doctors living off-campus. The university is encouraging students with symptoms to visit the health centre or to contact the public health unit.
Avoid the UOttawa food
I think I rather eat three year old rations
I’m presently at the University of Ottawa campus. I have been wandering around Ottawa since about 6am. Managed to get myself lost on a bus into Hull. I couldn’t seem to find a breakfast place that looked decent downtown. I figured that since I planned to visit UOttawa later in the morning anyway, I should grab breakfast here – BIG MISTAKE!
I arrived on the campus, went to the information booth and asked "Where’s a good place to grab breakfast on campus?" The lady replied by suggesting a restaurant just off-campus. I said I was looking to eat at a university food outlet. She advised me that I may want to reconsider. I knew I was in trouble then.
I grabbed breakfast from the university food service outlet in the student centre – wow, I haven’t had a breakfast this bad since…. while, since I was eating rations during army training exercises and I’m tempted to think they were better.
