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Maneuvering my way through the salad bar at Carleton’s popular eatery, “East Dining Hall,” I was struck with the suspicion that maybe not all the vegetables were organic. While I should have known this was a sure sign of what was to come, as I sat down to enjoy my choices; a slice of vegetable pizza with all the fixings, spinach salad with carrot shavings, mushrooms, and croutons sprinkled with olive oil, and chicken curry with jasmine rice, I have to admit that I was a little excited.
However, this feeling quickly dissipated once I bit into the pizza, and realized that it was not at my preferred pizza eating temperature of 85.42 degrees Fahrenheit. The same temperature problem occurred with my jasmine rice. Even more outrageous was the fact that the olive oil I’d sprinkled on my salad was definitely only virgin olive oil, not extra virgin olive oil.
Now, I don’t think I’m asking too much when I say that when I eat at the dinning halls, I want all the hardworking cooks to know exactly how I like my food. I may be one among 2,025 students, but I think it’s perfectly reasonable of me to expect them to memorize my specific food requests. Sure, all I had to do was pick among a multitude of carefully prepared choices, but the 10 sec wait to get my card swiped was just too much. I have things to do Carleton!
My experience at St. Olaf’s “Stev Hall” was thankfully much better. As I approached the campus by bus, surrounded by other gastronomy enthusiasts, I could practically smell the contraband tacos. For those of you who don’t know, tacos are rumored to be banned at Carleton’s dining halls for sustainability reasons. Although we Carls pride ourselves at being environmentally conscious consumers, many of us make the trek to St. Olaf to sample one of these forbidden wonders.
As I filled my plate with tacos and other unsustainable foods like a hot dog, my countless Facebook posts attacking people who refuse to shell out a bit more money for eco-friendly food were pushed to the back of my mind. I love being a passive activist, but when given the opportunity, I will happily eat these foods away from the watchful eyes of campus. However, what really swung the vote in favor of St. Olaf was the popsicles available for dessert. With their first three ingredients being “corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, and sugar,” I knew I’d found something to satisfy the secret food slob in me.