By Gregory Lee, Contributor
Whether it be from the crowded lines at the MUSC Tim Hortons or to the pasta place inside Centro, hungry students are everywhere, looking for ways to satisfy their hunger on campus.
McMaster Hospitality Services, which operates most eateries on campus, state that they aim to provide high quality food service, variety and value. Eating on campus a few times will show that in reality, these expectations are not always met.
Food at universities is notorious for being unhealthy. It is usually stereotyped as deep fried, greasy, frozen and/or unhealthy, which are all true statements. A quick look at the menu at many of the campus eateries shows that they’re mainly burgers, wraps and fries that are almost always frozen and low-quality in terms of taste — mediocre at best.
Normally I wouldn’t have a problem with frozen deep-fried food but the fact that campus food is also notoriously expensive as well doesn’t help. For example, a slice of pepperoni pizza at the MUSC Pizza Pizza costs significantly more than a slice at any other Pizza Pizza location. A Mac Burger at Centro costs around $8.95 for the burger itself, plus an extra $2.99 for a combo, which includes a drink and fries. An order of onion rings which normally contains 5-7 rings will set you back around $4.
What really puts the prices of on-campus food into perspective is when it's compared to other locations off campus which offer better value for your money compared to the on-campus eateries. It’s worse for people who live on residence as the meal plans offered by Mac Hospitality are mandatory if you want to live on residence with few exceptions.
Although the meals plans allow students to save tax when buying food on campus, they still cost students at least $3000 upfront for even the lighter meal plans.
It gets worse when Mac Hospitality takes away exactly half of the non-refundable portion of your meal plan in the beginning of the year for overhead costs, giving you a 50 per cent discount on all food. This discount is only for first year and disappears after the school year ends. The truth is, many students will not finish the non-refundable portion of their meal plan before first year ends. They will either have to go on spending sprees to finish their plans or cut their losses and use the money next school year, even if it technically means losing half of your money.
Health wise, the food on campus doesn’t fare well either. University eating is characterized by fears over the “freshman 15” and uncontrollable weight gain. While the freshman 15 is little more than just a myth, the health concerns of campus food are not.
A quick look at the nutrition facts of campus food will be enough to give any health-conscious individual a heart attack. Calories, unhealthy fats, sodium, carbohydrates and bad cholesterol are high for most, if not all dishes. In addition, the foods on campus are often low in key nutrients such as fibre, protein and vitamins. The campus eateries do have their healthier options such as salad bars or select food from Bridges, but healthy options are almost always lacking on the menus around campus.
Let’s not forget the fact that food options for vegetarians and vegans are limited on campus. While we do have Bridges serving vegetarian and vegan options, other eateries on campus are often lacking in vegetarian and vegan options. Halal and kosher options are also limited and just recently, McMaster Hospitality stopped offering halal beef burgers at their eateries.
The food at Mac is definitely not the worst, but it can be greatly improved upon both health-wise and cost-wise. The introduction of the new $5-dollar daily meals is a step in the right direction for food accessibility at Mac and the menu at the campus eateries is always changing. Hopefully, Mac continues to make improvements to the food on campus so that one day, it can be accessible for all.
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
By: Ashley Eom
Mediterranean
Reigning in the throne of the crowd favourite salad station is Mama Ghanoush. Their menu features a little bit of everything. The shawarmas are reminiscent of the Westdale gem Basilique. You can add a little bit of Lebanese cuisine to your sandwiches with pitas and baba ghanoush. Lastly, a section of the menu is dedicated to three Mediterranean salads in loving memory of its predecessor. Will it live up to the real deal? You be the judge.
Mexican
Gorditos works very much like Burrito Boyz, Burrito Bandits or any other burrito joints with catchy and alliterative names. You work your way down the line, choosing your base, protein, additional toppings and sauce. This is undoubtedly a delicious addition to Centro for a hot grab-and-go food for your next class. Yes, it is sad to see the roast beef sandwiches of A La Carte go, but the hot and fresh weekend waffles are still here as your hangover remedy.
American
Marauders no longer have to chase down Canada’s first grilled cheese food truck as it has rooted its wheels at the entrance of Centro. Proudly using local ingredients, Gorilla Cheese’s menu consists of six signature sandwiches with monthly features. While you can resort to the simple and classic grilled cheese, you might enjoy a sweet afternoon pick-me-up by trying “The Lumberjack,” which features melted cheddar cheese and bacon on a bed of sliced Granny Smith apples with a generous shower of maple syrup. Whatever you decide, you won’t be cheesed.
Most people come to Mac expecting to spend four or five years here. But for Vojka Jovanovic, it’s been nearly 40 years.
As an employee of McMaster Hospitality Services, Vojka has come to be one of the university’s most beloved employees. From her post at Centro’s NeedaSub station, she offers both sandwiches and life advice to students.
“I am here almost 37 years and I feel like I start yesterday,” said Vojka of her time working at Centro.
Hailing from Montenegro, Vojka immigrated to Canada 40 years ago, knowing basically no English.
“When I come… I only know three words [in English]. My name, my last name, and my address,” she said.
With little English experience, she got her first job in the country working at the Rathskeller Refectory, many years before it became Bridges and The Phoenix.
After one year, she moved from the refectory to what would become her second home.
“[They] said to me, ‘Vojka, we need you in the Commons building. We got about 1,000 students who need to be served food.’ And I say, ‘okay, I try my best,’” she explained. “I try my best to learn English, to communicate with people. And the moment I stepped in I feel like I’m home. I don’t know what it is, but that was my feeling,”
While the location she has worked in has been the same, much has changed in food services in her time at McMaster.
“Looking at the Commons now, and looking Commons thirty seven years ago, it’s a huge difference, because today I don’t know what we’re missing here.”
Vojka’s pride in her workplace became clear when The Silhouette sat down with her. In fact, there was hardly any sitting involved, as she insisted on showing off the amenities that Centro has to offer.
“I think the cafeteria look like a huge hotel sometimes,” she said.
This wasn’t always the case. Vojka described how, in earlier years while working on the salad bar, there weren’t always a lot of vegetables to be had.
“At that time, the vegetable was more expensive. We got green beans, we got Brussels sprouts, we got carrots. But [something] was always missing because they say ‘oh, it’s a little bit too expensive.’”
Instead, she and Maria, a fellow Commons employee, used to prepare something with fewer vegetables.
“We used to mixing 200 pounds macaroni and tuna salad. That was the favourite for the students,” she said.
The food preparation is only a part of the job for Vojka, however. Working in a meal hall that serves mostly first-year students, she has acted as an advisor, a mentor, and a mother away from home.
“I love my job very much, because I am mother, I got a feeling,” she said, suggesting that having a daughter of her own helped her to care for the students who frequent Centro.
“I feel so proud when I am in a line and some people come and they say ‘oh, Vokja, I miss my mother, I miss my father, I miss my brother.’ What else do you gonna do, you just hug them. You say ‘don’t worry, you going to be okay, you gonna love this place.’”
She explained how she loves to give students advice on anything in their life, from personal issues to their futures.
“Sometimes the student come to me and they say ‘Vokja, I like to be a doctor. What I should do, I am in first year here, you are like my mother, can you tell me?’ I say ‘Honey, eat, make yourself comfortable, study, make your mother proud. Live with your dream and you will be.’”
And such advice has been consistent over her many years at Centro. Vojka described how in Sept. 2013, she encountered a gentleman who was about 50 years old and had been a student at Mac.
“He come to me in line and he say ‘Vokja, can I hug you please, you was my best lunch lady. This is my son, he is a student here. Can you please take care about him?’ What else can I tell you, I feel so great. That is my thanks.”
Her encouragement extended as well to the Marauders, of whom she says she is a big fan.
“I tell them, ‘guys, before I retire, you gonna be number one.’ And yes, they was,” she said, citing the success of the Marauders football team at the Vanier Cup in 2011. The team, remembering how big a fan she was, returned to the University to take a picture with her and their trophy.
Even with such love for her job, Vojka admits that she can only continue for so long. With 37 years under her belt, she is looking to retire come April 2014.
“My time is over…pretty soon. I go to retire, because my body said maybe it’s enough. But I was very proud, very happy that I was working for McMaster. This is in my heart and I will keep it for as long as I live.”
Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly spelled Vokja's last name. It is Jovanovic, not Ivanovitch.
