Fullerton College’s campus dining hall will provide a wider selection each day and will offer up to three select meals to choose from and water. Students can now select a meal of their choice from either the Deli, Tres Habaneros, or The Grill. Meals to choose from include turkey sandwiches, veggie wraps, chicken quesadillas, and cheeseburgers with fries. Daily vegetarian options will be available as well. Vegan and gluten-free diets are currently still being figured out on how to be properly distributed.
During the fall 2024 semester, Fullerton College implemented a new way to provide free pre-assembled meals in the campus dining hall. Each student was provided a meal with a water bottle and a bag of chips. The campus dining hall website included a weekly calendar for students to check out what would be served each day.
Previously, students were given a daily $12 perk where they would be able to purchase any food item from the cafeteria. However once emergency funding from Covid-19 came to an end, the college came to the decision to change their budget.
Although the college’s mission was to provide a healthy meal for students, critiques from the students made it to the president of Associate Students, Emily Kim. Students requested for more variety, larger portion sizes and fresher meals.
“One thing that I saw a lot last year and made me sad was seeing a lot of food thrown in the trash. I would see piles and piles of food and water unopened in the trash can,” said Henry Hua, vice president of Administrative Services.
Hua stated that he noticed students weren’t satisfied with the food that was handed out and looked for solutions to accommodate their requests. According to Hua, over the winter break, Fullerton College and Sodexo looked for ways to improve their meal deals.
“We’re always looking at ways to improve and it’s something we take pride in and make sure that we take it all into consideration when making decisions,” said Hua.
Meal Deals will still follow the same guideline as last semester of providing an entree, a water bottle and a side. Food options will keep changing every week so students can look forward to a variety of food options throughout the semester.
Calfresh, CalWorks, and other program recipients can also use electronic benefits transfer (EBT) as a form of payment in the campus dining hall. FC students can apply for the CalFresh program through the Hornet Resource Center.
“We actually had this available last semester but we did not do a very good job letting students know about it,” said Hua. He said he is currently working along with Basic Needs special projects director Katarina Bela-Perez to have this information released to all students.
According to Hua, other new changes besides the meal deals that students can look forward to is a new boba station which will be located inside the campus dining hall. It has not been confirmed yet whether a meal deal will be provided from that station. Another item that is being considered to be brought to campus is a hot and cold food vending machine. This would help evening and weekend students to be able to purchase food when the cafeteria is closed.
Hua said he hopes that these changes and wider food options bring positive feedback from students compared to last semester’s reaction.
“I’m hoping students can appreciate the opportunity and food options that we’re giving them. And when they do get it hopefully they eat it right and don’t throw it away,” said Hua.
