By Samantha Corona
Consistent talk about eating healthy helps people transition from unhealthy to healthy eating habits. By not providing healthy options, ELAC’s satellite campus makes it difficult for students to eat healthy.
Every now-and-then, people will have their favorite fast-food burger because fast food restaurants are everywhere. It is horrible that a student’s healthy meal option at the South Gate campus is packed with junk ingedients.
The South Gate campus has two fast-food restaurants and students and faculty go there for a quick bite. These restaurants sometimes offer healthy alternatives, but their cost deters students from selecting to eat healthy. They may have dollar menus but nothing nutricional comes from them.
In the student store, healthy options are limited and chips, candies and sodas seem to be endless. Vending machines around campus are also filled with unhealthy snacks to merely satisfy a quick craving.
The idea to add a cafeteria or eating-place within the South Gate campus would allow people the option of having a larger variety of healthy choices.
Students say salads and sandwiches would be a good healthy choice to sell. Some students also said they would like to see healthy snacks such as granola bars. Prices should be reasonable for students.
Students are into the notion of meals being quick and cheap.
Gilbert Ortiz, a student at South Gate said if there was a cafeteria, he would go as often as four days out of the week to purchase a healthy meal.
Ortiz offered an idea of selling fruits and vegetables in packages and natural juices that could be sold for a cheap price. This would allow students to make healthier choices.
According to the American Heart Association, 154.7 million adults are overweight or obese, and this number keeps growing each year.
The AHA also said it affects the population enrolled in healthcare. “The total healthcare costs attributable to obesity could reach $861 to $957 billion by 2030.”
Unhealthy choices can be prevented on South Gate’s Campus. The challenge of making the change is difficult, but it is achievable.
