Students at Trinity Western have often felt they are receiving the short end of the stick when it comes to campus dining services, and aren’t afraid to mention it. In the most recent Globe and Mail report card, TWU students gave dining services a ‘D.’ This dissatisfaction seems to be matched at other universities nearby: UBC, UVic and UFV all received C’s for their efforts. Is dining dissatisfaction a common problem in universities, and can anything really beat a home cooked meal? How does TWU measure up to larger universities such as UBC, UVIC, UFV and Biola?
A virtual mini-city in itself, UBC is home to many different food options. While the options vary between each residence’s different cafeteria, the options are available to all students. Sarah Elbert, first year student at UBC, feels no dissatisfaction with the multiple food options on campus, but chalks this up to being “lucky” to live in a newer residence, with supposedly better food. Cafeteria hours are similar to those at TWU, with the main cafeterias being open until 7:00 p.m., and a smaller snack place open until 11:00 p.m. Of course, these are only two of the multiple other food providers open on campus, including White Spot, Pita Pit, and McDonalds. Other UBC students gave their school a C for food services, a relatively average grade for the survey.
UFV is home to about 10,000 students, but only a small portion—about 250—of those students live on campus during the school year. Like most other schools in Canada, UFV students expressed dissatisfaction in the Globe and Mail survey, giving the food services on campus a C-; low, but not quite as low as the mark TWU received. Most students rave about the campus-famous Tim Hortons, and commuters comment that there is a good deal of variety, although student Alley Richardson finds the food can be overpriced, an issue that pervades most universities.
“I think caf food is overpriced, especially the healthy foods, like a little container of veggies and dip can easily be over five dollars,” she says.
Pleasing the many commuters, who are not restricted to eating every meal on campus, can be easier than satisfying residents, who grow tired of repetitive choices.
UVic boasts a similar set of options to UBC, with lengthy hours in main cafeterias, alternative late night spots, and many health and special diet conscious choices and cheap breakfasts—waffles only cost $1.75. The students rewarded the school’s efforts with a C+ in the Globe and Mail report card: one of the highest grades for a school of UVic’s size.
Biola sets their cafeteria experience up for variety, by having it feel like a mini-food court. Students pay for a certain amount of meals per week, but not for the specific food purchased. While Biola was not subject to the same grading system as the other universities, it receives decent reviews from its students.
“The quality of food at Biola was great,” says Maggie Bacharach, an alumni. “I never felt like I was eating packaged crap. I’m sure some of it was, but I never got that impression.”
Most of us are familiar with the situation at Trinity: a small school with one major option for meals. A main difference with these universities and Trinity is that often various food franchises have partnered with the university to open their doors on campus to students. UBC, UVic and even UFV all boast various restaurants on campus other than the cafeterias, giving their students variety.
Yet it is not entirely TWU’s fault that some students feel discontent. “Trinity is so small, so it’s unreasonable to expect them to sustain anything better. We can’t afford to employ more options for dining on campus,” says Meghan Hitchman, 3rd year, who also feels unsatisfied with the current situation.
This, coupled with the fact that a large number of undergraduate students do live on campus for at least two years, can foster a lot of dining discontentment. “I find the less you think about it, the more satisfied you are,” says James Bustard, 2nd year. The isolation that can be felt by students living on the Trinity campus is only perpetuated by the lack of variety in food providers, leading to food-claustrophobia, which is continually expressed in complaints and dissatisfaction towards the seeming lack of options. While initially, options are abundant at Trinity, a couple weeks in, claustrophobia sets in, and the D’s come out.
