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Healthy
food hard to find on campus
The
search for healthy food on campus can sometimes
feel like a treasure hunt. Although many
of the eateries on campus provide a few
small healthy snacks, junk food is usually
more appealing to students' wallets.
Just
look at healthy drinks such as Naked Juice
or a Robek's smoothie, which run about $3
to 4 and compare them to an Outpost breakfast
meal, that consists of meat, toast, eggs
and hash browns for under $3. The majority
of the time most starving students will
end up choosing the cheaper option that
will satisfy their hunger rather than the
more costly healthier option.
With
the rising cost of tuition, books and gas,
students are trying to get as many breaks
and discounts they can get in order to save
money.
When
was the last time you saw any of the restaurants
or snack bars offer discounts on health
food? Where is the "buy one smoothie
get the second free," or "one
Naked Juice and a bag of banana chips for
$2?" Sadly, these options do not exist.
Instead, we get unhealthy meals that serve
our budget much better than our health.
Although
our campus has many places to eat, most
of them serve fast food that is full of
fat and calories. Places such as Taco Bell,
Carl's Jr., Panda Express and Round Table
Pizza outnumber the few healthy establishments
we have, such as Robek's or Beachwalk cafe.
Beachwalk cafe, which replaced Culinary
wraps, serves salads, grilled veggies and
chicken, but mostly serves fast food.
Colleges
are notorious for the "freshman 15,"
or the 15 pounds incoming freshmen gain
during their first year in college. This
is largely due to the fact that freshmen
are living in dorms and are limited to eating
food on campus or in the dorms.
Usually
college is the first time that students
are 100 percent responsible for feeding
themselves and often end up living on instant
ramen or macaroni and cheese. Because of
this it is important that students are given
more healthy choices.
Why
are students who are concerned about their
health and have the extra money to spend
punished by having only a few places to
eat on campus? In order to get a better
selection, students have to leave campus
to buy food at places such as Trader Joe's,
three miles away from campus.
The
United States government has released its
dietary guidelines for 2005. The guidelines
put added emphasis on physical activity.
This emphasis is because almost two-thirds
of all Americans are overweight or obese,
and more than half don't exercise. They
recommend consuming less than 10 percent
of your calories from saturated fat, eating
less than 300 mg of cholesterol per day
and keeping trans fatty acid consumption
as low as possible.
One
last and very important guideline they provide
is that you should consume less than 2,300
mg (approximately 1 teaspoon) of sodium
per day. Have you ever looked at how much
sodium is in a hamburger or pizza?
We
need a better selection of healthy food
on campus with more reasonable prices, or
at least better deals. That way, students
have the choice to follow the guidelines
or eat 1,400 calories from an order of kung
pao chicken. After all, we're responsible
adults, aren't we? We don't need someone
telling us what to eat.
Kara
Ogushi is a fourth year print journalism
major at CSULB.
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