Hundreds of new students are now eating at Gorham’s finest dining hall, located right in the Brooks Student Center. The question is are they enjoying what they pay to eat? The fact is students living on campus must have a meal plan. Do students really enjoy the food served or would they rather be spending their ingestion hours eating warmed up ravioli in their dorm room?
Students lean strongly one-way or the other about the cafeteria food. Either they enjoy the food or they would rather be feasting anywhere else. Faith Murphy said when asked about Aramark, “The food is as good as Grandma’s on Thanksgiving especially with the turkey dinner I had tonight.” She is one of the supporters of Aramark, the University’s food provider.
A common complaint among USM students, old and new, is that the choices are repetitive. How many times can you eat grilled cheese and french fries before you’re absolutely sick of it?
Stephanie Pearl said, “I think it’s good, it’s just too repetitive, it’s the same thing everyday.”
On the other hand Kevin Oates said, “It’s like riding the yummy express, it’s really not that bad when you eat something different everyday.” Apparently he is able to find variety in the food.
Ashley Squires shares some great advice. “Get to breakfast before 10:15 or your screwed.” Students who to get to the dining hall in the transition period between breakfast and lunch their choices are limited to cold cereal and leftover bagels.
College cafeterias in general have a reputation for serving bad food. Kurt Randall said, “The food isn’t too bad, but the cafeteria isn’t exactly a place I would take a date.”
Chris Paquin stated: “It could kill cockroaches,” Paquin isn’t the only customer let down walking through the dining hall, many gripes can be heard about the non-appetizing food. A common belief of freshman is that the food was good on the first day to lure them in and impress the parents. After the parents disappeared so did the first-rate food.
Whether you eat in Portland or in Gorham, trying to stay healthy proposes difficulties. It’s hard to imagine a place where there are more options to eat fried food. Mindy Mondoux: “When I walk in to the caf? I have the intention of eating a healthy meal but when I compare the salad to the pizza it’s hard to stick with the healthier choice.”
Aramark offers many choices for the vegetarians with the salad bar, pasta, veggie burgers and pizza, which are all served on a daily basis.
Whether you are a lover or a hater of the Aramark food if you live on campus your stuck with it. Enjoy what you can, avoid the Shepard’s pie and Bon App?tit!