Salad In the Caf, or Ramen In the Dorm?

Allen Food Service Strives To Please Masses

A+typical+noontime+scene+at+the+Allen+cafeteria.

Nikayla Kussatz

A typical noontime scene at the Allen cafeteria.

Nikayla Kussatz, Health Editor

As Allen Community College’s students line up to get their food from the cafeteria, they often wonder whether or not it will be noodles for the third day in a row. Providing for over 200 students and athletes can be very time consuming and hard to make everything perfect.

According to foodallergy.org, about fifteen million Americans have at least one food allergy, which makes it difficult to be able to serve everything at the school meals. Freshman Imani Lemon is a vegan and can sometimes find it difficult to find food to eat during the day.

“I became a vegan July of 2017 because I had already started living healthier and I wanted to take the next biggest step and become dairy and meat free,” said Lemon.

Each morning, Lemon usually starts off with taking B-12 and fish oil supplements. He eats a banana and either biscuits and gravy or a bagel for breakfast, and a salad with some sort of starch or rice for lunch and dinner.

The food is alright, I don’t really mind it. Some days are just better than others. I really like that it is all-you-can-eat, so I am never left hungry after a meal.

— Rjay McCoy

“If I could see anything change it would be for the students to be able to have more variety with choosing healthy options,” Lemon said. “Since we pay so much money for these meal plans, and don’t really have any other choice but to eat here, I just feel that there should be more options.”

Freshman baseball player Rjay McCoy has 18 meals a week in the Allen dining hall.

“The food is alright, I don’t really mind it. Some days are just better than others. I really like that it is all-you-can-eat, so I am never left hungry after a meal,” said McCoy. “I also really like the barbecue chicken tenders.”

Many athletes need a lot of food to be able to be able to perform at their best, and making every meal an all-you-can-eat buffet makes it easier for the students to fill up. Sophomore Jacob Patterson plays basketball here at Allen and also enjoys the food.

“I usually get two plates of food with a bowl of salad to fill up,” Patterson said. Multiple students said they liked how the salad bar is always available as a healthy option.

Overall, most students claimed that the taste of the food is good and they enjoy eating and socializing during meals.