The Dining Hall

As I sat at my kitchen table enjoying a home cooked meal over thanksgiving break, one question came up that always seems to surface when I am home. It was my mom who asked “so how’s the food been?” This immediately brought my mood down a level and I looked at her in disbelief because she already, in fact, knew exactly how the food is. She has heard over and over for years the complaints by myself, brothers, and the friends we bring home about everything from meatless Monday to the Cheesburger pie they make surprisingly just a day or two after hamburgers are serve. Not to mention, it’s no coincidence that my SC and credit card bill seem to get higher and higher each year I am at Kent, so one would think that my parents could connect the dots. Instead, I turned to my Mom and answered, “Great.”I am not one to complain about many things, but after four years of growing discontent it seems like this is something that I needed to get off my chest by the time I graduate. My problems with the dining hall are not with the staff, they do a good job with what they are given, but rather with the people behind the scenes ordering and organizing it and the lack of funding. At this point, when I or my fellow four year friends see most meals (tacos, sloppy joe’s, fish, pasta, noodles), or any meat for that matter with the exception of chicken burgers and tenders, it is a sprint for the sandwich or pizza line. Not to mention, the line for hot food is sometimes too long to even wait in if I have a practice right after dinner. Anyway, here are some things the dining hall does well.

1) Chicken burgers

2) Cereal

3) Cookies (on a good day)

From then on, it’s a lost cause. You may find yourself even occasionally picking up a fork or plate that is questionably cleaned, pulling out a hair in your taco salad, or other things that you should never have to experience (like the quality of the eggs in the morning). I have seen all of these happen first hand, and the worst one I ever saw happened last year during the spring term. My friend Eric and I were in the dining hall on a hot summer day about to enjoy what we thought to be a delicious pulled pork sandwich. I saw Eric chewing on something and when I looked over his eyes widened as he opened his mouth to see what clump of pork was the problem. This was no pork. After seeing the faces of dozens of kids around the tables, we went over to ask Mr. Smith, an ecology teacher, if we could identify what we had found. It turned out to be an aorta from a baby pig, no joke. Clearly this isn’t something that the staff could have seen but rather shows the quality of the food sources we get our food from. So with that, students and faculty, enjoy your meals this break and stay away from pulled pork sandwiches when you return.