Did Someone Say Free Food: Welcome to 'The Meal Plan Guard'
A new newsletter spotlighting Colorado College events that offer free food each week
Welcome to The Meal Plan Guard. I’m Polly, and I am here to protect your Meal Plan budget.
In this issue, you can find a short list of on-campus events that offer free food. This article also includes a food review from a recent event at Colorado College and a deeper dive into popular issues with the Meal Plan.
What’s On The Plate This Week?
🥐 Pause Café will present a screening of Anatomy of a Fall, a post-film discussion, and food between 2:00 and 5:00 p.m. on Nov. 5 in Room 131 at the Cornerstone Arts Center. The poster for the event says there will be food, but doesn’t specify what kind or how much.
🍙 The Japanese Culture Lab will be cooking Kyaraben this Tuesday, Nov. 5. RSVP here to fill your bento box with rice tigers and connect with people between 3:00 and 4:00 p.m. at the Interdisciplinary House.
This event is part of the Onigiri Action social campaign, which donates free school meals for children in developing countries (a donation is made when you post onigiri-related photos on social media under #OnigiriAction).
🍴 The Wellness Resource Center is organizing the ‘Third Week Pause’ event, which includes a dinner for anyone who registers here. Come between 5:00 and 7:00 p.m. on Nov. 5 to craft and unwind together.
🍲 The Interfaith House welcomes people with homemade soup to stay grounded during election day. Come by for food and community between 5:00 and 7:00 p.m. on Nov. 5, and stay for meditation between 7:00 and 7:20 p.m.
⚖️ The Political Science Department and Advisory Committee are organizing a watch party with pizza to spectate the live coverage of the election. Students are invited to the Gates Common Room between 7:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. on Nov. 5.
🥘 Sacred Grounds offers a safe space and lunch to anyone wanting to unwind after election day. Students have an option of participating in a relaxed conversation on any topic with their peers between 12:15 p.m. and 1:15 p.m. on Nov. 6.
🍪 The STARS team from the Office of Sustainability is eager to see people at their table at Worner on Nov 6. They will offer cookies, Jenga, and information on sustainability tracking systems between 5:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.
STARS (Sustainability Tracking Assessment & Rating System) is a self-reporting framework for colleges and universities to measure their sustainability performance. The framework helps track long-term sustainability goals, as well as create entry points for institutions that are taking first steps toward sustainability.
🧁 Shove Chapel is holding a session of ‘Meditation and Muffins’ between 8 a.m. and 8:25 a.m. on Nov. 7 for all the morning birds.
🧀 Outdoor Education is hosting the Ritt Kellogg Expedition slideshow in the Cornerstone Screening Room on Nov. 7. Students are welcome to enjoy hors d'oeuvres while learning about expedition fund opportunities between 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.
🥢 The Department of Asian Studies will provide lunch during its open house on Nov. 8. Students are welcome to Gaylord Hall between 12:00 and 2:00 p.m. to hear about a news publication, study abroad programs, and independent research.
🍰 The Tutt Library Timothy Fuller Event Space will offer coffee, tea, and light desserts during a lecture called “Social Christians and the Fight to End American Inequality” on Nov. 8. A visiting professor will start the lecture at 12:30 p.m.
An Associate Professor at Princeton Theological Seminary, Heath W. Carter, is this year’s speaker for the annual Robert D. McJimsey Lecture Series on the intersection of Christianity and American public life.
🪔 The South Asian Student Association invites students to celebrate Diwali this Saturday, Nov. 9. “Good food”, music, henna, and diya painting will be available for those interested in Bemis Hall between 2:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.
Local Highlights
🍕 A free slice of pizza is available to anyone who signs up for Poor Richard’s monthly newsletter. Bonus: every newsletter comes with a unique email-only offer.
Food Review From the ‘Undivide Us’ Film Screening
On Oct. 21, the CC Journalism Institute hosted a film screening of Undivide US at the Cornerstone Arts Center. As a part of Rocky Mountain PBS’s ‘Above The Noise’ initiative, the CC community participated in the screening and a follow-up discussion on the state of polarized American politics.
In addition to a quick movie and an engaging discussion before and after, the event included a free dinner catered by Bon Appétit, the school’s primary catering company.
The dinner immediately stood out. It featured a rich platter of roasted vegetables for starters and a wide variety of foods — a lack of which students criticize most often when it comes to eating on campus.
My personal favorite was the Parmesan Arancini with Tzatziki (for those unaware, like me, Arancini are fried balls of Italian Risotto). Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, they impressed me with their taste and texture.
A runner-up from the menu would be the Mushroom Potstickers, which were unexpectedly tender and mild. Bon Appétit also offered Flank Steak with Red Wine Reduction for meat lovers and Smoked Gouda Mac n’ Cheese for those who crave something more comfortable than Roasted Artichokes.
Paired with a compelling movie, the dinner surpassed the expectations of many.
One of the screening attendants (who is known for attending perhaps more CC events on a weekly basis than any community member) publicly remarked that it was some of the best food he had experienced at a campus event.
I would give it a solid 8/10, with two points off for the lack of dessert and slight overuse of cooking oil.
Meal Plan Crisis Reveals Bigger Issues On Campus
Food is one of the hottest topics for conversation in line at Benji’s or any other dining place on campus. Students talk about the quality of food, worry about the use of canola oil, and make jokes about Rastie’s Blasties — the dining experience is central to campus life. And while many students say they are “behind on Meal Plan money,“ how does that actually happen?
Students’ concerns involve the fact that the biggest dining hall on campus, Rastall’s, doesn’t have enough options: athletes have to resort to pasta to gain needed calories, and gluten-free people have to become all about gluten to stay up and running.
The buffet style surely has its benefits. A big dining area accommodates diners, and food is available in unlimited amounts. However, on rough, dry-chiken-uncooked-rice days, students turn to Benji’s and The Preserve for a more sophisticated meal, even if the cost is disproportional to the physical amount of food you can get for it.
The dining experience becomes a series of compromises. Balancing taste, cost, and quantity of food is stressful and often exhausting, to the point that people resort to getting a refrigerated burger from the C-Store.
Lifehack from the author: Use your Gold Card Plus money in Safeway on Wahsatch to have cereal and milk available in the morning. This could help save cash and last for a couple of weeks. I also recommend the almond poppy seed muffins as a go-to snack before class.
Young adult bodies and brains require food high in nutrition and energy value to perform at their best and enjoy the process. Having access to food is a right and not a privilege. A Meal Plan is not only about food. It is also about accessibility, equity, health, and well-being.
My name is Polly Panasenko, and I write about food and events on the Colorado College campus. My goal is to contribute to food security and community building at my college by writing about events catered by the school that offer free food for students. If you have an event you would like people to know about, send me a message!