“I feel bamboozled because during NSO the food was delicious, and now I can’t even get a clean plate. It’s leftover central,” says Baillee Cooper ’18
The number one thing people warn you about before going to school is that the food in the cafeteria will not be like the food you had at home. Half of the time we don’t take this advice to heart and tell ourselves “It can’t be that bad,” or “I’m paying all this money, they better have good food!” Well if you go to Bowdoin College, John Hopkins University, and Columbia University (who in that order hold the top three spots for the best college food), then you don’t have to worry about all of that, because you are in good hands. At Spelman it’s a different story.
There always seems to be a bit of anxiety when going to the Alma Upshaw Dining Hall, because you never know if you’re going to have a good meal or starve for the second week in a row.
While walking up the steps you probably begin to contemplate whether or not you’re going to have pizza or hamburgers with French fries, because 9 times out of 10 you’re not going to want the main dish of mystery meat with a side of unseasoned greens. Then you go to the tea machine hoping to get a sweet ice tea, but instead you get water. You go to the ice cream machine hoping to get smooth vanilla ice cream, but instead you get half-frozen sugar milk. “When I’m looking forward to an ice cold coke and I pick up a cup with a lip print on it, and then I go to get my coke and its water, it can really mess up my day” said Alexandra Roberts ’18.
And the problem doesn’t stop just there.
When you wander away from the depressing Cafeteria, you have a number of options for alternate student dining: Starbucks, Jamba Juice, Grille Works, Sushi, and Subway. However, there is a twist. Starbucks usually runs out of ice, banana nut bread, and breakfast sandwiches. So that Mocha Frappuccino and sausage, egg, and cheese sandwich that you were going to grab on your way to class, try again. Jamaba Juice and Grille Works opens at 11:00am and closes at 4:00pm, but that probably doesn’t matter because a majority of students have class during that time. That leaves only Subway and Sushi left, and Sushi will probably be out of the question, because it has the power to make your stomach hurt in a matter of seconds. In addition, a lot of the food in the Cafeteria is fattening and unhealthy, especially for vegetarians whose meals on a daily basis tend to consist of Sweet Potatoes, Squash, and Pita Chips with Humus. Mackenzie Millet ’18 said the best thing to do is regards to dining on Spelman’s Campus is “eat to live, not live to eat.”
Many students are hoping that with the addition of Chick-Fil-A and Which Wich on Morehouse’s Campus, they will be able to use their dining dollars. Until that time comes, The Wal-Mart in the west end has a wonderful grocery section and an aisle dedicated to pots and pans for college students to purchase. If that doesn’t work out the Wellness Center is always open and welcoming the Freshman 15 from 6am-8pm.