Food, glorious food! (If you've got a tray...)

Day 2: Another successful day of dining in the Mensa with my lovely tray. Rachel D. remembered her's this time, so I no longer was the only one.

I'm still mad at the Mensa for doing this. I still think this "endeavor" is absolutely ridiculous, but I guess I shouldn't be the one complaining. I'm the one with a tray. And I'm not going to keep it forever. What would I do with a tray for the rest of my life? When trayless week is over, I'll give it back.

...And really, if I had taken this tray to go sledding, instead of to protest trayless week, the response would have been totally different. I also wish to make it clear that I'm not missing the point of "Trayless Week." I got the "point" before it even began. I just don't feel the need to experience it.

And, really. You can't make me participate in "Earth Week." Just like a professor can't make me learn what I don't want to know. I'm not anti-environment. I'm very much FOR the environment! I just HATE it when people get so high-and-mighty! The "stuff" that is being focused on here at Wartburg is not what that *I* see as important. I'd rather hear about people picking up trash along the highways, working to increase forms of alternate energy, finding ways to control and manage invasive, non-native animal species, or even planting trees. What happened to just planting trees? And did you know that Zebra Mussels, Asian Carp, and Japanese Ladybird Beetles are all serious environmental issues within Iowa and the Midwest? What about THOSE topics?

Trayless week in the Mensa isn't going to change HOW much food the Mensa buys to serve to the student body. It is not going to change what KINDS of food they serve. And it is NOT going to change how much the Mensa charges us for each meal.

I think some better solutions would have been:

1. Eliminate the self-serve courts and have plates with correct eating portions available to students instead of the "help yourself to however much you want."

2. Have students pay simply for what they eat. And by "eat" I mean the food that they actually *put* on their tray. Students might be more aware of what they eat and how much they eat if there is not a general fee that covers the whole meal. $8 for dinner is a lot to pay for just a bowl of cereal.

3. Start a compost pile and deposit appropriate foods.




Or maybe the Mensa could serve a greater variety of food that doesn't taste disgusting. Like Macaroni and Cheese that doesn't taste like glue. Or that Chicken Jambalaya stuff.





And I still want my soft serve ice cream back.



............ And DON'T go on about how much "food gets wasted in the Mensa." I worked at Perkins for an entire summer as a waitress. I know what it's like deal with ungodly amounts of wasted food. If you want to make an impact on eliminating food wasting, go after the restaurants. Did you know that banana cream pies must be made fresh each morning, and then thrown out at the end of each day, regardless of whether or not anyone has ordered a slice? (Yes, the whole pie.) Do you know how many times orders have been messed up, thrown out, and started over, even before they get out to you, the customer? Do you know how much or how little children actually eat? Do you realize that the food you send back, because it's not EXACTLY how you wanted it, is just going to be thrown away as soon as the server is in the kitchen?

Don't whine at me about wasted food.