The dining halls on campus are advertised as state-of-the-art, but their food is not even mediocre. I realize LSU is rooted in a cultured area, but the on-campus options are just plain sloppy.
The health options at LSU are lacking – the most frustrating part being the misleading advertisements. The LSU Dining’s website portrays The 5 and 459 as buffets from a five-star bed and breakfast.
In reality, the closest similarities they share are the range of cereal brands — when they aren’t stale. The rest of the food I’ve been hesitant to try at the dining halls could best be described as
unsettling.
LSU’s average ranking for on-campus dining on College Prowler, a website that ranks colleges on certain issues, is a C. We definitely have room for improvement. University of Georgia ranks an A in that category, along with many other universities across the
country. It’s not that difficult.
One of the first times I cut into a chicken fried steak was at The 5 last year, and I was greeted with slimy pink poultry. This was neither the last of my experiences nor the last for the rest of the student body.
Students have repeatedly found hairs in their food, among other things. It’s no secret the same food stays on display for consecutive days at a time when a new shipment of a product comes in.
“The only food I wasn’t scared to eat was cereal and ice cream. … No wonder people get the freshman 15,” said Loni Burnett,
pre-nursing sophomore.
With students fearful of their next meal, it doesn’t shock me that college obesity rates are rising. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and tripled in adolescents in the past 30 years. Louisiana trails somewhere near the back, probably due to the continuous stream of fried dishes we are proud to claim as our state’s identifier.
Just because we are in the South doesn’t mean everyone has to eat fried chicken two out of three meals a day. The last thing we need in our state is a university happily contributing to the freshman 15. What we need to bring to campus is a healthy change.
The dining hall website lists health questions with strategically thought out answers, which is a nicely executed effort to improve health.
The only problem with this is that the health tips they provide are not demonstrated in the halls. Things like kale and flax seed are mentioned as a part of a nutritious diet, but I have yet to see either of the two products on campus.
Not only are basic needs underrepresented, but options for vegetarians and gluten-free individuals are sparse. The exaggerated gluten-free section of the dining halls usually consists of a loaf of bread and a few muffins that have been sitting in their container for days.
With the high cost of the mandatory meal plans for freshmen, the dining halls should be able to afford some decent options for the students who are at least making an effort to lead a healthy lifestyle. The daily pizza and pasta bar won’t cut it any longer.
If students call for a change, the University will have no choice but to comply.
I’m not encouraging a riot, but some tasteful feedback to dining management could help
the situation.
Annette Sommers is an 18-year-old mass communication sophomore from Dublin, Calif.