Breakfast • Sonia Goetschius

It was 8:00 a.m. and the cafeteria was half-full of weary and hungry students. I quickly got through the line and was surprised when the only thing offered was a pop tart. I went outside to unwrap the sad-looking whole-wheat cinnamon pop tart, smothered in a hard, sugary frosting. It tasted like any other pop tart–sweet and processed, but satisfying like a guilty pleasure may be. The orange juice was disappointingly sweet, as it was 100% juice from concentrate, but tasted fresh and gave my taste buds a bright, gratifying feeling on the foggy morning. The milk counteracted the toothache that the pop tart had given us.

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Chinese Food • Sonia Goetschius

I was glad to see little white and red Chinese take out boxes while elbowing my way through the cafeteria line, as the special of the day was orange chicken and rice, which we supplemented with an underripe and bruised orange and milk. The chicken was sweet and rather good and became a favorite of ours from the food we tested. The brown rice, while unattractive and mushy, was passable and seemed to have more nutrition than the rest of the meal. However, the milk today tasted more like cardboard-y water than actual milk, which put a damper on the rest of the meal. This was my favorite this week, and I would happily have it again.

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Burrito • Holly Keaton

The burrito, on the whole, was not the most appealing meal I had ever laid eyes on. In fact, it resembled vomit a little too closely for my comfort. Still, I had elbowed my way through the cafeteria for it, and I was determined not to let my efforts go to waste. I poked at it tentatively and took a small bite, certain that I would immediately want to spit it out.

   However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that not only was it not disgusting, but it actually tasted okay. It was certainly not the best burrito I had ever had–the tortilla was wheaty and somewhat soggy, and it didn’t inspire me to eat cafeteria food every day, but on the whole, it was passable. The applesauce was the bright spot, sweet and revitalizing, and the sugar from that was enough to get me through the last period of the day. Overall, it was an average meal–not particularly repulsive, not particularly exceptional.

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Chicken Burger • Holly Keaton

After a week of cafeteria food, I was more than ready for it to end. The last meal was a chicken burger, and my initial perusal of it did not bode well. The garish orange of the chicken was almost offensive to the eyes, and at first I thought someone had stuck an orange between a bun. Plucking up my courage, I took a bite, and was pleased to note that it was pretty tasty. The chicken wasn’t overly dry, the orange bits didn’t add any unpleasant flavors, and the bun made it just a little bit better. Like all the food we’ve eaten at the cafeteria, it certainly wasn’t great, but this particular meal was, dare I say it, good. Just like you can’t judge a book by its cover, it’s safe to say that you can’t judge a chicken by its obscenely orange exterior.

 

Photos by Sonia Goetschius and Holly Keaton