Eating at Davenport is discouraged

editorial cartoon by Natalie Fowle
editorial cartoon by Natalie Fowle

We have seen Davenport evolve over the past few years and have watched as they have made numerous futile attempts at becoming a better place to eat. The staff has changed, the directors of dining have changed, but nothing that is provided for the students has changed.

Their efforts always seem strained, flawed and tired, and after several weeks of trying, the “new improvements” have all been exhausted. So, because they have no better solution, the staff resorts to their old, unfulfilling, unappetizing ways.

Even this year, with another new director, little has been done to satisfy the needs and wants of the students.

The flies, which hover over the sandwich area, still remain. The unsanitary conditions of the salad bar have not been fixed. The trays are never washed; the silverware always has stains.

To-go cups are still not an option. Friends still can not eat for free. Vegetarian options remain absent from the menu, and vegan options will probably never be introduced to the chefs.

The “healthy” choices are always smothered in cheese. The noodles are often over cooked, and the meat, which seems fair at best, never appears to be appetizing.

These requests, which have been voiced by the students for a number of years, are not absurd requests. Students just want things to be simple: they want their food to be edible and they want the conditions in which it is prepared to be sanitary.

Students paying for meal plans ask, “Why does the food never get better? And why are the people who work for the cafeteria so incompetent to understand what we are asking for?”

For some time, Davenport has provided the students with comment cards to respond to the service and the food being given. However, when several students began to respond on a frequent basis, the board was shut down and never put back up. The staff stopped listening, even though the students did not stop talking.

It just does not make sense. If we want something, and we pay for it, we should be provided with it. It is fundamental and it is simple.

As college students, we want to be healthy; we want to have a substitution for our homemade food that we have moved away from. However, when we enter the front doors of Davenport, we are not greeted with smells that remind us of home. What we are greeted with is something that is unpleasant and offensive.

It has gotten to a point where students would rather go out to eat for every meal rather than visit Davenport, and with the rising costs of tuition, this habit can be very depreciating to one’s financial status. However, when one is presented with the option of either going into debt or eating at a place that will most likely be very unsatisfying, one obviously chooses the former option.

It is unfortunate, unnecessary, and appalling that Davenport has not made more competent strides at providing the students with what they want.

Unsigned editorials represent the opinion of the Campus Times Editorial Board.

Natalie Fowle

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