By Mike Danielson

School cafeterias in general are common places in the world of college. Students should feel exceptionally fortunate if they have a nice cafeteria to eat at. Many times, however, cafeteria food is not that exciting. Most cafeterias are similar in that they have open hours centered on the basic three meals of the day. Many food service programs like Fine Host at Saint Mary's University have meal plans. In most colleges the meal plans are added onto the bill that students pay toward college tuition. There are always students who are going to complain about the food that the cafeteria serves, but a lot of students believe the food is actually not that bad. It all depends on who you ask.

Our school cafeteria at Saint Mary's University is responsible for feeding hundreds of students. Our cafeteria serves a variety of healthy and nutritious foods from all of the basic food groups. They also serve plenty of desserts for people to eat after they finish with the regular meals. Not everyone at Saint Mary's University eats at the school cafeteria, but the ones who do eat here on a regular basis. From an informal survey I conducted around campus, about half of the students like the food and the other half of students who eat in the cafeteria strongly dislike the food they serve for a number of reasons. I constantly hear complaining going on about the food. However, there are plenty of students who don’t complain at all; they love the cafeteria food. In my survey I randomly asked 50 students if they were overall satisfied with the cafeteria food: 23 of the students said yes and 27 of the students said no, they were not satisfied.
Sophomore Jordan West said, “I like to eat the school cafeteria food. I think that at least on most days of the week the food tastes very good. Sometimes when they serve something really tasty, it’s almost like I am eating food from a fancy restaurant. The cafeteria food more than satisfies me and I am proud to walk into the cafeteria and eat every day.”

Aaron Nielsen, a sophomore, explains, “Every Monday we have brownies. Every Friday we have 7-layer bars. My theory is that in order to keep the brownies fresh they simply add a layer of frosting ever day resulting in seven layer bars by Friday.” Nielsen voiced one concern about the cafeteria: “Who on earth wakes up early enough on the weekends to eat in the café?” I think this concern is a very good point. Many students think that the cafeteria should be open all day every day of the week. There are also students who don’t like to be served the food from the cooks. They think they should be able to serve themselves their own food in the cafeteria every time they eat. Also, students would like refunds of their money at the end of the semester for all the meals they skipped.

Some of the foods that are favorites of many students are mashed potatoes and gravy, all types of meats, French fries, and biscuits. And of course many students like to eat the desserts. I know this because I like to eat the desserts and many of my friends like eating many of the desserts as well. Ice cream is the most popular dessert item at our school cafeteria.