Cafeteria Nightmares
Kezia and Armaan expose the less-than-yummy intricacies of the Lakehead cafeteria on both campuses!
In recent years, Lakehead Orillia has adopted an all-new cafeteria service. Gone are the days of taking food to your room, ordering what you would like to eat, and knowing there will be food for you when your class is done. Now, at Lakehead University, the cafeteria service leaves students broke, hungry, and quite peeved.
Upon entering full-time residency, students are required to pay $5,321.60 for a mandatory meal plan with Dana Hospitality. Under the purview of the meal plan, students are offered eggs, toast, and sometimes bacon for breakfast, which is brunch on weekends (there is no lunch option on weekends). For dinner, students are offered a vegetarian or omnivorous lunch/dinner daily. Each day, lunch and dinner are the same options. If students do not like either of the two options, they are permitted to eat pizza or go to bed hungry. On the weekend, there is no pizza substitute available. Of course, going to bed hungry is not significantly different from eating very small portions.
Image courtesy of Orillia student.
One might also think the consumption of a small portion is always superior to going hungry. However, going hungry is definitely superior to eating undercooked meat…
Image courtesy of Orillia student.
One other reason students may go hungry is that the cafeteria closes at 7:30 pm. This closing time means that students who have classes later than 7:30 pm are left to find somewhere else to eat or not eat at all. Lakehead classes go as late as 10:00 pm. Problem-solving students might have deduced that one could pick up their dinner and bring it to their dorm room for when classes are over. Uh oh! You are not permitted to bring food from Dana’s Hospitality outside the cafeteria; no to-go containers exist. Yes, this includes the fact that there are no bottled beverages- not even water. One Lakehead resident, who has elected to remain anonymous, stated that she contacted Lakehead about the unforeseen cafeteria issues. She received a response stating that she should have researched their services better prior to applying to the program. So, The Argus is prepared to make sure all of the information is clearly accessible to student candidates through this article.
At Lakehead’s Thunder Bay campus, the situation isn’t much better. Aramark, a multinational food catering service, oversees the main cafeteria, where students can have a quick meal between their classes, and the residence cafeteria, where students enrolled in the meal plan have their meals. On the Lakehead website, Aramark states: “Lakehead Dining Services is committed to providing a variety of healthy, unique options across campus;” however, in recent weeks, the cafeteria has failed to uphold its promise.
Students have repeatedly complained about the quality of the food served, the lack of a diverse menu, and the irregular timings of the cafeteria. Despite students’ insistence, appropriate measures have not been taken to address the cafeteria issues. Some meats, especially chicken, are often undercooked. The soda fountain is regularly out of carbonated drinks; if not, they are watered-down. Moreover, there are long intervals before the cutlery is restocked. The pizza is either undercooked or overcooked, and dessert is almost always understocked. Additionally, there have been allegations of mold on bread and serially undercooked rice.
At this point, after numerous complaints, Aramark must understand the danger that undercooked food poses to our students. With some germs like salmonella, just a tiny amount of undercooked food is enough to cause food poisoning. If students find that food is still undercooked or not up to the standard promised by Aramark, we recommend leaving comments about your experience. Comments about Aramark, the cafeteria, and the staff can be made through the ‘Voice of the Customer feedback’ form that can be found on the Lakehead website. Students are also encouraged to pin comments on the napkin talk board in the residence cafeteria.
It is unreasonable to attend an “exceptional and unconventional” university with such dismal food options for its students. Everyone deserves access to nutritious, dietary-friendly, and healthy food. Lakehead must do better.