The faces of most students as they walk into Ullman Commons at California Lutheran University are faces of joy knowing they will be able to fill their needs of hunger, but those faces soon turn to disappointment when they find out what they will be eating.

According to the website of Cal Lutheran’s food supplier, Sodexo, the company continuously reviews their menus to make sure that they are offering balanced and varied food options.

Sodexo may believe that they are offering students on campus a variety of food options of high quality, but I strongly disagree.  The food in the commons needs to be revamped to a higher quality for not only consumption, but to also meet the high prices students pay to eat there.

There are different options for students who plan to eat on campus.  Prices of meal plans for commuters range from $250 to $1,360 during an academic year.  All other meal plans for students range from $5,450 to $5,870 during an academic year.

At such high prices, students should not be fed chicken that is undercooked or stale bread.  Students should not be subject to watered down drink options and milk dispensers that continuously don’t work.

On a daily basis students can be seen throwing away full plates of food, not because those students were full, but because they were not satisfied with what they were consuming.

The rotating trash trays are constantly filled with quesadillas that have unmelted cheese, french fries that are soggy and undercooked and burnt pizza.

Kristian Gallardo, a student at Cal Lutheran, has the 190 block meal plan worth $5,450 a year and said that it offers him the chance to eat as much as he wants, but he does not think it is worth the quality of food he is getting.

“I don’t think they change it up enough in the caf.  I feel like they could add more stuff to it for the same cost that they’re doing other things,” Gallardo said.

Clinton Oie, Director of auxiliaries, said that Sodexo controls the selection of food that goes onto the menus offered at Cal Lutheran and that menu choices can be changed based upon student feedback.

We as students may have a chance to voice our opinions and see change, but this change does not come easily or quickly.  When a student favorite, teriyaki chicken plate, was taken off the menu, it took months of complaints to see a return.  Students should not have to issue complaints for months on end to see a dish that they enjoy eating in the commons.

Students may have done what is needed to get back one popular dish, but I do not think that is where it should end.

“I wish students would be more involved,” Oie said.

Oie is on the right track when it comes to wanting to let the students of Cal Lutheran be heard, but the methods of being heard are not made clearly available.  

Better food needs to be brought to the commons and if Sodexo is open to the feedback that will get better food to the students, they need to make that known throughout the dining area.

Dean Hendrix
Staff Writer
Published February 24th, 2016