The Clackamas print., October 16, 2019, Page 5, Image 5

5
O P IN IO N
Picture this: it’ s 8 a.m . on campus and the vending
machines are nearly empty. To most people, this
may not seem like such a big deal, but as someone
with dietary restrictions and dealing with a lack o f
food on campus, I couldn’t find any food on campus
that met my dietary needs. This isn’t the first time
it ’ s happened this term either and it hasn’t hap­
pened to me alone. These past weeks on campus
I’ve heard nothing but complaints about the cafe­
teria — so let’ s talk about it.
With the latest round of renovations and res­
urrections, CCC (Jewel Hospitality) has decided to
take the majority of the cafeteria to the ^hopping
block. If you’ re looking for the burrito/wraip station
of yesteryear, its place has been traded for “ fresh
food vending machines” and “ on-cam pus food
carts.” (n the area where the wraps used to be, sit
pizza order forms and varieties of fried food. If you
were looking for fresh food from vending machines
in the past two days, you were met with only a se­
lection of drinks, a selection of potato chips or can­
dy. Very fresh.
In the event you find a vending machine that
contained sandwiches/salads, you have from 8 a.m.
to 2 p.m . to grab some food. However, if you’re;
staying later than 2 p .m ., you’ re nearly required to
venture to the bookstore or off campusdor food. At
least there’ s food carts, right?Sadly, the food carts
only stay between the minimal hours of u p.m . to 2
p.m . on a rotating Schedule, with no more than two
carts at the school at any given time.
As someone who is on campus five days a week,
generally from
a.m . to 6 p .m ., these changes
have been far from positive, especially in regards
to the vending machines. If I don’t want to have
fried food, (I know, scary,) I go to the vending ma­
chines. The past few times I’ve gone, I haven’t been
able to access them . The entire concept o f vending
machines is based around convenience — the fact
that you can use them hearty any time. You know
h ow l said that they have “ fresh food vending mar
chines” as a replacement fdr breakfast, lunch and
dinner offerings? W ell, what if I told you that they
decided to put these vending machines in the caf­
eteria, which is inaccessible after 2 p.m .? I can un­
derstand the concept of having access to fresh food
that doesn’t need to be individually prepared, but
the entire execution of this plan was utterly idiotic.
Clackamas Print
On the bright side, one of the benefits o f these
changes is the food carts. Food carts bring a wide
variety of foods to campus and give students an­
other option if they don’t feel like having cafeteria,
food. Unfortunately, there’ s a catch.
That assumes there’s already pre-existing food,,
should the food carts not be available. With a. lack
of options featured in the cafeteria, students with
dietary restrictions are basically forced irifohuying
from the food carts, or not eating at all. In another
sequential blow, you also end up paying more, for
food since food Carts are generally mote expensive
than the cafeteria. If there’ s one thing I can praise
them for, it’ s the fact that they have brought some
fairly good food carts, to the campus. I hope that
they continue to bring in new food carts to further
diversify the current food situation.
To see how another student feels about this situ­
ation, I reached out to the ASG president, Ashley
Magana Mendez for her point of view. (Interview
featured in sidebar.)
After this interview, I was still scouring for more
information, but I looked back on what Mendez had
told me about how the cafeteria was dated. If the
cafeteria being outdated truly is the reason for the
lack of variety of On-campus food, it raises another
question: should GCC be investing in new buildings
or renovatihg and Upgrading the currently more
heavily-used buildings on campus? How bad is the
condition of the CCC cafeteria?
With additional prying, I was able to procure the
contract between Jewel Hospitality and CCC. As duly
noted within the contract, it states that Jewel Hos­
pitality “ ...w ill adhere to ADA food allergen guide­
lines and provide standard options for gluten-free
and allergen-free m eals.” Because .this is mandat­
ed by the FDA and ADA, Jewel Hospitality should go
the extra mile to provide more options other than
salads and sandwiches for people dealing with di­
etary restrictions. I harbor no ill-w ill towards Jewel
Hospitality — I just hope that if enough students
voice their concerns that we can affect some real
change on campus.
theclackamasprint.com
If Jewel Hospitality is reading this, and. if you
disagree with me, feel free to contact the paper to
share your thoughts on this matter or to schedule
an interview.
The Clackamas Print: What is your opinion on the
cafeteria changes?
Mendez: I personally don’t like how there’s a lot of
restrictions and limitations on what they’re offering
now. I like that they have the vending machines op­
tions, how they have salads and stuff in there. I think
that’ s nice, but I also understand that the kitchen is
really outdated so it’ s hard for them (Jewel Hospitali­
ty) to provide more variety for students. I also like the
idea of having the food trucks now, adds more variety.
TCP: What do you think could be done better?
Mendez: I think having the hours extended would be
better. They close really early, and I think especially
for students who are here in the evening classes, it’ s
not really acceptable for them, and they have to go get
food from the vending machines.
TCP: Do you think there are enough options for dietary
restrictions?
Mendez: No, I don’t think so. I think as of right now
they have pizza, burgers, tater tots, fries and stuff, but
I don’t think it’s very friendly who are people who are
vegan, dairy-free and so on.
TCP: One final question, how often do you visit the
cafeteria compared to last year?
Mendez: I think I’ve gone probably once to get a cof­
fee, if I’ m being honest, in comparison to last I would
usually get a sandwich from there.
October 16,2019