At Andrews University, there are two main options for meals. The Terrace Café is a buffet-style venue with seating. The Gazebo offers fast food and has snacks, toiletries, and other useful items. One might think that students relish these areas. However, as I spoke to the student body, I learned that the food here is less than highly favored.
When it comes to the Gazebo, the one thing people complain about most is the variety. Melanie Webb (senior, English) leans toward the Gazebo when it’s time to eat. But she has been at Andrews for four years and is ready for something new. “The Gazebo is open longer than the Terrace, and it's more customizable,” Webb admitted. “But the options are just... beans, rice, fries or some combinations of those things,” she deadpanned. “They used to have a lot more options,” interjected Joel Pelletier (senior, English, religion, secondary education, and Spanish), who was sitting nearby, adding that the Gazebo used to have pretzels and flatbread pizza. Webb was visibly surprised by the information and expressed disappointment at the changes.
In addition to the lack of variety, Webb has also experienced some nausea after eating from the Gazebo. She feels the cleanliness in both the Gazebo and Terrace isn’t what it should be. There’s a note of disgust in her voice when she describes the conditions. “In the Terrace, the counters can be dirty,” she said. “In the Gazebo, the boxes and receipts are always dirty. They also don’t change their gloves when reaching into the food. If I had a dairy allergy, I'd definitely be worried about cross-contamination.”
Webb took a long moment to think before telling me her thoughts on the freshness of the food. “I’d give it a three, maybe two and a half out of 10 in terms of freshness, especially at the Gazebo," she said hesitantly. “Everything there is very processed. In the Terrace, I get the feeling that not all of it is made in the Terrace, and probably comes in a box.”
The consensus from the people I interviewed about the freshness was that the food isn’t bad, but it’s not especially good either. “In my experience, the Café is usually on the fresher side than the Gazebo,” says Pelletier. “I think it reaches the threshold of ‘good enough’ but it’s never quite pristine.”
Webb and Pelletier didn’t report any adverse health effects other than mild indigestion, but Gabrielle Brazitye (sophomore, nursing) has had much worse experiences when it comes to the food. Multiple bottles of probiotics line the shelves in her room. “I’ve been so bloated since I started [this semester],” she complains. “I feel bloated every time I eat from the Terrace. I look pregnant now; it’s bad,” she bemoans with a laugh. “I’ve had to start taking probiotics because of it. I’ve barely been eating. The salad is the only thing to eat, but sometimes it's so bad that I never even finish it.” She reports feeling nauseous on occasion, something that is typically rare for her. “In my freshman year, I was nauseous all the time, and sometimes I’d throw up in the bathroom. It was so embarrassing.”
Anna Simons (senior, animal science) usually goes to the Café, but it’s not exactly her favorite. “The food is fresh, but not always the most flavorful. I know they put the spices out for us, but it would be nice if they pre-seasoned it. The Gazebo needs more options, and some more ethnic foods would be nice.”
A common complaint among students at Andrew is that they like the food well enough, but they don’t feel they are being given enough options for what they are paying. All five students expressed that the rise in prices does not reflect the quality of the food they are being served. Some students don’t see why they should pay thousands of dollars to eat the same mediocre things every day.
“The Gazebo needs more options,” agrees Alana Seymour (freshman), “the Terrace Café needs to add more flavor to the food, and it definitely needs more seasoning,” grimacing slightly as she takes a hair out of her coconut rice. “But I love the fruits and veggies.”
All five students I spoke to assured me that they are not disgruntled with the staff at the Terrace and Gazebo. They said they don’t want to sling mud at people who are only trying to do their jobs; they simply want to feel heard.
“I understand that this is a difficult job, but we are paying a lot of money, and for a lot of us, these are the only places for some of us to eat,” said Webb. “It would be nice if they listened to students' concerns about food quality.”
Despite the compassion they feel for the staff, it doesn’t change the fact that the students are unsatisfied with the food they are being given. Therefore, Pelletier had one piece of advice for incoming freshmen who are curious about the food. “Get a car. The food here will never be outright bad, but it’s not good, either.”
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.