If you walk in the diner, you see numerous amounts of options for meals. This includes hamburgers, sandwiches, pizza, a salad bar, and more.
However, SXU needs to be more aware of students with dietary restrictions. There are not a lot of options for people with a gluten allergy, or people who are vegan or people who simply want to eat a little healthier. The salad bar is a great place to get the nutrients you need and remain healthy, yet a lot of the salad bar options are still not fit for vegan and gluten allergy people.
For example, you could load your tray with veggies but then the dressing and the croutons are not gluten free, and some of them not dairy free. All you’re left with is a bland veggie tray and it is hard to become full and satisfied off of that.
They also have fruit cups, which are great for a go-to snack on your way to class, yet even these do not supplement a meal. Your best option is to go to Cougar Fuel in the Shannon Center and order a smoothie. This is a great start to getting healthy, however the vegan options there are still limited.
In addition to that, if you have a short break in between classes to grab a meal, it can be cumbersome to go all the way to the Shannon Center for food, especially when it is winter and freezing.
A good solution for this would be to add more gluten-free and vegan options. The Diner has already started to implement this with their gluten-free cookies and muffins, yet there should be a whole section of food dedicated to people with dietary restrictions.
I would like to see a new and improved salad bar with vegan and gluten-free dressings, gluten-free bread in the sandwich station, and maybe even vegan burgers and pizza. These changes would positively impact the SXU community and help students become healthier and happier.
SXU students would have a positive mood change and be able to learn how to live a healthy lifestyle. Cougar Fuel is great for being healthy, but I would also love to see them open more hours, so people can enjoy being healthy all day, seven days a week. In addition, Coffee Cats should offer healthy options like Cougar Fuel, so students can be healthy on the go when going to class.
It can be hard to remain healthy on campus, and even harder when you have dietary restrictions such as a gluten allergy or you practice veganism. The freshman fifteen is very real, but we as students should not have to worry about what ingredients are in the food. We should be able to feel confident that SXU is giving us all the options available and that they supports its students in becoming healthier, happier, and more educated about the food we eat.
Now I’m not saying get rid of the traditional options. Keep the pizza and the burgers because we all want to have something more filling occasionally. However, add more options for people with dietary restrictions, and people who are just trying to eat healthier.
It would only benefit the SXU community and bring more education to health. In the long run, getting vegan and gluten-free foods will bring a new era to the SXU cafe.
Emily Rubino
Opinions Editor