First Year Package

Food Strike Strike-Out:
Following Up on Food Issues at UTSC
Sam Natale,
Staff Writer
Picture this: You’ve just gotten out of
class and as you head down to the MarketPlace
to grab some food, you find that it’s closed. On
other occasions, you have forgone visiting the
MarketPlace because the price makes a larger
dent in your wallet than the food does in your
stomach. Either that, or you did not have a good
experience with the vendors on your previous
visit.
These experiences are familiar to
many UTSC students who are frustrated by the
price, portion size, hours, quality, and customer
service at food vendors in the MarketPlace, Student
Centre, and other locations around campus.
Third-year health studies and psychology
student Linh Tang expresses displeasure
with campus food saying, “Certain outlets on
campus are pretty pricey...Occasionally, I see
other employees who don’t work the usual station,
at which point my food is subpar or not as
good as usual, which is kind of upsetting when
I’m paying $6 - $12.”
Tang also says that she “really
dislike[s] hours on campus. [The] student centre
is pretty convenient but it’s pretty awful having
Subway as the only option on campus past 7
p.m.”
Jackie Wang, a third-year computer
science student, echoes the same sentiment
with vendor hours, but commends the food quality
saying, “If you’re hungry at night you’re going
to need to look elsewhere as the hours of operation
for these food plazas are terrible. The food
NEWS 7
NOOR AQIL / THE UNDERGROUND
quality here at UTSC is decent, nothing amazingly
special about it, but it will keep you full and
going throughout the day. Besides the food from
the MarketPlace, the portions and quality of food
are good for the price you pay.”
In March 2016, a few students created
a Facebook group called UTSC Food Strike to
address these issues and propose a boycott of
food options on campus. The strike never happened,
with students deciding to voice their concerns
through other means like UTSC’s Food
User Committee.
The current Vice President Operations
of SCSU Yasmin Rajabi explains that, “The Food
User Committee is composed of individuals who
manage and own the food options on campus as
well as administrative UTSC staff. The students
were able to share the results of their feedback
survey on food options on campus and express
their opinion on food options.”
“At this meeting,” Rajabi says, “we
struck a subcommittee called the Food User
Feedback Committee. We met at this body to
discuss the best way possible to receive feedback
on food options on campus and holding
vendors accountable.”
Now, several months after the initial
proposed boycott and the implementation of
the Food User Feedback Committee, what has
changed? As of yet, not much. Tang says that
during summers at UTSC, “if you want food
from the MarketPlace, you can only get it until 3
p.m...I’m on campus for way longer than 3 p.m.”
Both Tang and Wang say that they
would like to see longer hours for campus vendors,
with Tang also saying “more variety on
campus” would be ideal.
In response, Rajabi says that, “During
the summer, myself, as the VP Operations,
alongside the rest of the SCSU team have been
working hard to revamp Rex’s Den to meet student
needs. One of the biggest changes that
students wanted was cheaper food options. As
we are developing the completely new Rex’s
Den menu, we are striving to ensure everything
is as cheap as possible. We did have a small appetizer
menu out in the summer, but we will be
rolling out the whole new menu in September.”
She also mentions that, “Currently
the university, in conjunction with the SCSU and
students involved, are developing a Feedback
Campaign that will allow students to voice their
opinions on food options and ensure that vendors
are being held accountable to addressing
concerns.”
UTSC launched a feedback form online
a few months ago in which students could
provide feedback on the various vendors around
campus. As it stands now, however, students
can only provide feedback for Asian Gourmet.
As for a potential strike, Rajabi
“recommend[s] students explore all avenues,
and follow the campaign mobilization cycle before
jumping into a boycott, to ensure that an action
like it is successful.”
If students want to voice their opinions
on the food on campus or propose new services
that the SCSU can implement, you can request
to join the Food User Committee by emailing
Yasmin Rajabi at operations@scsu.ca.
www. the-underground.ca AUGUST 22 - OCTOBER 5, 2016
VOLUME 36, ISSUE 01