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The Rice Thresher
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by Meredith Jenkins for the Thresher After a brief absence, packaged foods such chips and novelty ice cream treats are returning to college kitchens in response to student requests. This year's meal plan changes originally called for the removal of most packaged items to make meal plans more cost-effective. "When we changed the food plan to all-you-care-to-eat, we couldn't support the demand for packaged foods," Food and Housing Director Mark Ditman said. "If we didn't have limits on the amount people could take, the budget for food would explode," he said. Many prepackaged food items available in college kitchens last year are now available in the convenience store in the Student Center, which opened in August. "I like the convenience store, and for me it works out better, but I can see that if I did live on-campus it would be a hassle to go there to get something," Sid Richardson College senior Katherine Laakso said. College Food Service now serves other items in bulk. Kitchens have been serving individual cookies in place of packaged brand-name boxes. Water dispensers have replaced individual bottles of water, and cereal bins stand in for last year's single-serving boxes. Some foods, such as chips and yogurt, couldn't feasibly be offered in bulk. Those are still available in individual packages. "In the case of yogurt and chips, we couldn't [serve them in bulk] and provide the variety and sanitary conditions students expect, so we brought back individual packages," Assistant Director for Food Operations Matt Morgan said. Novelty ice creams will return in response to student requests, Morgan said. "The students asked for ice cream. It's student demand - you asked for it, you got it." Ditman said that packaged chips returned to all colleges last Monday. However, at the beginning of this week, some students said they had not seen chips in their college kitchens. Baker College freshman Sasha Cooke said, "I think if they're going to bring back packaged foods, it should be done at all colleges at the same time." Cooke said Baker did not have chips as of Wednesday but that she had received an e-mail saying that chips would be offered soon. On Wednesday, Sid Richardson had no packaged food either. "I think they should have chips, personal ice cream bars and water bottles for people to take," Sid freshman Andy Einhorn said. "I think people want something to take away on the way to class if they can't stop and sit down to have a meal at their college," he said.
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