Bruins forgo campus convenience, save money
Limited budgets, higher prices drive students to markets
By Kimberly Mackesy
Ah, elementary school. The days of opening up your Star Wars
lunch box and finding a gummy PB & J sandwich, a bruised banana
and a leaky juice box. You’re in college now, and you have money,
so you eat well. Right?
Not necessarily, according to some students. These days many
Bruins rely on brown-bagging and supermarket shopping in order to
keep their food spending under control. In light of increasing
tuition, higher students’ association food prices and limited
budgets, many students are faced with a choice: eat well or have
money.
"I found myself spending at least $10 a day on campus food,"
said Laura Horowitz, a graduate MBA student. "It just adds up if
you’re not cooking for yourself."
Finding a way to feed oneself cheaply and healthily is a common
problem, students said. One of the most frequently mentioned ways
to avoid inordinate expenses is to forgo campus food in favor of
cooking or packing lunch. And according to Andrea Guiterrez, an
employee of the Ralphs grocery store on Wilshire, ASUCLA’s loss is
Ralphs’ gain.
"(Students) usually spend over $100 at a time. They’re basically
using their credit cards," Guiterrez said. She added that she has
noticed changing trends in students’ spending habits.
"They are all starting to cook now," she said. "Before, all I
used to see were students buying frozen dinners. Now they’re buying
healthier things."
Not only are students buying healthier foods, they seem to be
imbibing less, Guiterrez added.
"(Students are) buying less alcohol than they used to," she
said. "Now it’s usually only for special occasions, like when
there’s a game."
Eating on campus is, in the words of Jeannette Reyes, a
third-year biology student, "expensive."
She added, "I try not to eat too much on campus."
While most students said they viewed the recent campus food
price increases as an inconvenience, none said they would be a
deciding factor in whether or not they would purchase food on
campus.
And many students thought campus food prices were already too
high.
"Since a lot of things are expensive to get in or around campus,
I found myself brown-bagging a lot," said Gilmar Fortis, a
second-year English student. "I think I’ve just come to terms with
the reality that I cannot continue to eat on campus if I want to
have money.
"I pretty much stick to the same things every week. PB & J,
mac & cheese, spaghetti. That’s about it," Fortis said.
But although a good bargain may be hard to find, it’s not
impossible. With a little careful planning, students can find ways
to cut costs without making fundamental changes to their eating
habits. For example, at the Treehouse, one medium soda and a full
order of pasta comes to $3.78. For $5.29 at Ralphs, you can get a
package of spaghetti, a jar of Prego and a six-pack of Coke that
can take you through a week’s worth of meals.
If you’re inclined to eat spaghetti every day for a week, that
is.
"I’ve found the two best foods at Ralph’s: Top Ramen, seven for
$1 and burritos, three for $1," said Matt Harris, a sophomore
majoring in Italian.
"Those are the best deals, so I try and stock up on those," he
said. "I usually pack a lunch unless I run out of food."