FIU @ I-75 struggles to supply real food options for students

By: Victor Jorges/Staff Writer

 

The only dining option at the I-75 campus, a Subway restaurant, has been closed since Saturday, Nov. 10, 2018, and Doctoral student Cory A. Fairfield is fed up.

Fairfield sent an email tothe University’s Office of Business Services on Saturday, Jan. 12, communicating his concern about not having anything to eat on campus.

Fairfield said that most of the students in his class work full time, have family and are full-time graduate students. Their classes last all day.

“Our classes begin at 8:30 a.m. and do not end until 5:30 p.m. With that being said, we are expected to leave campus, eat, and be back in our seats in less than an hour,” Fairfield’s email reads. “The only food offered to us seems to consist of vending machines which hardly contain anything healthy or of substance.”

The empty spot where the Subway restaurant used to be located at the I-75 campus. Photo by Victor Jorges/PantherNOW

Fairfield understands that the Subway wasn’t the only food option, but its absence takes a toll on his academic experience at FIU.

“While we are aware that bringing our own lunch and snacks remains an option, we pay a lot of money for tuition to attend a campus without food services…especially when we do not have a choice of taking this course at MMC or BBC.”

As of Friday, Jan. 18, the Office of Business Services has not responded to Fairfield.

The closure of the restaurant, and consequently, its replacement is all in the hands of Broward College according to FIU at I-75 Director Marisa Salazar.

“Subway closed in November due to the franchise owner’s decision. Since then, Broward College has attempted to locate a replacement as it falls under their responsibility to do so, but unfortunately, a vendor has not yet been secured,” said Salazar to Student Media. “There are snack and beverage machines in the building, including one for hot coffee and cocoa, as well as two microwaves for public use.”

Student Media has tried to contact Broward College, but has not recieved a response in regards to the plan of the restaurant’s replacement.

Salazar says that FIU has been trying to supply alternatives in order to ease the situation on campus.

“We have worked to alleviate the issue by increasing the food provided at our Student Life events. Additionally, we collaborated with the FIU Business Services team to communicate the matter to students and to ensure a list of restaurants with pick-up/delivery services in the area is easily accessible via the ShopFIU website,” said Salazar via email.

Biscayne Bay Campus and I-75 Student Government Council President, Jefferson Noel, has spoken with various students to gather feedback on the current food situation.

“I spoke with a lot of students and, of course, they were completely disheartened and disappointed that the only food option that they have is gone,” said Noel to Student Media. “I know from prior conversations that students were already displeased that the food options there were limited; but now that there’s nothing, they’re definitely not happy about that.”

When the University  found out about the restaurant closure, SGA and Business Services took action to ease the transition. The plan from Business Services, according to Noel, was to add more vending machines with different options so students could potentially pick from those things.

The long term plan, he said, is to open a grab-and-go concept for students to purchase food items. This would be similar to the Recharge-U store available on the Modesto Maidique Campus. This convenience store style establishment is expected to be open by fall 2019.  

Aside from additional vending machines, Noel met with the Program Director and Director of FIU at I-75 to delineate a plan in order to increase the frequency of events that would bring different types of food to that specific campus.  

“SGC-BBC allocated $10,000 to give to I-75 to essentially increase the events that they’re having with food so when students come to campus, they have something to eat,” said Noel. “The population at the I-75 campus is mainly students who are working, who are parents, who are attaining something full time, so by the time they get to campus, they just came from somewhere else, so in many cases they don’t have the option to eat before getting there.”

During  Week of Welcome, FIU at I-75 staff gave out Chick-fil-A sandwiches, juices, chips, and cookies to nearly 600 students.

“We are hopeful that Broward College will soon find a new food vendor for the facility,” said Salazar.

 

Featured image retrieved from Unsplash

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